A Sheep vs. a G.O.A.T. Nation.

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(ThyBlackMan.com) The political climate leading up to the 2016 presidential election is one of a dystopian Zootopia. One where we’re seeing democratic donkeys and G.O.P. elephants behaving as snake-like savages:

2016-PoliticalSavages

One were the chickens have come home to roost in the hate-mongering and xenophobic intolerance of the Republican party as Fox News turns a blind eye to said savagery. One were Democrats have turned to “gorilla” warfare: stooping down to slinging feces as a part of their painful campaigns.

One where the front-runner of the Republican party unabashedly charges his growing constituency to:

“Throw them out into the cold…” and “Don’t give them their coats…”

Adopting subtler language, Trump has run his campaign based on the following slogan:

“Make America Great Again”

A thinly-veiled allusion to a less civil time in American history. In the mind of many Trump supporters, it would seem this reference evokes a time that embraced what they yearn to see again: inequality.

At first glance, Trump’s statements look like a classic @ss move but this actually showcases the goading of a GOAT nation. A nation that has written itself in the annuls of history as the Greatest Of All Time (G.O.A.T.). Yet despite the many accomplishments that America has made that support this superlative, from a Biblical perspective, being the G.O.A.T. is NOT where it’s at.

Within Jesus’ ministry, He taught a way of thinking to His disciples that would have given cause for Trump to nail Him to the cross personally – even as he found himself surpassed by a camel and stuck in the eye of a needle:

And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. – Matthew 19:24

Jesus reflected selfless, servant leadership. One where the downtrodden and the poor receive the commonwealth of the Kingdom of God (communism and socialism by some of today’s warped standards). Jesus, as God and His WORD incarnate, emptied Himself of His deity and dwelt among men as the Son of 2016-MakeAmericaGOAT Man in order to distribute the love of a Father to a lost world. Jesus did so as a good Shepherd – leading the lost back to our source of life instead of leaving us to our own demise.

Jesus spoke of giving a person your cloak if he sued you for your tunic – a far cry from Trump’s assertion of taking the coat of someone who didn’t agree with him as they were thrown out into the cold.

Jesus wanted us to see that when we care for the least of those in society or our enemy (those who oppose us), we reflect a heart that is aligned with Our Father (Who became the least of us with no reputation). We reflect our Father’s heart as a sheep nation:

And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
– Matthew 25:32-40

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; – Matthew 5:44

The latter scripture may seem bizarre but consider the following scripture for a clearer context to realize that Christ was only asking us to do what had already been extended to us:

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners (enemies of God), Christ died for us. – Romans 5:8 (amplification added)

Completely dissimilar to the mindset that immigrants should be denied the chance to advance in this country despite the fact that many Americans’ descend from immigrants given just such a chance.

But I digress. A good King responds to the needs of the least of his citizens because he realizes, much like a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, that his kingdom is only as prosperous as the least of his constituents. He realizes that how his wealth is distributed is a reflection of his goodness as a king which is why communities within kingdoms were often referred to as “commonwealths.”

Yet, when our actions reflect what is contrary to God’s heart, we reflect a GOAT nation – aligned with… a different allegiance:

And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left… Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger (alien, foreigner… immigrant), and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
– Matthew 25:32-33, 41-46 (amplification added)

Some have poignantly pointed out that Trump himself is not the issue during these primary elections; rather, it is the throngs of people that are supporting him that have come out of the woodwork that is the graver concern. I agree that Trump is not the issue. I also agree that the throngs of supporters are an issue as they neither came out of nowhere nor are they going back under a rock IF this all blows over. Yet, the gravest issue is not the hate that he panders to; it is the state of America that has already abandoned “the least of these”:

We’ve abandoned so many veterans of the wars we’ve fought upon return to their native land.

We’ve abandoned the poor in the streets and forbid restaurant businesses from giving them the food that is left over at the end of the business day; preferring instead, that they waste resources by throwing said food away.

We’ve abandoned children who learn differently from the majority.

We’ve abandoned the families who are left bereft and empty as we embrace a constitutional right to bear arms that was created in a distant time when citizens had to be prepared to fend off British advancements to overthrow this nation in its infancy.

We’ve abandoned those who think and live differently from cultural norms.

We abandon… ourselves.

Abandonment is the absence of love. We need to embrace love. In embracing love, it will give us the desire to embrace others. As we embrace our neighbors (any person living on this planet), we love ourselves. As we love ourselves, we love God for GOD IS LOVE; and we have been fearfully and wonderfully made in His image and likeness… and this my soul knoweth right well.

SELAH. Hear the word of God. Hear the voice of the good Shepherd and respond to it as a sheep nation… lest we jeopardize the liberty that we have grown so numbingly comfortable to.