The Concept of Justice part deux
Sorry, I didn’t mean to hijack the discussion regarding social justice with my iPhone-ing post. So, to help get us back on track, here are a few more thoughts from Ming regarding social justice.
Anyhow, a few more thoughts based on last week’s rather fun and lively discussion (I love our small group for discussions such as that). Taking a page from the liberal playbook…I think what was formulating deep down in the recesses of my mind was to create a “dialogue” between the “Modern Western Christians” with those that they are unfamiliar with…like the gays and lesbians, the Muslim and Arabs, those from other religions, from other racial backgrounds, from whatever…as with what Amal was saying. Something like a forum or a panel or roundtable, or just a frank “moderated” discussion. Those things “I” can do…I know I can do them…just need to get the people together. I think for people to understand one another, they need to talk, to be almost forced to get to know one another. You know me, I like to “force” the hand, the issue, the whatever.
Imagine a church service…where they bring in several “X” group of people…and have them talk about their lives, their backgrounds, their experiences…and then talk about their perspectives on “American” Christianity (Protestant)…and their background and experiences with that particular form of religions…even maybe grasping as to what they think the Christians think of them. Understanding…forcing it…I think something like that (say instead of preaching from the Bible one Sunday) would or could be a VERY powerful experience…or maybe at a midweek service, or some special service. Imagine that? Then…Q&A with the panel, etc. or whatever…
I remember Donald Miller talking from his college ministry experiences at Reed…and making the “confession booth”…twisting it around where the Christians confessed and asked for forgiveness for what “our” religion did to harm others. That was very powerful…very raw, very pure, and very cleansing.
I think we (as the Protestant church) NEED to do more intentional soul searching, forced understanding, and radical purification of the “false Christian” taint that clouds our eyes….to remove the very sour taste of humanity from our Bible…and to be able to “purely” pursue Jesus and the kingdom of God. We don’t do this often enough…we play “Christian”…pay $10 a month for Compassion International (sorry Tony Compolo) to soothe away our “white” guilt or “rich” guilt or whatever guilt. Is this REALLY kingdom living? Or have I bought into some insanity that Jesus preached and Sir Francis of Assisi went bonkers over.
Please, post any thoughts to help us understand this better.
~Ellis
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Bringing in several “X” group of people to church to share their perspectives sounds like an awesome idea!
I’ve been feeling the same way, only my situation is a little different from yours Ming. I feel as if my life is so full of sin that I am in no position to be the “heckler” of the church, if you will. I still think about where our modern Christian mindset has brought us and how frustrating it is that it doesn’t match up to the Jesus I read about in the New Testament and how my “radical” thinking could be labeled by some to be un-Christian.
So part of me is angry, like you, in wanting to push people to know what it means to love the unloveable. The other part of me is unsure of my own life and what God thinks of me and what I’ve done with my freedom and forgiveness.
I am with you Ming… to explore a topic worthy of exploring. We may even get some interesting conversations going at my wedding on Saturday
It might be enlightening to have some kind of forum in which non-Christians would be allowed to participate and share their views. I think people in Hawaii are generally a little bit more tolerant of non-Christians since some of us don’t come from a traditional Christian background.
If some Christian group were to organize such a forum, I believe that it would be important to avoid confrontational situations. Also, I wonder if non-Christians would feel comfortable taking part in a forum held in a church building. Perhaps a neutral location would be better.
In any case, we Christians should try with the help of God’s Holy Spirit to respect those of various beliefs even though we may disagree with some of their views. I went to central India in 1999 with a YWAM outreach group and spent 1 month there. I was told by local Christians that Hindus belonging to extremist groups have considerable disdain towards Muslims and Christians and that violent acts were committed in the past towards them. As John wrote, “If someone says he loves God but hates his brother, he is a liar.”
Kudos to exposing the epic-ness of what Jesus asks of us. Great thoughts about social justice. Side note: maybe living more like Christ is a start… so cliche… rich young ruler ultimatum?