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When will we release Jesus from our political assumptions? When will we be pro-life in utero and after birth — pro-life for all people regardless of color, creed or religion? When will we call him Lord, placing him above nationalism and political alliances?

When will we be convinced of our sinfulness, humbled and broken by our own brokenness? When will we be obsessed with the plank in our own eye and compassionate about the speck in others? When will we be absorbed with Jesus, therefore, united in Him instead of divided by the perishing kingdoms of this world? When will be released from our selfishness and be sacrificial and others-oriented? When will we lay down our lives for our friends? When will we turn the other cheek? When will we give food and drink to our enemies? When will we bless those who curse us? When will we treat each other the way we want to be treated?

When will we be released of our hearts of stone and be given hearts of flesh, hearts that bleed and break over the things that break God’s heart? When will we see each person as an image bearer of God? When will we be so overwhelmed by the grace we’ve been given that we’re brimming with grace for others? 

When will we stop making our own subculture and start being Jesus in the midst of culture? When will we stop hating and condemning and start loving and changing? When will we wash each other’s feet? When will we let the prostitutes, adulterers, money mongers, beggars, lepers, children come to us? When will we be a place of saved sinners instead of the religious elite? 

When will we stop serving money? When will we live like Jesus is the bread of life? When will we marvel at His creation, taking our call to care for it seriously? 

When will we be released from our national, political, racial, socio-economic affiliations? When will we recognize thousands of years of Christian heritage, not just the last 50 years of American Christianity? When will we come to Jesus and say, “more of you, less of me”? When will we live like his ways are higher than ours? When will we believe that he isn’t just taking us to heaven someday, but that he’s called us to live into the Kingdom of God now, too? 

When will we be faithful disciples? When will we be faithful spouses, parents, children, brothers and sisters? When will be neighborly by Jesus’ definition? When will we embody Christ, released from the powers of darkness and the things that entangle us?

Jesus, you’ve set us free. Let us grieve the ways we still live un-released.