Why This Pastor Will ... March, Pray, Reach Out, Resist

On January 21, the day after Donald Trump’s inauguration as President, I will march in the Women's March here in San Diego. I want to explain why.  

Like many pastors,  I feel conflicted because the people I serve are profoundly divided when it comes to politics. At the (mostly white) congregation where I serve on staff, some people are pleased with the outcome of November's election, others are apprehensive, still others are genuinely upset.  Meanwhile, at El Faro: the Border Church, the unique community I convene on the US-Mexico border, almost everyone finds Mr. Trump’s election deeply distressing, especially that he won while vilifying Mexican immigrants and threatening to implement policies that would disrupt millions of families. 

Finding myself pulled in many directions, I am trying to respond with integrity to the division that characterizes both our public landscape and my own pastoral predicament.    I am not seeking to sow further division; rather,  I am trying to follow the Apostle Paul's admonition that we "speak the truth in love." (Ephesians 4:15)

In the wake of Donald Trump's inauguration, 

I will march, I will pray, I will reach out and I will resist.

I will march. I will march here in San Diego on January 21 in solidarity with the many women I know - my own wife among them - who are deeply offended by Donald Trump's proven pattern of disrespecting and objectifying women.  More generally, our President-elect displays almost nothing of what Paul called the "the fruit of the spirit ... love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." (Galatians 5:22) I know this list does not represent a job description for President of the United States, but it explains my deep concern.   We have elected a spiritually impoverished man whose behavior I would not tolerate in my teenage son, and I feel called - both as a person and as a pastor - to join the millions of people who are marching on January 21 as a pledge to hold him accountable. 

I will pray. When I pray in public I will aspire to pray prayers that could be shared by all people who claim the Christian faith.  This is no easy task, given the circumstances, but I know it can be done. On the day before the election last November, I prayed this prayer with our (divided) congregation in mind.  And in 2003, I shared these prayers with a congregation I knew was deeply divided as our nation prepared to go to war in Iraq.  Moving forward, I will try to pray prayers like these, prayers that I hope will stand the test of time. 

I will reach out. I will seek to understand more fully why so many people voted for Donald Trump.  That people voted against Hillary Clinton, or voted in protest of the status quo, or voted out of party loyalty - all these I can understand.  But Mr. Trump's candidacy generated enthusiasm beyond all this. I see some sources of this enthusiasm quite clearly, both noble (for instance, resistance to government policies that undermine community) and ignoble (for instance, racism).  But I know there is more going on than I am presently able to perceive. Because I know I have much to learn, I will extend a hand of reconciliation and listen respectfully to those with whom I disagree.

I will resist. In my tradition, whenever I participate in a baptism, I reaffirm the vows of my own baptism. The first two vows are these: "Do you renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness, reject the evil powers of this world, and repent of your sin?  Do you accept the freedom and power God gives you to resist evil, injustice and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves?" I know I often fail to live out these vows completely in my own life, and so I return again and again to renew them, trusting that God is not finished with me yet.  Because I remain committed to the vows of my baptism, I will continue to "resist evil, injustice and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves," and that includes when I perceive them to be present in our public life.

These are my intentions - to march, to pray, to reach out, and to resist.  In declaring them, I am trying to act responsibly in light of my own calling, in light of my many and varied responsibilities as a pastor, and in light of the inauguration as President of a man who has yet to earn my respect.