Jon Goodwin

Put Down The Sword

Like many of you, I am tired of the violence.  I am tired of the vengeance.  I am tired of the weaponization of Facebook posts.  I am tired of the weaponization of Twitter/X posts.  I am tired.  I am tired of the weaponization of words.  We live in a world that seems to love the destruction of enemies.  We witness public celebration when an enemy falls.  As if, the sermon on the mount’s teachings is only to be followed when it is convenient.  The idea of turning the other cheek and loving one’s enemy was not just countercultural when Jesus presented this teaching so many years ago, but it is countercultural today.

If Christ was here, I am sure He would say to many of His followers, “put down your sword”, just as He did to Peter. He would then offer to heal those that sword wielding Christians had wounded. 

The narrative of the arrest of Jesus is remarkable in several different areas.  I would like to highlight Peter’s sword fight and Jesus’ work of healing.  The moment Jesus was arrested, Peter started swinging a sword.  He did not even begin to consider that the bad stuff happening was instigated by divine providence.  God the Father set the timing and the plan into motion before the beginning of time.  Perhaps, Peter did not consider this because he never asked.  If he had asked Jesus, what should I do?  Jesus would have replied, nothing or perhaps, pray, and stay awake while you do.  

But Peter never asked Jesus for directives, rather, he just started swinging his sword.  While he believed that he was defending Jesus, he was harming those Christ came to save.  He was stepping in front of an eternal plan that was written out in the very throne room of God Himself and Jesus said, “Peter, put down your sword.”

When we are quick to do battle and slow to consider that perhaps some hardship is necessary for the eternal plan to unfold, we are only revealing that we have a very limited perspective.  We are revealing the biblical truth that “God’s ways are higher than our ways” (Isaiah 55.8-9).  How funny it is that we often regurgitate this truth as though it was merely a motivational saying but at the first sign of hardship, we grab our swords and start lopping ears off.

And that’s exactly what Peter did.  He busted out his trusty sword and started swinging.  Thankfully his aim was a bit off.  Still, he connected.  His sword lopped the ear off a man who was part of Jesus’ arrest party.  A man whom we are told was the servant of the temple guard.  Peter wildly swung the sword, Jesus intervened, and then Jesus picked up the dismembered ear and healed a man who was there to help arrest Jesus.  Jesus healed His enemy and chastised His follower for harming His enemy.  Let that sink in, Jesus healed His enemy and chastised His follower for harming His enemy.  

This should not surprise us if we are students of our Savior.  We must remember that on Palm Sunday, Jesus did not come riding into Jerusalem on a war horse as a conquering hero.  No!  He came riding in on donkey as a symbol of peace.  After all, Jesus is the Prince of Peace.

If that is true, that Jesus is the Prince of Peace, and it is also true we are His disciples, then peace should be the overflow of our hearts and lives as disciples of the Prince of Peace.  With this final thought in mind, two Scriptures come to mind, Luke 6.45 and Matthew 5.9.  Luke 6.45 says, that your words, “flow from the abundance of the heart” and Matthew 5.9 says, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.”  Now I don’t know about you, but I want to bare the title, “son of God” and I also want the overflow of my heart to look like the overflow of the heart of Jesus.  That will only happen when I put down the sword and make it my mission, like Christ, to be in the business of healing rather than harming.  Friend and foe alike, both need more Jesus and less swords.  

Jon Goodwin

What the presidential election reveals about the evangelical church.

***Note: before you begin reading, please recognize that this is not an endorsement of a political party or a slam on the church.  Rather it is a simple exercise that reveals through statistics that the church is in crisis.  The good news is this; the church does not need to be in crisis.  There is hope!

A few weeks ago, CBS news conducted a poll amongst Republicans about the upcoming presidential election.  If you are into that type of thing it was quite interesting and informative.  As I read it, I was immediately concerned.  Sadly, I was not surprised.

The poll had all sorts of great info and asked many great questions of those who would most likely be voting for Trump.  What concerned me was not that people would vote for Trump but rather the why behind it.  Of the likely Trump voters 51% of them stated that the reason they would vote for Trump was because “he makes liberals angry.”  51%!

What we know is this, 82% of white evangelicals supported Trump in the previous election.  Suppose you are part of that type of church.  Suppose that your church consists of 100 white evangelicals who are registered voters.  Simple math tells us that 82% of them would have supported Trump at the last election.  If we break it down further and look at 51% of the 82, we will find that roughly 42 people out of 100 in a white evangelical church support their president of choice because he makes liberals angry.  On a given Sunday, a white evangelical church in America statistically has a congregation where 42% of its congregants support the idea of making liberals angry.

Why this should concern us? Simply put, four out of ten people who are white evangelicals Christians have allowed their identity politics to be more formative in how they interact with the world than the teachings of Jesus. This perspective is seemingly ok with the Let’s Go Brandon and F*** Joe Biden flags that I have to drive by every day on my way to my office at the church I serve in. This flawed thinking is serving as a stumbling block that effectively shuts down one’s ability to reach people for Jesus.

At the end of the day I do not care who one votes for.  Scripture doesn’t give that directive.  As a pastor, that not my job.  But Scripture does tell me how to view people and how to interact with people.  So, whether you label yourself as a liberal or a conservative, how you carry yourself matters. My point is not to convince you on how to vote or what label to wear.  My concern is the label of Jesus follower seems to have been covered up by a label that says Republican or Democrat by a large amount of people.  Being like Jesus has become less important than winning for a large portion of Christendom in American.

When we rejoice when others who are opponents are “put in their place”, we are cheapening their value.  Scripture is pretty clear when it says, “Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice.” (Proverbs 24.17) When we rejoice over people being put in their place, we don’t just allow ourselves to cheapen the value they possess, we also ignore the teachings of Christ in the sermon on the mount.  Matthew 5 might as well get ripped from the pages of Scripture.  Simply put, you cannot support someone for the purpose of ticking off those who hold different perspectives as you and represent Jesus well. 

This type of perspective will come out and it does.  In the past six years or so I have heard more defamatory comments about political opponents than I have ever heard in my life and most of them are from Christians.  This is very revealing of where one stores up their treasures.  It reveals very clearly what ones view of the kingdom is. 

To the Christian, let me ask you a few questions.  If you fly a flag that says “Let’s Go Brandon” in front of your house, have a “Don’t blame me, I voted for Trump” bumper sticker on your car, and use the word Dumbocrats whenever you talk politics on social media, do you honestly think your neighbor who voted democrat who doesn’t know Jesus will ever want to know your Jesus?  The answer is no.  You are hindering your effectiveness in the kingdom’s work when you operate this way. 

At the end of the day, the call of every believer is to love God and love their neighbor and these loves are inseparable.  Allow me close with a question.  When it come to the whole loving your neighbor thing, how would your neighbor say you are doing?

Jon Goodwin

Why a blog? – If I Am Honest…

If I am honest, I must admit, I am a person of immense frustration…

We live in days where Christianity has been rocked by scandals of epic proportions.  We have stood as witness as many Christian leaders have had their dark secrets come to light.  We have watched Churches fight over masking and vaccines.  We have seen friendships lost due to politics.  We have witnessed racial unrest rock our nation.  We have seen asylum seekers used as political pawns.  We have shooting after shooting happen in our communities. We have watched nations get invaded and even fought about that.  The list is long and grows longer each and every day.

The dialogue of black vs. white divides.

The dialogue of Republican vs. Democrat divides.

The dialogue of Immigrant vs. Anti-Immigrant divides.

The unity that our country possessed in the days following September 11, 2001 now seems to be nothing more than a memory and has been replaced with division.

Division does not even seem to be a strong enough word.  People are not merely divided from those they disagree with.  They are repulsed.  They devalue and dehumanize those with they disagree with.

So why am I frustrated?  Christians are often no better.  By and large much of Christendom in America is a victim of their discipleship.  Many have been discipled by political parties, politicians, and cable news shows.  Those who think alike are often drawn to one another.  In turn, our churches can quickly turn into echo chambers of this flawed discipleship.  This results in orthopraxy that is not in line with our orthodoxy because Scripture quickly begins to be seen through the lens one’s discipleship and when ones discipleship is on something besides Scripture, ones view of Scripture will always be flawed.

We live in a world that seeks validation more than it does conviction.  When this becomes the model of the church, the church is in trouble.  Every Sunday, I pray that my sermon will encourage and convict.  What people don’t know is that I am praying that as much for me as I am for them.

I am beginning to ramble so I will wrap it.  This blog exists to do the following: Provide a place where we can safely wrestle through tough topics.  Provide a place to discuss current events and issues in a way that demonstrates how to think biblically.  Nothing will be off the table.  Whether it be  race, sexuality, immigration, service, politics, or religion we must be able to dialogue in a manner that infuses dignity back into humanity.

My name is Jon Goodwin. I am frustrated but I am incredibly hopeful. My hope is that you will join me and interact with me as we journey together through this messy world we call home. My hope is that your life will be encouraged and challenged and that as you interact with the world that you would do so through the methodology of Compassionate Engagement.