Dear Unbeliever, I'm sorry.

     Dear Unbeliever, I've been thinking about you a lot this year.  You have crossed my mind over and over again as I've watched what has played out among my Christian family across our country and have been heart broken over and over again about what you must be thinking.  And what I just really want to say to you is this - I'm sorry.  I'm sorry that we haven't shown the love and light we should show.  I'm sorry that we have elevated politics over people.  I'm sorry that we have argued and bickered bitterly and watched friendships and family relationships break over an election.  I'm sorry that we have been scared and shaken when we should be brave and firm and peaceful in our Lord.  You have watched as we have flung accusations and sarcasm at each other.  You have watched as we stood not united by Jesus, but divided by party.  And I'm just so sorry.  I'm sorry that we have argued our stance from the comfort of our living rooms and computer screens and sacrificed nothing of our time or comfort to back up those beliefs.  I'm sorry that we were given the job to light up this world, and this year we have jumped headlong into the darkness of wanting to be right and wanting to win so badly that we didn't look into each other's eyes. 
     Dear Unbeliever, please know that this isn't the way of Jesus.  The Jesus that we serve is so much better than this.  And we didn't stop believing in Him.  That's not what happened.  I think we just stopped reading our bibles and kept watching the news and the sitcoms and the social media feed.  I think we just kept so busy that we didn't spend time with the Jesus that we follow.  I think we allowed Satan to enter our thoughts and cause us to fear and judge and shame.  We traded our knowledge that God is sovereign for our worry about the country that we love.  We traded our peace in eternity for a conflict that is temporal.  And we didn't mean to.  Really we didn't.  I want  you to know that there is so much good going on from God's people.  I have seen it this year all around me.  My friends are feeding the hungry, taking in orphans, counseling pregnant teenagers, carrying meals to the bereaved, sponsoring refugees, giving their money and time and heart to amazing causes.  And it's just much quieter than the loud noise you have heard all around you.  God's people have faltered, but we haven't stopped.   There's no press coverage for the man that gives up his Saturday to do yard work for a widow or the woman who gives up her Sunday to teach children about God.  There's no press coverage for the children at my church who raised money to feed hungry orphans around the world.  There is no press coverage for the light that believers are shining around them everyday.  But Dear Unbeliever, please know that this is happening.  And this is the Jesus we serve.  Our Jesus has a heart for every human being on this planet.  Our Jesus wants justice and equality and peace.  Our Jesus looked into the eyes of the people that weren't like him and invited them in.  Our Jesus always put people before his own comfort.  Our Jesus spent every day of His life spreading love and hope.  Our Jesus was God become man, born of a virgin, crucified for us, and risen again.  Our Jesus didn't look at what was wrong with people and turn from them.  He looked at their sin, loved them anyway, and helped them turn from it.  Our Jesus was everything you wanted to see from us this year and probably didn't. 
     Dear Unbeliever, please understand something.  The reason we are able to call ourselves the "Redeemed" is because we need redemption.  The reason we serve Jesus is because we are broken and flawed just like everyone else.  We want to follow the way of Jesus, but we mess up.  We fall.  And that's precisely the beauty of our Jesus.  He picks us up, dusts us off, and says "Go and sin no more."  And all the while He loves us fiercely.  If you are looking at us to be the perfect examples of biblical principles we will let you down.  We don't want to.  We try not to.  But we will.  But if you look closely you will see that we also try to spread light wherever we go.  If you look closely you will see that true followers of Jesus will never be perfect, but we will never give up trying to live up to the name we represent.  Because we love Him.  He doesn't require perfection.  He died so it wouldn't be required.  But he requires belief.  He requires faith.  Dear Unbeliever, please don't give up on searching for Jesus because of the mistakes His people have made this year.  Don't let the dark moments you have seen define us as a whole.  Don't judge a perfect man by His imperfect followers. Learn about Him from the perfect word of God.  Seek out the good that is going on around you.  Look for the light and find the Christians there.   Dear Unbeliever, please forgive us for 2016.  Our purpose on this earth is to show you the love of Jesus, and I'm afraid we fell terribly short.