This is the first of what I hope will be a series of follow up thoughts from my previous post "The Incredible Life of Pedro Claver." If you read that post about the life of Claver, then you will understand this post better.
Shortly into Claver's ministry to slaves, we learn that he was resourceful, stubborn about dealing with societal injustices, and he was willing to sacrfice personal gain and even his very life in order to use his influence for what was right both within secular society and within the mainstream church. These are all important things for us to understand as modern Christians. But what does it look like for us?
First, there is the topic of resourcefulness. We live in an evil age, and we are up against a foe that will stop at nothing to kill and destroy anything and everything and everyone. As humans, God wants to work through each of us to address these issues of evil. One particularly evil thing in our world includes injustice, which still manifests itself in oppression, human slavery, unfair laws and regulations, the rich taking advantage of the poor, and so on and so on. You may think that I am being dramatic, but you must also understand that I live in a neighborhood where I actually see and experience the rich taking advantage of the poor EVERY SINGLE DAY. I could provide many examples of injustices that I see all the time, and my heart breaks because of it. How can Christians combat such evil and injustice? We must be resourceful. Sending text messages from the comfort of our living rooms to donate $10 is not going to cut it. Compassion alone is not going to cut it. Being resourceful for us means that we need to educate ourselves to the depth and layers of the problems, and then prayerfully consider multifaceted approaches to dealing with those complex issues. I've said this before, but we must all be life long learners. We must understand that we each have cultural biases, and that by nature we each would choose comfort over suffering if given the choice. But, the life of a Christ follower is countercultural. Leadership comes with a cost. Following Christ comes with a cost. This is why we must be resourceful.
Second is the issue of influence. As a Christian, you are a steward of EVERYTHING. You owe your money, your time, your position, your talent, your influence, and even your very life to Christ. As such, you are called to steward those things on behalf of the powerless and the oppressed. God should be working through you at all times, in all places, and in all situations. You are required to use whatever influence he's given you to speak into issues of injustice, whether you are a business owner, or a parent, or a pastor, or a teacher, or a truck driver, etc. Are you using the influence God has given you to advocate against injustices in our world?
These two issues, resourcefulness and influence, bring some questions to mind. Are you willing to pay the price for Christ? What are you willing to die for? Pedro Claver was gladly willing to pay the ultimate price for the cause that God had called him to. I am willing to give up my life for the kids in Homewood because when I spend time with them, for me it is as if I am spending time with Christ. When a kid from my neighborhood dines at my table, it is as if I am dining with Christ. I have a cause for which I would gladly give up my life. How about you?
2 comments:
Bryan, I can appreciate what you say and I was tracking with you until the end. I think of the Christian in Rome who died for their faith. I think of the girl at Colombine High who died for her faith. In selfishness I struggle with this because I have the fear of leaving my family. I know God's ways are bigger than we are and there is glory if we follow his will but I struggle with it. We are all human and so I respect what you say and even agree with it but have a hard time digesting it. I do agree that we are called to find a multi-faceted approach to serving others and finding solutions. Any concrete ideas on those solutions?
This is indeed a tough issue. We live in a culture that loves Mr. Nice Guy and promotes the idea of playing it safe in order to find the path of least resistance. However, I think men do their families a great favor when they show them that they are deeply committed to a transcendant cause and life purpose for the sake of the kingdom of God. We should model how to embrace risk, because much of life involves taking risks. Everyone has their limits though, so I guess it depends on the circumstances and context for each situation.
About the multi-faceted approach, I think a great place to start is to examine key issues of brokenness or injustice in our world. What is the issue, and what is causing the issue? Once we educate ourselves about the issue at hand, then we go about addressing those issues. Sometimes we will be tender and compassionate, but most Christians stop there. We are also called to act powerfully, systematically, and to be crafty in certain situations. Nehemiah is one great example. So is Jesus (obviously).
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