The Whole World’s On Fire

There’s a fire burning in the world right now. It’s the kind that spreads very quickly. It’s not easily put out. Sometimes fire is good, when it’s natural. But the accidents, the arsonists — they’re not good. Like when you forget about the oil you were heating for those french fries and leave to go pick up your granddaughter from school, and when you get back, the kitchen’s gone up in angry flames. That was one lady’s story I remember from working in insurance. With that kind of fire, no amount of water or placating words will help put it out. In fact, it can make it worse.

When people have a fire burning in their lives, they don’t need patronizing words (or water). They need action and fierce love (or baking soda! haha.) They don’t need to have to spend precious time convincing you how bad the fire is. You can see for yourself (if you care to look). But if you’re only concerned about your house, your fields, and your way of life, you probably won’t be very interested in learning about theirs.

And maybe you just want them to be okay so you can be okay….you know? Cause you want to be a “good neighbor” and you don’t feel right with someone suffering right next door –kitchen up in flames. But they sure do have a lot of fires. Maybe they don’t know how to cook properly. It seems like as soon as they get one fire out, another starts before they’ve even had time to repair the damage.

You know, when you see those flames, it kinda takes the joy out of making that pie in your kitchen. But if you can’t see it, then it’s “out of sight, out of mind”. Maybe…maybe you could put up a fence. That way, they can deal with their fires and you can deal with yours…in privacy. And that way, you can go over and help when you feel like it, maybe take them a slice of that pie, but after the obligatory 30 minutes or so of small talk (nothing to personal or they might start with their sob story about how they haven’t had pie in months because the fire destroyed their kitchen and the insurance hasn’t paid yet) you get to go back to your house behind the fence.

But when the worlds on fire, you don’t get the luxury of choosing whether to see. No fence is going to block your view. And now you even have some fires of your own. Maybe what you thought was a good, solid house is starting to crumble.

It wasn’t built for the pressure.

Maybe you’re questioning whether you can make it on your own. Perhaps you’re starting to question that fence. Cause those neighbors, they have a lot more experience putting out fire and rebuilding than you do.

And all this time, while you were thinking you were doing them a favor by sharing your pie, they were doing you a favor by not talking too much about their fires and making you uncomfortable. And to your horror, you realize that you are partially responsible for some of their fires. See, they live downhill from you, and when the wind blows right, the embers from your chimney float down and land in their dry grass.

But you didn’t see it because of your fence.

But now you see. Cause the world’s on fire and the fence has been consumed and how can you not see? Everything looks so much different now, including your neighbors. They’re beginning to look a whole lot less like a project and a whole lot more like allies. Less like an inconvenience and more like someone you missed out on knowing.

What are we going to do about the fires? What are we going to do about the suffering? Often times, when our eyes begin to be opened to the pain and suffering of others, we feel overwhelmed and want to withdraw. Or we become defensive and we want to shift the blame. We feel the need to remove ourselves from the suffering because it’s to burdensome. Or we’re angry at ourselves for not seeing it earlier. But there is something to be said for sitting in the discomfort. For acknowledging that, while you are just becoming aware of these things, God has known about them the whole time and is not overwhelmed or surprised. So while you’re sitting on the ground in the ashes with your head between your knees just trying to process, you’re actually being held. It is this realization that allows you to shut your eyes tight, ask the Lord for strength, get up on shaky legs and concentrate on one fire at a time.

One fire at a time.

I believe that following the way of Jesus means positioning myself with the poor, forgotten, sick, marginalized and stranger. It’s awfully hard to do that from my house on the hill with a fence.

You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. Romans 2:1

Learn to do right; seek justice.
Defend the oppressed.
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
plead the case of the widow. Isaiah 1:17

Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. Romans 14:13

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves. Philippians 2:3

Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Hebrews 13:1-2

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2

Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. 1 Peter 3:8

White Lies (part 3)

Miles McPherson, author of the book The Third Option, said, “Politics are like cable packages”, because you might only want the History Channel and TV Land, but you can’t just have those, you have to purchase a larger package or bundle of channels, most of which you may not like and will probably never watch.  Politics are like this because you can’t stand for one thing without a whole slew of other things being assumed.  For example, I can’t be Pro Life and want to welcome refugees.  Well, in fact I can, but announcing such a thing will leave people very confused.

I believe that there are lots of Christ Followers who want to make good, biblical choices.  I also believe that sometimes, without knowing it, we buy in to a way of thinking that is more cultural than biblical.  When I say to you “I am Pro Life.”, you probably assume that I am talking about being anti-abortion.  And you would be right.  I am very anti-abortion.  However, I believe being Pro Life means more than just being “pro birth”.  Caring about life from conception to the grave is what truly being pro-life is about.  It means I care about unborn babies, and I also care about supporting the (often single) mothers of unplanned pregnancies.

For example, the biggest factors when a woman is deciding on whether to have her baby or abort it are socioeconomic.  Things like, does she have a place to live, medical care, access to affordable daycare, access to a job that pays enough for her to support her and her baby?  So, in this instance, being pro life may look like increasing funding for Government assistance.

So here we go, that automatically puts me on the “other side” of things doesn’t it?  It is interesting to note that often the very people who are die hard Pro Lifers will vote to cut funding and applaud laws passed to make it harder for people to obtain government assistance.  Many of these same people are not, and never have been, in a position to need government assistance.  They are more preoccupied with making sure that people who may be abusing government resources cannot get them than they are with making sure they are available to those who actually need them.  Unfortunately, it is all too common among many people to vote against (or not care to vote) on laws that do not directly affect them.

I say this, because I used to be like that.

I know that this post is very political, but I want to suggest that it may seem political due to the subject and not the intent.  Certain issues are labeled “political” because they are tied to the government and laws on which we might vote.  What I have heard many times is that, because of heightened emotions and varying opinions, political issues should be kept “separate” in category and removed from church sermons and religious conversations for the sake of “keeping the peace” and “not distracting from the Gospel message”.  But my argument is this: These are Gospel issues!  In fact, they were Gospel issues long before they were ever labelled “political” issues.  I think we could all agree that Jesus would be Pro Life in every sense of the word.  He certainly cared about children and the unborn, and he also cared for the immigrant and the disabled.  I honestly don’t know that Jesus would have fit into any political category.

Jesus valued what God valued and when we start to try to do the same thing, we might find that it puts us in a very lonely place.

I want to use an example that is not “current”, because unfortunately sometimes people are more accepting of historical facts than current ones.  I love the movie The Last of the Mohicans.  It has been one of my all time favorites since high school.  I recently re-watched it and was rather nerdily researching some things about the making and ran across an interview with Russel Means, the actor that played Chingachgook, the wise adoptive father of Hawkeye played by Daniel Day-Lewis.  He talks about how 900 Indian extras from all across the country were brought in for the film and were housed in an abandoned boy scout camp.  Interestingly enough, the camp was called Camp Mohican.  Russel Means says this of the camp,

“…it resembled a concentration camp.  The buildings were made of cinder blocks, and six to eight people stayed in rooms designed for two.  Since the camp was so isolated  – 30 miles from town on a dirt road – and the extras had no transportation, they were stuck out there in the summer heat and 90% humidity.  Most of the Indian extras’ scenes were at night, so they had to spend the hottest part of the day in theses hellholes with no way of getting out, buying a Coke, or even seeing a doctor.”

Apparently, one of the reasons they filmed the movie in North Carolina instead of in New York where the story is set, is because North Carolina is a “right to work” state.  This means that labor union laws don’t apply.  Now, in the end, the extras went on strike and their demands were met and the movie continued production.  My point is that, many people I know are against labor unions.  And they have logical reasons for it!  However, as we see with the movie filming example, when people are already in the margins (ultimately because of White Supremacy), they are operating without a safety net. They have limited resources, education, net wealth, and social power.  Therefore, things like labor unions become their safety net and ensure fairer treatment.  But unfortunately, people who vote against laws that protect human rights are either not considering where they may be appropriate or they simply do not care.

In the beginning, when I first started to become aware of my White privilege, I wanted to deny it.  I wanted to run from it.  I didn’t want to attend my Be the Bridge group where we discussed these things.  I wanted to re-affirm my previous line of thinking by seeking the council of others with whom I had, up to this point, shared beliefs.  I cannot begin to tell you how crushed I was.  I didn’t know how to think anymore.  It completely upended my worldview.  Then, as the initial shock wore off, I was reminded that God has enough grace for the depths of our depravity.  I became determined within myself to learn the truth, no matter how painful it was.

“To accept one’s past—one’s history—is not the same thing as drowning in it; it is learning how to use it. An invented past can never be used; it cracks and crumbles under the pressures of life like clay in a season of drought.” -James Baldwin

Knowing that Christ had already died for these things should we choose to turn to Him and accept His grace and forgiveness, gave me the necessary confidence to face head on whatever horrific truths I might uncover.  So, when I first began to believe that I am privileged just because of the color of my skin and that, because I am White, benefit from racism and discrimination, I was heartbroken.  I was not okay with my prosperity at the expense of another’s poverty (both in a literal and figurative sense).  What’s more, I was sure the other White people around me were just unaware (as I had been) of these horrible injustices.  I thought that with the information communicated to them by another White person, their perspectives would be changed.

I was met with so much disappointment.

In having conversations with many White people about racism and it’s prevalence in our country and the possibility of reparations, there is so much defensiveness (which is to be expected).  But there is also a keen awareness of what actual reparations would cost them.  It seems people think that if the price is too high, it reduces or completely negates the wrong committed, or it lets us off the proverbial hook.  Again, so much disappointment.

I will continue to be obedient to the passion that I believe God has laid on my heart.  No matter the cost.  No matter how many friends I lose.  No matter how unpopular I become.  I refuse to go back to the ignorantly arrogant, naive, privileged white girl walking around like I was here first with no concern for that which does not have a direct impact on my life.  I won’t always get it right.  I won’t always have the perfect things to say.  I won’t always see positive change.  But I will continue to be an advocate and a voice for the marginalized and oppressed.  As a Christ follower, I can do no less.

“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.” -Philippians 2:3-7

White Lies (Part 1)

This “White Lies” series of posts will describe my personal journey in becoming aware of issues regarding racism and social injustice.  I am gearing these posts toward western, white evangelicals, as this is the category I fall under. Please keep a few things in mind. 1) There’s a good chance you are not going to agree with me on everything (and that’s okay!), 2) My goal is not to humiliate or shame anyone, but to possibly inform, which in turn might bring about lament, and then incite action, and 3) Just because something is socially/politically “trendy” or a “hot button issue” does not give us the right to dismiss it as propaganda (from the left or right).  Neither does it negate the possibility that it is indeed a legitimate issue. We have a responsibility as Christ-followers to examine everything through the lens of scripture. With those things said, let’s dive in.

The first time I remember noticing racial differences, I was 4 or 5 and my mother took me to a McDonald’s playground.  I remember seeing a black girl playing on the playground and immediately wondered if it was okay to play with her. I even asked my mother, who assured me it was fine.  I grew up in Western North Carolina and there were not many people of color, so this circumstance would have been unusual.

I also remember that there was a full-blooded Cherokee Indian man that went to our church and at carnivals or church events, he would wear Native American clothing complete with a feathered headdress.  My sister and I were terrified of him when he wore those things because of how Native Americans had been portrayed on TV shows and movies we had seen.

The second time I remember noticing racial differences was in elementary school.  I learned about how we (as white people) took land from Native Americans and made them move to reservations.  I remember feeling ashamed of being a white person. When I brought it up to the (white) people in authority around me, I was met with defensiveness and something like, “That was a long time ago.  There’s nothing we can do about it now.”

That message stayed with me a long time.  The message that, though many white people might agree that certain social injustices in the past were wrong, they are paralyzed or unable to do anything about it’s lasting effects on our country today.  Many whites also do not want to see that there is still social injustice that is the direct result of past social social injustices.  Many would like to believe that with the end of the Civil War or the Civil Rights movement, systemic racism also ended.  There is also a difference between “seeing” and “acknowledging”. Many white people who see the social injustice around them, refuse to acknowledge it.  

For me personally, acknowledging the social injustice around me meant I had to then reconcile it with my own views, choices and lifestyle. 

Growing up, I heard lots of comments like “I don’t understand why black people are still angry and act like we owe them for something that happened 100 years ago!” or “I’ve never owned a slave!”.

And since my social groups (church, school, extra-curricular activities) were primarily white, that message was never challenged.

The summer between my 8th and 9th grade year, my family moved from Western North Carolina to Upstate South Carolina.  While only about an hour’s drive, the cultural difference was alarming for a mountain girl. I honestly don’t think I knew what “name brand clothing” was before I moved.  However, part of that may have been my age. There were also many more people of color. In some cities, the population of white/black came close to 50/50. In my North Carolina town, there were many migrant workers from Mexico, but whites were still the majority by far.

Strangely, I don’t remember noticing the difference in the ethnic ratio.  There was a time when I used the fact that I often don’t notice someone’s “color” as proof that I am not racist, as if racial blindness equates to racial equality and unity.

Again though, my social circles were primarily white.  Therefore, noticing was a choice.

Also, at this point, I still believed that there was equal opportunity.  You know, because we live in America. And our country was founded on freedom. And we all have certain rights. The idea of meritocracy.  That our level of success is determined by our personal choices, drive, and determination. The problem is, when people do not have equal opportunity, the choices they make, how hard they work, and how determined they are to succeed, does not give them an equal shot at success.

I know I am already starting to step on some people’s toes.  If I had read what I am writing now only a few years ago, I would have already been qualifying my ways of thinking.  If this is you, please give me a fair shake. Hear me out.

I was raised Southern Baptist.  And I’m not hating on Southern Baptists at all.  For the most part, I had wonderful teachers and pastors that grew me in Christ.  But, I have to confess, sometimes it was hard to see the line between being an American and being a Christ follower.  I’m not saying that this was because of my family or any particular person.  It’s just that culturally, the two were closely linked.

We had patriotic church services and, as a small child, I would see men that normally were void of emotion, with tears in their eyes as the American Flag was carried down the center isle in the sanctuary.  I didn’t understand this of course. Patriotism was confusing. I didn’t know how to be thankful for freedoms that I had never had to live without. I had also never really had to sacrifice a loved one or things about my lifestyle during wartime.

Gratitude and support for our troops and honoring those that have served and are serving is certainly important and I am in no way trying to diminish that!

But the more I heard and saw, the more I became aware of the idea that “We are blessed by God because we are Americans”.

Why?  Because America was founded on religious freedom.

The idea that our victories in wars were because “God was on our side”.

Why was He on our side?  Because we were founded on biblical principles.

And yet, perhaps not initially, but eventually, we were okay with our government moving over 100,000 Native Americans to reservations.  I don’t have to tell you how, in the process, many of them died and many of those who did not die, their descendants now struggle with poverty, alcoholism and other things.

So, essentially, we took away another groups freedom so that we could have ours.  

But many people still maintain that we are under God’s blessing as Americans, because of the initial principles of the founders of our country.

I recently read an article written by a black columnist named Cedric Lundy.  He talked about how many white Evangelicals blame the horrific things that occur in our public schools today on the fact that corporate prayer was removed from schools.  The implication being that when we decided to “leave God out of school”, God removed His “blessing” or “support” of the school system. Which also implies that God was supporting and blessing before that.  He brought up the fact that prayer was taken out of schools in 1962.  Right in the midst of the Civil Rights movement.

His point was that the theory of God removing His blessing is based on the assumption that God was okay with segregated schools (which indicated that certain people He created were not as worthy or valuable as others and therefore should not be in the same classroom and do not need/deserve the same funding and resources), but taking corporate prayer out of schools was the “straw that broke the camels back”.

I do not pretend to know the mind of God.  He can certainly bless who He wants to bless.  But when I look at the decisions our country has made made over and over again to devalue human life, life that God created and pronounced good, I wouldn’t be so quick to claim God’s support.  Maybe that’s just me.

If you are a white person reading this, chances are you are really uncomfortable, angry and/or defensive.  This response is called “white fragility”.

white fragility- discomfort and defensiveness on the part of a white person when confronted by information about racial inequality and injustice.

These feelings often lead to actions such as withdrawing from a conversation, physically leaving a space, or closing out the tab on this blog post.  

One of the things I have learned as a white person is that we have to build up our emotional stamina.  For me, once I started to see some of the injustice around me, it turned my world upside down.

It was hard to take 30 years of thinking a certain way, (believing that there is equal opportunity for everyone, assuming that we have an impartial justice system etc.), and then reconcile it with the things I was seeing and hearing around me.

This temporary upheaval caused me to first want to withdraw, and then it made me angry and ashamed.  I was ashamed of how gullible and blind I have been. It was/is easy for me to be angry and impatient with white people who still don’t see.

But I pray for the grace to extend grace, because when I allow myself to verbally attack others and treat them with disrespect, that means I am more concerned about how high I can get on my “soap box” than I am about perpetuating real, lasting change.  I’m bringing glory to myself instead of God.

The same is true if I were to allow the fear of losing friends to cause me to remain silent on this topic.  I would be desiring glory for myself (in the form of popularity and relationships) instead of prioritizing God’s glory.

I have never been “into” politics.  The more I learn, the more I realize that I cannot pick a side.  That is a hard position to take. It puts me in a place of being too “liberal” for one group and too “conservative” for another.  Therefore, I cannot place myself under a label or party. Only under the authority of God and what He says in His Word.

I hope this post has been at the very least, bearable.  If you are reading this, you have made it to the end of my first post on race.  Which means you didn’t walk away or stop listening. I commend you. I am praying that God would open our minds and hearts to see the unbiblical patterns of thinking that have taken over so much of the white Evangelical culture.  I pray that we would allow our worldview to be shifted and our perceptions challenged, so that we can begin seeking our role in social justice and reconciliation.

“For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes.” -Deuteronomy 10:17

If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. -James 2:8-9

When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them.  The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your God. – Leviticus 19:33-34