i am struggling with what it means to be a christian in today’s world. it takes a lot of courage for me to say that. it’s something that has been building up over the last four years that i am just now in a position to verbalize (or in this case type). i look at the injustices around me and wonder what people who call themselves christians are doing in response. i wonder where we get off justifying our selectivity in encountering injustice. when did we decide that some societal wrongs are more important to pursue than others?
the christian tradition i had been exposed to for twenty-one years said that there are things that can make a person a lesser member of the body of christ. it said that some things are not worth my time to care about. it said that there are more important things.
i refuse to believe this. for a while i have thought that it is worth my time to care about the role of women in the church. that it is worth my time to care about the aids-affected of africa. it is worth my time to care about the homeless. it is worth my time to care about the poor. it is worth my time to care about the subjugated. that it is worth my time to care about those who society has rejected.
but i find myself discontent with this. i realize that i am wrong in all these statements. i should not care about any of these groups. i should instead care for these people. i have been too abstract in my passion. i have been too theoretical.
i have been too quiet.
my action does not match my passion. but i don’t have to sacrifice my academic study or ambition. hospitality trumps theology every time. and the only reason i believe this to be true is because my concept of what hospitality truly means has been shaped by the theology i have grown into.
i want to make a difference. i want the word "revival" to mean something. i want to be willing to give up everything to help other people. i want my life to be a constant expression of hope and love. i desire wisdom and discernment. i want to make a difference. and everything else will just have to take a back seat. i’m ready to be relational again. i’m ready to dream big again. and i’m not going to settle for mediocre goals anymore.
1 comment:
Truly profound post my friend. I hope others follow you in the pursuits and purposes you have stated, I have no doubt that you will. My personal situation has made me acutely aware of the marginalization of certain people in the US, and my work has opened my eyes to the marginalization of people across the globe. Many of us here are truly blessed and it's high time we take those blessings, and turn them into action.
If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the million individuals who will not survive this week. If you have never personally experienced the dangers of battle, loneliness of imprisonment, agony of torture, or pangs of starvation you are ahead of 500 million people in the world. If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head, a place to sleep, then you are richer than 75% of the world's population. If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, or even simply some spare change in a dish someplace, you are among the top 8% of the worlds wealthy. A teenager making $20 a week babysitting is wealthier than more than half of the people in the world.
If we could shrink the earth's population to a village of 100 people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, it would look something like this. There would be 57 asians, 21 Europeans, 14 from the Western Hemisphere, and 8 Africans. 51 would be female, 49 would be male. 82 of the people would be non-white, 18 would be white. 80 people would live in substandard housing, 67 would be unable to read, 50 would be suffering from malnutrition, 1 would be near death. 7 people would have access to the internet, 1 would own a computer, and only 1 would have a college education. 5 people would possess 32% of the entire world's wealth and ALL 5 would be US Citizens.
There is so much good left to be done, and it is people like you that can lead others to do it.
Nathan L.
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