The other day I was in a Home Depot and saw a man wearing a t-shirt about his “undocumented” handgun. I’m guessing he got quite a few fist bumps over that shirt. Quite the unifier. 

In contrast, I’m watching individuals take brave, thoughtful stands. Take Mike Johnson or Mike Pence for example. The fist bump crowd calls them traitors, but I see them as freedom fighters. 

And that’s what I’m noticing about the two factions in our country. One is full of conspiratorial winks and anger over taxation. (So much of their ire seems to be about money.) The other side isn’t as populist. It’s full of individuals turning against the tide. 

I just read about Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, doing just that. Near the end of his life, Bright reached out to Jim Wallis, founder of Sojourners. The two were at odds, philosophically, but Bright wanted to know more about caring for the poor. One of his last donations was to Sojourners. 

I’m seeing a nation of individuals standing up for what’s right and true, but their old attachments don’t work any more. Many can’t find an attachment, except to each other.  

Maybe this explains the Church of today. It’s going through a clarification process. Some people want an “America First” ball-of-wax kind of church. Others want…something different. Something global and humble, hungry for transformation. It is evangelical (in keeping with the teachings of Jesus), but a far cry from Evangelical. 

I know where my attachment lies.