Let Love Lead

September 17, 2025

Leadership Notes

     Our Scripture last Sunday was Luke 11:14-23. Verse twenty-three was a key verse:

“Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not

gather with me scatters.”

Wherever we live…wherever we go…whatever we do, there is opposition to Jesus. Wickedness hates the light. Evil lurks in the shadows.

     In a connected thread, a couple of weeks ago I shared in one of these missives about studies done on worldviews and happiness. It has been posited that conservative people are generally happier than liberal people. There is a higher level of satisfaction and contentment within the conservative cohort. You can further refine that down to conservative Christians {evangelicals}, who tend to exhibit greater optimism, joy, and happiness in life.

     The intersection of these two ideas lead us to events from last week. The assassination of Charlie Kirk has exposed the hardness of many people’s hearts. As the sermon title from last Sunday pointed out, we are living behind enemies. To paraphrase God’s word, we are strangers living in a strange land.

     As seen since last Wednesday, nothing is stranger than celebrating the murder of a young Christian, husband, and father. We’ve seen such sin- sickness exhibited by pastors, pundits, politicians, and church leaders. Plus, everyday people are reveling in the ghoulish piling-on. In times such as these, the wickedness of people’s hearts is laid bare.

     There seems to be a growing nihilism among us. At its basic, nihilism is “the rejection of all religious and moral principles, in the belief that life is meaningless.” This thought from author John Durant captures the general essence of it:

“From the French Revolution to the present today, the left has been

defined by resentment, mental illness, and revolutionary violence. The

rage-filled losers in life who want to destroy the beautiful and the

successful and the normal, and see the world burn.”

     In the midst of such a destructive worldview, we have been equipped with the greatest gift of all, from John 14:6:

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No

one comes to the Father except through me.”

Those who accept that absolute truth embrace a worldview which moves them to exhibit what Paul describes in Galatians 5:22-24:

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,

goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such

things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have

crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

     Do you resonate with Paul on that conclusion? That’s how we live behind enemy lines. That’s how we push back against the wickedness of the age. I love what God is doing in our little corner of His world. We live with contentment in the midst of wickedness.

     On another positive note, I just read where Jamie Lee Curtis, no stranger to liberal causes, sobbed over the death of Charlie Kirk. Her’s was a reasonable, kind response from the core of her humanity. Of course, she has received pushback from the pathologically unhappy among us. But she spoke with compassion, from the heart.

     Finally, I close with the quote I shared last Sunday from Christian, husband, father, and actor Neal McDonough:

“We can’t just wait for the world to get better on its own. Each of

us has a role to play. With faith, love, and courage, we can make

this world a brighter place for ourselves and for generations to

come. Let LOVE lead.”

I thank God daily for the people of Covenant Church, who, loving Jesus, love each other and the community God has given us to love. That’s how we make a difference in a sin-sick world.

     With Much Love and Affection,

                   Richard

p.s. – Forty-four years ago, when President Reagan was shot, he joked with the medical staff before going into surgery, “I hope you’re all Republicans.” The doctors and nurses laughed, and Dr. Joseph Giordano, a Democrat, replied, “Today, Mr. President, we are all Republicans.”