The hate-filled words expressed over the months of this campaign season lead many friends, staff, and students today to fear for their safety in the United States. Here is one friend, Jonathan Walton (staff director in NYC), expressing where he is at.
I was challenged by Martin Luther King Jr. in Strength to Love this morning that “Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars…Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” (p47)
As we reject and speak out against hateful and unjust rhetoric, practice, and systems, Jesus calls us to do it with the love of God, the only thing that drives out fear.
One step of love this morning is to call friends for whom this election causes fear to listen and share as we seek to apply God’s invitation to love in this season.
“Love is the most durable power in the world. This creative force, so beautifully exemplified in the life of our Christ, is the most potent instrument available in mankind’s quest for peace and security.” (King, p51)
For more on how InterVarsity is engaging please read Tom Lin’s charge to us found here.