I am beloved. You are beloved. We are beloved. This is such an important truth. The most important thing about this person is that they are a child of God.

This is always true, for everyone, but I am struggling to uphold the belovedness of people who don’t uphold belovedness. For me, right now this is the new federal administration, including President Trump and Elon Musk. I know that this exercise is so important that we might have soft hearts; if we don’t do this deep work, then we can perpetuate the same harm that we are condemning.

I read an article about the impacts of cutting USAID and I lament how one whistle-blower anticipates massive human suffering as a result of these cuts: 

• Up to 18 million additional cases of malaria per year, and as many as 166,000 additional deaths;
• 200,000 children paralyzed with polio annually, and hundreds of millions of infections;
• One million children not treated for severe acute malnutrition, which is often fatal, each year;
• More than 28,000 new cases of such infectious diseases as Ebola and Marburg every year.

I sit with each of these statements and I grieve. I lament the dehumanization that focuses exclusively on the systems of financial gain and “efficiency,” without seeing the impact on real lives, the death and destruction of God’s image bearers and the most vulnerable globally.

Augustine describes sin as the heart turned in on itself – I see so much motivation taking place centered on hoarding power, resources for the good of some but not for all. I understand there is some motivation around balancing our national budget, which I appreciate, but some financial analysts estimate that the proposed budgetary measures won’t actually balance our budget but actually increase it: cutting 1.1 trillion would add 3.3 trillion in deficits and drastically increase wealth gaps between the rich and the poor…. 

Scripture attests to the reality that what affects some of us ultimately affects all of us. When one part of the body suffers, we all suffer. Why aren’t our hearts grieving when we make these decisions that harm and destroy God’s image bearers?  All for a very small portion of our budget… Let’s cut malaria and AIDS medicine from the poorest people in the world because it’s going to save each American pocket what, five cents?

I hear some people on the right say, “yes, it will hurt, but it will be worth it,” but this dismisses the pain they are inflicting. To me, it seems like we’re not making America great again, we’re making America cruel again, and I say again, because I’ve learned that there have always been narratives of difference that created hierarchies of privilege at the foundation of our country where some are valued over others. 

I grieve my fellow brothers and sisters who are claiming that these actions are right and good and Christian. HOW?

Yet I must also uphold their belovedness, even though I struggle to see it, knowing that I must uphold my value that “I am never fully right and always partially wrong.” What am I not seeing? Who else do I need to hear from?

Belovedness goes from What can I gain from them? and instead asks –  What if that were me? What if this were Jesus? 

I hold Donald Trump and Elon Musk before the throne of God and pray for them. I know that we are called to pray for our leaders and also our enemies. I feel my heart turning warmer towards them. Lord, show them Your way. Convict them of any idols they are placing above You. Convict me of the same. Help us as your people to have an authentic Christian witness that is reflective of Your way, Jesus, rooted in the gospel of repentance, love and justice and care for all. 

What will it take for us to actually embody Ubuntu: “I am because we are,” not destroying one another but knowing that what affects one affects all:

 “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.

“From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” – Ephesians 4:16