Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

Cornel West is one of the more interesting public intellectuals of the present moment. Though some of us may not like his politics, you’ve got to be an admirer of his gracious tenacity. Even Sean Hannity of Fox News loves having him on his program!

In the cultural conflicts of the present moment, Cornel calls on his fellow liberals to be “love warriors”—to fight for truth the way Jesus did. He says our public engagement—whatever our political persuasion—ought to be cruciform, that is shaped by the cross. Listen to how he puts it:

“We’ve got a love that the world can’t take away. White Supremacy may make being black a crime, but we refuse to get in the gutter. We’re gonna go down swinging like Ella Fitzgerald, like Muhammed Ali, in the name of love and justice…. We’re doing it for the whole world, because that’s the only hope of the world. And that kind of love is always tragic, comic and cruciform. You’ve gotta get ready to get crucified with that kind of love.”

He goes on talking about the weeping of the cross:

“Socrates never cries, but Jeremiah [the prophet] does, and so does Jesus. We cry because we care. We’re concerned. It is not about political correctness. It’s not about self-righteousness. We cry because we are not numb on the inside. We don’t have a chilliness of soul and coolness of mind and heart. We cry because we connect….”

“We don’t need summer soldiers. We need all-season love warriors.”

~Cornel West in an interview with Anderson Cooper in the Summer of 2020

Look. Whatever your political persuasion, or lack thereof, the question the gospel thrusts at you is do you weep over suffering of others? Do you love your neighbor as yourself?

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.'”

~ Luke 19:41-44 (ESV)

Thank you for listening to and supporting The Kingdom Perspective! The Kingdom Perspective is a ministry of Christ Redeemer Church of Hanover, NH. To hear more episodes you can subscribe on Apple Podcasts. To donate or to find out more about the ministry and resources offered by Christ Redeemer Church visit www.christredeemerchurch.org.