Jesus and Riots: What Happened Yesterday and Where Do We Go from Here

Some thoughts from Wednesday's events

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/photography/2021/01/06/photos-scene-capitol-dc/

My thumbnail had broken in an odd shape sometime Wednesday. As I stayed up two nights in a row, first watching for the vote returns from GA and then waiting for the Electoral College results to finally be certified, I found myself tracing the odd shape with my finger, like it was an attached worry stone of some kind. I was worried and tense, of course, as I’m sure many of us were, but what wrenched my gut was the flags and signs bearing the name of Jesus. 

When I was in highschool, a bunch of us went through the WWJD? trend. We sported the bracelets without irony, and were known to ask each other in earnest as we navigated the various situations of our lives, “well, what do you think Jesus would do in this situation?” 

I find this all a bit ironic just now as this phase coincided with belonging to a non-denominational megachurch of the evangelical/charismatic flavor, a church that was almost 1…