The cameras speak, and the world listens.

Then, an electronic inquisition. Google explodes with the name of the deceased. A resume or a criminal record will tell the story.

The past narrates the present. Either “Of course…” or “How could they…”

A value assessment becomes a fork in the road on our way to a juryless verdict.

Guilty or innocent? Villain or victim. A human life becomes currency. Trash or tragedy.

Then the Gospel of Jesus crashes the party. Quite literally, the King of Kings tightens His grip on the tables in our lives and He pitches them upside down.

There were no Google searches for the Messiah. No background checks for the Father of the Prodigal. No free pass to the self-righteous.

The least become the greatest. The weak become strong. The Master fills a basin and grabs a towel and as He does so, the career path for a leader inverts.

His declaration is clear. His intentions precise.

The Lost. Sinners. Tax Collectors.

He pronounced no sentence because of a prior conviction. And He extends no shortcut because of religious precision.

This Jesus. Our Jesus.

He makes a hero of a Samaritan, and redeems a promiscuous outcast at a well.

He shamed the elite, and He valued the shamed.

While others are scouring the Internet to determine if this man or woman “had it coming,” Jesus is polishing the mirror so we have an unobstructed view of ourselves.

This is what propels me. It is what ignites my soul, even as it intensifies my resolve.

There is a value proposition with Jesus. It starts with the least. With the overlooked. With the abandoned. With the ridiculed. With the hated. With the poor. With the sick. With the stranger. With the incarcerated.

This is the Gospel.

This is why, every day across this country, thousands of leaders, thousands of warriors, thousands of servants… some with a logo that matches mine, proclaim a message of hope. Real hope. Christ purchased hope.

He reminds us that all have sinned. All. (Romans 3:23)

He reminds us that we’re all dead. All. (Ephesians 2:1)

He reminds us that God, His Father, sent Him to earth on a mission. Into the mess. As a ransom. (Matthew 20:28)

Sins forgiven. Foolishness redeemed. Life for death.

No resume is enough to qualify, no act of foolishness too outrageous to disqualify. This is what we say to young people. We heard it first from Jesus. (Matthew 19:21) (Luke 15:20)

Before the name, George Floyd smashed into the Google servers on May 25, 2020, he was known by God. He was loved by Jesus.

There was no past activity that would make his death appropriate. And no prior accomplishment that would make it a tragedy… He was an image bearer of God. Period. That, by itself, brings lament. That, by itself, forces introspection, confession, and change.

The front two legs of the table are in the air. Can you feel it? Do you fear it? Are you ready?

For the least. For Jesus.

Ferocious in love. Unabated in justice. Generous with mercy. Hopeful in Jesus.