Church! A Challenge Has Been Issued!
I almost wrote this article last week. But the results of the election were simply too fresh in my mind. I needed more time to decompress my emotions and thoughts. I also, had a feeling about where I believed God would lead me and my words post-2016 election, but I wanted to ensure it wasn’t just my pride speaking. After reading a lot of different articles, spanning various view-points, trying my best in south-central Kansas to see what is going on around the country, and also simply, praying, I believe I’m on the right track.
The Church of America was just handed, on a golden platter, straight from the celestial heavens in our hymnals the greatest challenge this generation has ever received. (hyperbolic much? But I believe it!) We don’t even have to search for it! It’s right here in front of us. It’s within reach! We can touch it. It’s not happening on the other side of the globe or just in a far off metropolitan city on the coasts. Nope. It’s all around us. Every single community, region, state, and city… yes even in Wichita. I also believe the Church of America is up to it!
Are you ready? Here we go! Challenge accepted!
There are millions of people out there who are looking for hope, love, acceptance, grace, identity, care, value, and faith. Quite simply, whether they know it or not, they are craving for Church. They are craving for precisely what Jesus meant for the Church to deliver. How do we define the church? What is the church all about? What is the purpose of church? The words of Apostle James kept coming back to me over the last two weeks.
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” — James 1:27
I understand there are some clear cultural issues going on this passage. So it is important to keep things in context here. But simply put, the church in James’s time had a clear mission field in front of them. First, they had a large population of people in distress who were completely incapable of taking care of themselves. There were orphans who had no resources or anyone to look over them. And there were widows, who by cultural law, had no possessions or rights. There they were. They needed help, desperately. James reminds the church that Pure and Faultless religion is first to care after those who need help.
Who are the orphans and widows in our culture? Who are those among us who desperately need to be “looked after?” The answer to this question is plastered all over the news, blogsphere, facebook, twitter, and pretty much everywhere else you look. Whether we like it or not, this year’s election was incredibly divisive. It has split the country darn near in half. On one side are the predominantly white middle class votership, who have a very valid view point and list of needs and desires. This side includes hard workers, business owners, families, and certainly church goers. The other side are more predominantly minorities, immigrants, non-Christian in religion, and members of the LGBTQ community. These people are also hard workers. Some are very passionate about faith! Many are struggling to secure rights they believe are due to them.
The last article I read stated 81% of evangelical Christians voted for President-Elect Trump. Therefore, I feel it safe to say which side of the coin, the Evangelical Church of America chose (not all of us, however). But it’s the other side of the coin I want us to pay attention to. Regardless of what we think about their beliefs, orientations, lifestyles, faith (or lack-thereof), political stances, Black Lives Matter agenda, whether they are undocumented immigrants or not, or any other blanket statement we can think of, there are many who are scared and desperate to be shown that they matter. And who could blame them? After rhetorical promises of deportation, wrestling away of rights, registration, and misogyny, should we blame them? You can see their cries for help in their protests (even when some try to ruin the message with violence or unlawful actions), in their every day communication, and even in their pleas to a Vice President-Elect.
My best friend’s daughter, a 4th grader, went to her school yesterday in Cleveland, TN, where her classmates started loudly chanting “Build that wall! Build that wall! Build that wall!” to a Latino classmate.
A young woman who attends a church founded by one of my mentors was told by one of her students yesterday, “Donald Trump won. Get the f#@^ out of our country!” — From Jonathan Martin’s article on November 12th (more on this later)
Perhaps you’ve heard first hand an account like one above? A friend of mine posed the question, are all of these accounts really happening? Or are they being made up to cause dissension. My friends, if we naively assume things like this are not happening or that there are millions living in anxiety today, then we are truly displaying a lack of compassion towards people. The truth is there are people looking for safety. Here’s the kicker, the Church can supply that to them! Pure and faultless religion is taking care of the minority, the muslim, the gay or transgender, the immigrant. This statement is not implying that we have to capitulate to a belief system, lifestyle, or ethic we do not agree with. Helping, loving, caring for, and supporting someone in the name of Christ is not a devaluing of one’s Christian convictions. One can still be “a Christian who is [not] willing to go soft on the clear teaching of scripture in order to accommodate changing cultural morals” (I read this statement on a Facebook debate) and still be the people loving (yes even the muslim, gay, refugee, and immigrant), grace filled, Jesus following, Kingdom first building, Image of God recognizing, Christian. In fact, we see Jesus Himself perform this very action repeatedly throughout the Gospels. He cared for people… even when they were stabbing Him in the side with a spear. He was healing people even as they were arresting Him.
James doesn’t just stop with the “orphan and widow.” He also says that pure and faultless religion consists of keeping oneself from being polluted by the world. What in heaven’s name does that mean exactly?
“The Epistle of James was written to Jewish Christians of the first century A.D. living in gentile communities outside Palestine, in an effort to expose hypocritical practices and to teach right Christian behavior.” — Theopedia
There were many forms of practices finding their way into the churches of James’s day. Things from favoritism, to adherence to law over living faith, an ungodly view of wealth, and pontificating. It’s this last word I believe we would do well to pay attention to.
Pontificate — “To speak in a pompous or dogmatic manner.”
We live in a world of pontification. I’m guilty of it. You’re probably guilty of it too. Our Facebook feeds are absolutely guilty of it. Our news feeds and news websites of choice are guilty of it. Our twitter timelines are guilty of it. And it’s wrong. James said:
“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you… Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.” — James 1:19–21, 26
I believe James is encouraging his readers, and us, to allow our actions to speak louder than our words. Do we believe Jesus saves? Live it. Do we believe Jesus produces peace? Create it. Do we believe Jesus encourages grace? Pour it out. Do we believe Jesus is the Divine Harbinger of Love? Let love gush out. Is Jesus the ultimate reconciler? Perform it.
To finish this point, I’d like to paste an excerpt from Pastor Jonathan Martin’s article. I would encourage everyone to read it, in its entirety. It certainly made a convicting mark in my own soul as a pastor. But I believe the entire church should read it. You can read it here.
The world is waiting, not for God per se — but for the manifestation of the sons and daughters of God, for prophets of peace who preach love like it’s hellfire and brimstone.
So finally, for the preachers, dreamers, artists and poets; for the pastors, lovers, and would-be truth tellers: in the chaos of so much rage, violence, and racial injustice: you must, must, must, must not cower before the agents of fear, when you are an ambassador of heaven. You must stop fearing the reprisals of white people who you fear may leave your church, if you speak the truth about race and justice on behalf of the marginalized that are in your midst. It hurts to be misunderstood, I know. And I understand that we all have to pay the bills. We all want to bring everybody along, and we will bring as many as we can.
We need you. I need you. The world needs your prophetic voice.
Don’t pontificate, damn it.
Prophesy. Prophesy. Prophesy.
— Jonathan Martin
So Church of America, do you accept this challenge? Do you accept this opportunity to produce the Kingdom of God here and now? Do you accept this responsibility to care for people as people? Do you accept the difficulty to put convictions aside for a brief moment and simply love on people? Do you accept the chance to be a safe haven for people who are scared and frightened by the world developing around them? I can only speak for myself. And I can declare, I am ready. Please, join me.
