A few years ago, someone accused me of “losing my way.” This was a response to my friendship with an Islamic leader in the community, my supportive posts on social media of the LGBTQ+ community, and to the way I was encouraging churches to venture out beyond their buildings to sing hymns together at a local brewery.

Here’s my reply to their accusation:

“Thank you! Losing my way has been long and difficult. I haven’t completely lost it, but I continue to work on it!”

Shouldn’t that be our life-long commitment as followers of Jesus? Shouldn’t our goal be to lose our way to follow Jesus’ way?

• We are losing our way of fearing the stranger, to follow Jesus’ way of welcome and inclusion.
• We are losing our way of focusing inward, to follow Jesus’ way of focusing outward.
• We are losing our way of staying in a place of sanctuary, to follow Jesus’ way of leaving our comfort zones.
• We are losing our way of pushing those who are different to the margins, to follow Jesus’ way of restoring them back into community.
• We are losing our way of prejudice, to follow Jesus’ way of grace.
• We are losing our way of self-preservation, to follow Jesus’ way of selfless love.

Today, I hear many people say that our nation has “lost its way.”

Here is my response to that accusation:

“I only wished it were so.”

But some of us are working on it.

There have been movements throughout our history that have challenged our country to lose its way “in order to form a more perfect union.” These include the Abolitionist Movement, the Women’s Suffrage Movement, the Labor Movement, the Civil Rights Movement, the Anti-War Movement and the LGBTQ movement. The good news is that there are some Christian-led movements afoot today, like the Poor People’s Campaign led by Disciples of Christ minister Rev. Dr. William Barber. Like other movements, they are challenging our country to lose its way to follow the way of love that Jesus taught his disciples and that is taught by every major religion.

• To lose its way of bigotry and racism, to follow a way of valuing every human as one made in the image of God.
• To lose its way of greed and materialism, to follow a way of generosity.
• To lose its way of White Christian Nationalism, to follow a way that affirms diversity is what makes our country great.
• To lose its way of oppressing people who live in poverty, to follow a way of liberation and opportunity.
• To lose its way of dishonesty and deceit, to follow a way of truth.
• To lose its way of violence and domination, to follow a way of servanthood.
• To lose its way of militarism and perpetual war, to follow a way of peace.
• To lose its way of putting itself first, to follow a way that believes “For God so loves the WORLD.”
• To lose its way of undermining public education and under valuing teachers, to follow a way of treating children as the greatest among us.
• To lose its way of stripping away the rights of women, to follow a way of empowering women.
• To lose its way of abandoning the needs of the sick, the hungry, the foreigner and the imprisoned, to follow a way of loving them as our very selves.
• To lose its way of inequity and injustice, to finally follow a way of liberty and justice for all.

May the followers of Jesus continue creating movements proclaiming the way of love to our nation, until the whole world makes the accusation: “America has lost its way.”

And we can reply:

“Thank you! Losing our way has been long and difficult. We haven’t completely lost it, but we continue to work on it!”