Thread by @jeffblack945

#RevThread # 66
To Do List

1/ Lamenting the apparent disintegration of American democracy is fine. American Democracy matters and is really threatened. As long Trump presides, we’ll need healthy lamenting.

2/ But being upset is not enough. Just responding to his latest outrage is not enough. Trump has limitless chaotic energy and will wear us all out. You tired too? We need to learn more deeply the meaning and purpose of freedom (which surely includes the right to rest).

3/ Jesus finished His great Sermon on the Plain like this: “The one who hears my words & does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground w/o a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, & the ruin of that house was great.”(Luke 6:49)

4/ In other words, once we’ve let some truth into our noggins, we’re still useless unless we actually do something about it. Action is the foundation of learning. Say what? Come aside with me for a few minutes, and I’ll show you.

5/ Most of Jesus’ teachings actually sound pretty crazy. Here’s one: “When you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed because they cannot repay you.” (Luke 14:13-14)

6/ So I thought that sounded nice but nobody would actually do such a thing. One day a guy on my staff said, “That would be cool. We ought to try that.” I didn’t, but I never forgot him saying it.

7/ Years later I was doing a church start-up. We decided to actually do Luke 14:13. Church plants are pretty improvisational.

We thought, “Let’s do exactly what Jesus says. Not baloney sandwiches; Ribeyes!

8/ Someone donated the steaks, everyone brought beautiful sides. The city of Austin let us have, free, a pavilion in a lovely park on a pleasant autumn Sunday. One member ran an amazing soup kitchen on weekdays, so he invited all his clients...

9/ Then he and I went out in my old pickup and went to all the corners where displaced vets would stand with their signs asking for help. Jack would call out, “Hey, Pal -- howd'ya like a Ribeye steak? Hop in!”

10/ We all sat at long picnic tables and ate and talked -- street folks and section 8 folks and proper middle class church folks and all our children, who played together in the little stream near the Pavilion.

11/ For one blessed afternoon, we were not divided by class. And the Kingdom of God hovered right there. We all felt God’s presence. Exactly as Jesus had taught us: none of us had learned what He meant until we did what He said.

12/ Back to our moment. We’ve seen Trump roiling up great crowds and corrupting those around him (cf the formerly honorable John Kelly). We’ve learned a lot about Trump’s mob connections, his continuous abuse of women, his grand scale thefts, his constant lying...

13/ We’ve watched Trump enact his unjust tax law, his ecologically disastrous executive orders, his reckless torching of important international relations, and now we’ve heard his idiotic call to build new nuclear arms.

14/ What then do we need to do? What actions will bring durable liberty? As a believer, I include prayer as an action; if you’re not religious, try peacefully focusing where I say “Pray.”

15/ Here's a possible To Do List:

1 Pray for power to do Godly resistance.

2 Turn off Fox News and boycott all their sponsors. A nationwide boycott of Fox and their sponsors will get results...

16/.. And we have to heed honest and intelligent conservative voices. We need them. There are plenty of other conservative stations and voices who are committed to accuracy and who won’t be parroting White House drivel.

17/
3 Until Trump is out of office, do not vote for any Republicans. If you’re an R, don’t forswear what nurtured you in that party; just go on sabbatical until this administration is honorably defeated.

18/
4 Starve Trump himself of your attention. Watching and listening to him will infect your spirit. Just read transcripts of what he says. Pray for the poor reporters who have to endure his presence.

5 If you have Trumpsters in your family or friends,...

19/... or in your workplace, love them, pray for their deliverance, and have a few gentle but firm lines ready to use if you need them.

I’ve got these ready:

“I’m sorry to learn you support him. As for me, I’m firmly in the resistance.” ...

20/ ...“I’m happy to tell you why I’m against Trump if you wish me to. Otherwise we’re probably going to be happier if we don’t discuss it.”

“I’m a Jesus follower, and I can’t square Trump with any of Jesus’s ethical teachings. At all.”

21/ ...If none of those work, try what Cher said in Moonstruck:
“SNAP OUT OF IT!!”

22/
6 Continued involvement in non-violent protests. Find where the nearest protest is scheduled should Trump fire Mueller or Rosenstein.

7 Pray for & work towards a midterm election victory by Democrats so that congress can become an effective check on Trump.

23/
8 Committing to a clear rejection of Trump and Pence in 2020, unless they’ve already been impeached. These elections in 2018 and 2020 will be tough and close. America is pretty far gone. Trump is, in this moment, gaining, not losing strength.

24/
9 As for me, I will keep doing Biblically-based critiques of this administration’s agenda and behavior. If you will help this effort spread by retweeting my critiques to those you think would profit by reading them, I’d be grateful.

25/ Finally, for all of us, once the administration has been finished, we’ll need a thoughtful analysis of how we got so messed up that we imposed this evil on the world. We’ll also need a plan to protect liberty, ...

26/ ..to live within our means, to resume our stewardship of the environment, and to curtail our greed.

27/ When we do actions like these, we will learn what our founders meant in the Preamble when they spoke of “...securing for ourselves and for our posterity the blessings of liberty”.

28/ I had hoped for a peaceful retirement. Not gonna happen. The world has changed, and our country now needs all of us to step into the breach.