When I was a kid on the playground, the invitation to a fight was the action to draw a line in the dirt, then to dare the opponent to step over the line. All was generally peaceful, so long as people honored the line, but inevitably, someone crossed the line.

Those who know me well know that I am not a fan nor a supporter of our current political administration. My ethics are Christian rather than political because I follow the teachings of Jesus as presented in our gospels, not the platform of any political party. I have been open, honest, and critical of Clinton, Obama, and Biden as well as Reagan, a couple Bush’s, and Trump. I don’t believe that anyone across our current political spectrum is truly guided by Christian values, priorities, or practices, though one party misses a lot closer to the target than the other.

However, the lines that Jesus drew in the sand have been crossed over and over again in the past year. Care for the poor? Rehabilitation of the convict? Peacemaking? Welcome and inclusion of the immigrant, the refugee, the asylum seeker, the stranger? Respect for the enemy and the adversary? Healing for the sick? Mercy? Justice? Forgiveness? Compassion? Reconciliation, restoration, and unity? Not pretending to be the Messiah?

And now, in ignorant and hateful defiance, disrespecting the Pope? With cronies saying that the Pope should mind his own business and focus on moral issues, as if an unprovoked war threatening annihilation isn’t a moral issue? We don’t have to be Roman Catholic to understand the significance of the papal office, nor to remember the respect and honor we are commanded to extend to one another in Christ. For a sitting president to “go after” the head of the Catholic Church is not only absurd, but sinful.

And that image that followed. Where our president places himself in the role of the healing Christ, surrounded by adoring sycophants, U.S. patriotic symbolism as backdrop, fighters, astronauts, and apocalyptic deathmongers in the clouds later claims he thought he was a doctor… Should someone who cannot interpret the symbolism of such a sacrilege be trusted to lead anything? But on a significant level, this is a gift. Many people call themselves Christian, but not so many are true followers of Jesus Christ. This horrendous image will separate the sheep from the goats. No one who truly loves God in Jesus Christ, guided by the Holy Spirit, will tolerate or accept such blasphemy. Perhaps a line has finally been crossed that will separate truth from all the lies, reality from all the falsehood, intelligence from all the ignorance, and peace from all the hate, malice, arrogance, and violence of a horribly broken leadership.

Actions speak louder than words (isn’t that profound?), and the actions of our United States have proven to all that we are not a Christian nation, we are not an ethical nation, we are not a kind and generous nation, and we are not a good nation. If this is not the image and reputation we wish to have, we need to take action, to speak out, to vote our values, and to embody, embrace, and live out the teachings of Jesus the Christ.