Here is a glimpse of my mind these last months since I again set foot on US soil.
I've wondered...I've cried...I've judged...I've hoped...I've lost hope...I've questioned...I've held on...I've seen with new eyes...I've hurt...I've missed...I've struggled...and now...
I'm ready to hope again.
I'm ready to hope that change is coming and that we will be part of that change.
That we the church will step up. That we will open our eyes. That we will see the world as it truly is, not as the isolated bubble we have made it.
I can't tell you how I've struggled with my faith because the God we teach is not big enough to deal with this world.
With precious toddlers growing up alone on a sand bar between two countries or
girls who are sold as prostitutes by their families or
boys who are abused by the men who adopt them or
children who dig for roots because there is not enough food or
children who never know love or
ones who never get to go to school or
beautiful kids who dig in the trash heap day after day or
ones who grow up in refugee camps or
the ones who run for their lives after seeing their mothers murdered...
I could go on.
The injustices are many. The wounds run deep. The cries are loud.
And then...I see our world...of abundance and safety. Where we see too small and complain too loud.
And I wonder what are we doing? Why do we think that any of this matters?
I read in Amos how God condemns ritualistic worship, lack of social justice, and idolatry. And I see us in those words. I see today's church in those words. I see our idols of wealth, security, happiness, and possessions. Even worse than that I see our worship of "God" the one whom we've created and put in a box. The one who we think is okay with our turning blind eyes to the hurting next door as well as the hurting across the world. The "God" who affirms that our lives should be about pursuing financial stability for ourselves and the accumulation of more. The "God" who never challenges us to question cultural norms (even Christian cultural norms) or speak on behalf of the voiceless. The "God" who would never call us to be uncomfortable or to sacrifice.
I question how our view of God can be so small. I question why we would believe these lies because they are not from the Bible.
Yet, I have hope. That God is changing the American church...that there are those who will live counter culturally in order to shine the light of Christ to a truly hurting world.
I borrow the words of Martin Luther King Jr...
“And I call upon all men of good will to be maladjusted because it may well be the salvation of our world lies in the hands of the maladjusted. So let us be maladjusted, as maladjusted as the prophet Amos, who in the midst of the injustices of his day could cry out in words that echo across the centuries, ‘Let justice run down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Maladjusted, no one wants to be called that. Yet, I hope for American believers to become maladjusted. To pursue justice in their everyday lives. To live simply. To give generously. To live gratefully. To live sacrificially. To advocate. To seek biblical truth for the hard issues. To be courageous. To act. To use skills God has given us to fulfill specific needs on behalf of others. To seek friendships with the marginalized. To be stretched. To be willing. To be faithful. To be aware. To engage.
I think if we the church can do that, we will be agents of God's transforming work in the world. In the process we will be transformed as well.
