Trying to follow

Another little piece of scraps of writing from way back when. Who knows, maybe this will turn into a story…

Honest stands on the street corner. To the left across the street a beaten down building with a tacky neon sign, “House of Thrills Adult Bookstore.” To the right the base line of a rock song emanates from an old church. It’s morning, the man’s head still throbs from a mix of alcohol and experiences he can’t quite recall at the moment. He went for a walk to clear his head; the frigid air clearing away depressed thoughts of past experiences he’d like to forget. Now his hands were cold and the alcohol was finally hitting his bladder.

On almost any other weekend he would have struck out to the left, used the restroom and then spent a few inconspicuous minutes browsing the shelves, pretending to be not overly interested. Today, today was different, and for whatever reason he turned right.

In the not too far distance the city skyline with big skyscrapers, sat gloomy and quiet. The streets littered with cups and papers from the revelries of the evening before.

The Church entrance was up a short set of stairs and as Honest climbed the steps he could feel the draft of warm air rushing through the doors. That’s what he would do too, rush out with the warm air, as soon as he used the restroom and got some free coffee. If there was one thing Honest had learned about church it was that it was a great place to get free coffee. Coffee and beer, two things Honest would show up for if you were just giving it out at a party. A lady greeted him at the door. She was young, maybe late twenties, short brown hair, and a smile that seemed plastered to her face. “Hi, welcome to our church. My name is Joan. Here’s a program, let me know if you have any questions.” At least she hadn’t asked him any questions, Honest wasn’t looking forward to trying to answer them. Before he could reply with “yeah, where’s the restroom?” Joan was already greeting the next folks coming through the door, and Honest hurried along trying to stay out of the way.

Looking around he spotted the coffee first and decided his bladder could wait…

To Be Continued, maybe.

It is the sin of pride and arrogance that has tended to vitiate [corrupt] the missionary impulse and to make of it an instrument of self-righteousness on the one hand and racial superiority on the other. -Howard Thurman, Jesus and the Disinherited [brackets mine]

Thurman manages to point out a very very large speck in the eye of his brother church goers in just one sentence. Again, he writes to a pre-Civil Rights audience in the USA, but his words still ring so true. Let me breakdown the two critiques briefly.

If we are honest with ourselves, it is very likely that just under the surface of our facade of humble service, there lies a deeply embedded air of self-righteousness to much of our serving others. I know I am extremely guilt of this, often subconsciously considering my time serving others as somehow exempting me from the need for prayer and confession. I think this is an area that needs to be dealt with much more from the pulpit and throughout the service projects of the church. There needs to be a recognition that much of what we do is ‘justice’ work, not charity. Much of the service that is needed, from soup kitchens, to tutoring, to building homes and more, is needed because of injustices that exist, they are not mere undeserved acts of charity.

The second critique, regarding racial superiority was glaringly obvious then, and yet is subtly still an issue today. It hides beneath the surface for many who’ve grown up knowing the PC things to say and think. They are not vicious feelings or ill-intended, but they’re impact on relationships, social impact and the gospel can be overwhelming. Rather than trying to explain this, let me simply leave you with a series of questions to illustrate the point.

1. Is the race and culture of the majority of your friends and church members similar to yours or different?
2. Is the race and culture of the majority of those you have served on missions trips or service outreaches similar to yours or different?
3. What affect do you think the realities of the questions above have on your outlook regarding people as it relates to their race and culture?

Why is it that Christianity seems impotent to deal radically, and therefore effectively, with the issues of discrimination and injustice on the basis of race, religion and national origin? Is this impotency due to a betrayal of the genius of the religion, or is it due to a basic weakness in the religion itself? -Howard Thurman, Jesus and the Disinherited

The above statement was penned in 1949, a decade before the Civil Rights Movement. It is encouraging to know that a few years later, Martin Luther King and others would in fact deal ‘radically’ and ‘effectively’ with injustice in this country. What is unfortunate is that besides that brief highlight in recent history, this statement seems to be largely true today as well.

I believe the answer to the question Thurman raises is clearly that it has been a ‘betrayal of the genius of the religion’ that has kept us from dealing radically with injustice and discrimination. Whether he meant the person of Jesus or the words of the gospel as the ‘genius’, I’m not sure, but I do feel we have betrayed them, sanitized them, and remain fruitless, and impotent in our abilities to enact radical change.

Today we still face a largely racially segregated church in the USA, as well as class divided, systemic racism and sexism still has a stronghold in society, and patriotism toward country seems to trump allegiance toward fellow man and those in Christ. And at the same time, pastors across the country our preaching such a sanitized, watered-down version of the gospel, that we scarcely can recognize it for the radical genius that it once was.

We tend to here sermon’s that seem to place dealing with ‘injustice’ as of second importance (or third or worse) behind the idea of ‘evangelism.’ But let’s not forget, Jesus started his ministry with a call against injustice:
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,”

“Now I get sick only when I go back to America… My American friends were shoveling platefuls of leftover food into the garbage disposal. I threw up all over the counter. I had forgotten what perfectly good food looked like going down the drain to the sewer. It was like watching a disgustingly drunk billionaire burn hundred-dollar bills in front of beggars.
…My mother’s next-door neighbor, a well-groomed, weight-gifted, vertically challenged accountant named Dave, brought out a leaf blower, a lawn mower, a leaf grinder, a mulcher, an edger, and a weed trimmer. He worked all day, making a terrific racket, chopping, trimming, and spraying toxins on a small patch of ground, which produced absolutely no food, only grass. The rest of the world spent the day standing in swamp water trying to grow a few mouthfuls of rice, while Dave sat on his porch with a cold beer admiring his chemical lawn. Sickening? You bet.” -Sisay from White Man’s Grave, by Richard Dooling

Regardless of who you voted for yesterday, or who gets elected this fall, there are some things about the ‘American’ way of life that probably won’t change all that much. There might be some divisions along party lines related to a whole lot of different issues, and it’s sad we can’t find more unity on those things, but that’s not what’s disturbing to a lot of the world. I don’t think a new president is going to be the answer to all of our problems. And, though a unified country will be good for the country, it also won’t bring true healing to anyone’s soul.

What can be addressed, and should be, by a unified church, is the sickening disease of NOT loving our neighbor. The above quote is from a fictional character who returns to his hometown in the USA after spending a few years as a PeaceCorps volunteer in Sierra Leone. I think there are many people who have spent time overseas who at one point, early in their return, relate to his feelings. It is unfortunate that much of the church in the USA looks like the neighbor spending all day grooming their lawn and tossing good food down the disposal, rather then living a life of sacrifice and love for our neighbors across the globe.

Dear Returning.

I pray this letter reaches you before that feeling deep inside of you is gone. My hope is that these words will be encouragement and acknowledgment of the truth that you are experiencing and have experienced from your encounters on your trip.

Let me speak to my experience just briefly, so you understand where I am coming from. I have personally taken four short-term trips in my life (including a two month YWAM Outreach). During each of those trips I came face to face with gripping poverty I had not been aware of before. Each time, I was moved by what I saw and stirred in my heart to live my life differently. My journal pages during those trips reflect that, as I’m sure yours do. Also, at the end of each experience two unique things happened. One, our group, as scheduled by the leaders of our team, did something ‘touristy’ and ‘fun.’ These last days often included shopping, spending larger amounts of money, and living in a way that was in direct contrast to the poverty and stirring that my heart was experiencing. The second thing that happened at the end of each trip was that the leader’s either said explicitly or implicitly that though I had some strong feelings about the way I had been living prior to my trip, I would eventually adjust to where I was comfortable again. Unfortunately, they were right.

What was never said to me, and what I want to say to you now is that that tugging at your heart, that current impassioned disgust with our consumeristic culture, that feeling that you should drastically change the way that you have been living, all of that is the Holy Spirit instilling truth in you. They are truth’s that you won’t hear preached from a pulpit, it won’t be the topic of a Youth Group Bible Study, and you will find very few leaders, mentors, or peers in your life that will encourage you in your new found convictions and passion, but don’t give them up. The Holy Spirit has placed a great stirring on your heart through the unique trip that you have gone on and it would be a shame to let others snuff that out.

I’m afraid you won’t hear this from anyone except this letter, so please, please hear this loud and clear: Those feelings that you are experiencing after your return from your trip, they are the work of the Holy Spirit on your life. Your opportunity to see face to face the depths of poverty of others in our world was an opportunity for the Holy Spirit to show you your brothers and sisters, God’s Children, whom you should, and do, care deeply about. Your heart is more then likely telling you that you should do something about those feelings. For many, they have a hard time coming back to their old lifestyle and eating out frequently or shopping, or just being surrounded by so much unnecessary stuff when others around the globe are barely surviving. Usually, entire groups feel those similar feelings, but no leader and rarely any group member stands up and says that they should take those feelings and put them into action. I’ve heard countless people return from missions trips deeply questioning their lifestyle and then slowly over a few weeks and months, return to life as usually, with only a handful of stories and pictures to show the effects of the trip on their lives. Never have I heard the story of a group returning from a missions trip, acknowledging the collective feelings of desire to change their lifestyles and then acting on them.

The Holy Spirit is working on your life and your heart. The feelings you have from your experience that our challenging your old way of life are the Holy Spirit working on your heart. Do not turn a deaf ear to them, do not let your culture, peers and even leaders, drown out that voice in your life. And for those who have already forgotten that feeling and that voice, pull out your photo album, remember the stories, and stir that tugging on your heart again. If you are involved in a church that is going on a short term trip this summer, especially youth, please tell them the Holy Spirit is working on their heart and encourage and support them to follow that leading, you might be the only one.

Peace in Christ,
Ariah Fine