Don Lemon and a group of protestors stormed into a local church in Minnesota in order to express their frustration with the lead pastor of that church and his connection with ICE as tensions between immigration law enforcement and citizens mount. Some people back Lemon, others are calling for significant jail time. Lemon and the protestors interrupted something sacred, a time of worship and prayer to the God over every nation. Certainly, it may be said that a better use of their energies would be to join the worshippers in the time of recognition of the God who can turn the heart of the nation.

As a pastor myself, it certainly feels like a violation and worthy of my own rebuke. But I do so only gently. I hope that interruptions like this outburst do not become the norm. The brashness and rudeness of the protestors may destroy the very movement they hope to spurn, taint the testimony they hope to inspire. Desecrating the things people hold most dear is a way to make an enemy, not an ally.

That said, as a Christian and especially as a Quaker/Friend, I am aware these type of interruptions are not foreign within the religion itself. For example, in the 17th century, Quakers felt that pastors and churches were masking their worldliness and that they had lost their first love. So, these Quakers interrupted worship services naked as a sign that the people should strip of their worldliness or God was going to judge them and strip them (I took a break from typing to facepalm, absolutely crazy story). Other times, the Quakers felt that churches were missing the depths of life with God because they had been trapped in empty formalism and so they entered worship settings only to preach a different message than the one from the pulpit.

I am not saying what they did was right, but I am saying that even within the church there is precedence for this type of interruption.

Jesus himself was open to interruption from those who were hurting. They came to him with the hope that they would find the one who would heal their pain. In prayer I wonder if Don and his fellow protestors deep down hold out hope to experience the healing touch of that same Jesus. I pray that they do.

What I find disturbing is that, when I look at these early Quakers, I see that what they proclaimed had truth within their criticism. When I look at Don Lemon and the ICE protestors, I cannot help but hear the pain in their cries and the grains of truth in their criticism.

I do not approve of the action, but my heart is moved for the pain with which these protestors writhe. Mixed in with their political ideology is a real, core, human feeling that we just are not doing well as a nation and certainly not in how we treat one another.

If there is a place where deep disagreement and difficult conversations can play out, it is the church. The key word being conversation. This type of invasion is dishonest at best, and even if there are grains of truth littered in their sentiment it would be much better to be shared through honest conversation around a table. Churches have long been spaces where difficult conversations around peace, justice, equality, and care have been held. And it has been so often the Church that has enacted to bring real change.

Let us worship together, then follow with a conversation on how God we just worshipped reforms our living. Chances are everyone involved will leave living a little, or a lot, different.

It is easy to rebuke and seek punishment for the protestors. But play along with me: did they have some things right? Are we doing the best we can as a Church to solve the problems that come with immigration? Or have we left it up to lobbyists and politicians? Are we doing our best to reconcile the poor and marginalized to God, or have we found a space where we can be comfortable? Are we as Christians entering into the broken and hurting places of our world, or have we become merely Sunday morning consumers of a feel-good gospel message?

We need to come together, and the Church should be seeking peace. These types of moments call for humility. Protestors should find better ways to express their beliefs, and Christians should consider refreshing what it means to live out the love of Jesus in our present age.

We have work to do. Will you lay down your hatred and pursue the making of peace? What cost will you pay to love your enemies? Remember, my friends, that anyone would lay down their life for family or friends, but Christ gives us a better example that, while we were his enemies, he died for us and called us unto himself.

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