Joining Faith with Activism
Six years ago my wife and I discovered we need a faith that joined our activism.
It was through our work that we kept encountering questions such as these:
How do I build relationships?
How do I care about social issues?
How do I live in proximity with the poor and make disciples with people who live paycheck to paycheck?
There was a disconnect between communities in our neighborhoods and the church community. Since that time we’ve worked to bridge that gap, and I look forward to discussing this with you in the upcoming (free!) workshop “Faithful Discipleship in a World of Activism” (September 14th, 1p ET / 10a PT).
How do you join civic action with the work of faith? I believe there are more questions but the Big Answer is disciple-making! In the upcoming workshop we will discus how to answer these questions but I want to leave you with a community lament I wrote that expressed how I communicate the gospel with those who are involved and engulfed in civic action and justice of their community.
LAMENT FOR THE BLACK COMMUNITY
Over 2500 years ago someone was beaten and downcast and cried out for God to show up. A person showed up with a voice that stuttered, who was a murderer and orphaned prince.
When we lift our voice in every way to spoken words, hip hop, activism and a message of justice and hope, we are declaring for God to show up in all of us.
A collective of one voice crying, screaming for humanity in our neighborhoods. We stand here where civil unrest ended but we come here to stand in solidarity, to raise a fist to those who are voiceless.
We take an ancient stand to be pro-justice in our hearts and lives. We will fight the wiles of injustice in our hearts and in our communities. We speak up in our chosen art form to make it unequivocally known we want Justice and Grace.
Justice is not only human but from God. We want to experience the same justice we seen so often displayed in the Bible. We want to see our families removed from isolation and dismay. We want the same justice that is afforded every lost white girl and boy. We want the same justice that is afforded every person who doesn't want to be robbed. We want the same justice afforded to us that we can learn who we are without being put on display in front of schools.
We want a grace that will plant us in our land; we don't want to be pulled out. We want grace to rebuild our city our way. We want grace where our children and grandchildren will drink freely without lead in their water. We want the grace where our voices will shake the halls of injustice.
We cry out today not only for Justice but for grace to see justice carried out in our lifetime. We want to be seen and heard through our community. We are here today to raise a prophetic voice in the wilderness and let all hear today that we will have justice and grace.
“We take an ancient stand to be pro-justice in our hearts and lives. ”