Whose Line is it Anyway?

So much has been going through my heart and head over the past few weeks. The matter of police brutality and systematized racism has come to the foreground globally, due in part to several deaths in the American Black community. The issue of systematized racism has been something I have been learning about for the past several years and an issue that is close to my heart.

I have witnessed individual racism and systematic racism on many occasions over the years as the wife of a Black man, as a foster parent and someone who worked in education and the judicial system. I have seen how the current systems disproportionately sort our Black youth out of Honors and AP classes and into Special Education and behavior programs. I've seen young Black teens discouraged from having a dissenting opinion and then accused of not caring about their education when they are silent or disengaged. I have met with and talked with Black families who want nothing more than to see their children safe and successful, but those same children are being sent out of class for behavior that is overlooked in white children.

It exists, people. It's real and it is keeping the Black family broken, the Black community broke and scared for their sons' lives.

Amidst all of the turmoil right now, I am praying for the church to have eyes to see. I'm praying for a spirit of repentance to blow through our sanctuaries, our living rooms and our hearts. And if I'm praying for the church, that means I am praying for me.

No one is infallible. No one gets it right every time. It's easy to stand self-righteous in my personal conviction and not continue to ask for new eyes, clean hands and a pure heart. I must reject complacency and continue to lay my heart bare, asking for His perspective.

In the discipleship group that Eddie and I have been leading for the past 3 months, we have looked at Jesus' response to those who should have known better. Time and time again, Jesus called out the scribes and teachers of the law, telling them they might have all the right answers in their heads, but their hearts were far from him.

I don't want to miss it. I don't want to sit comfortably in my "right-ness" and miss the heart of the matter.

In Matthew 7:22-23 Jesus says, "Many will say to me on that day,‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’"

I have very clear memories of being in Christian school at 7 or 8 years old and being told how to vote for the babies. Bush would protect babies from being killed and Dukakis would kill the babies. Pretty easy choice, right?

Boiling down God's will to one (albeit important) issue is simplistic at best. What if God's principles don't match 100% to party lines? He is a God of justice and mercy, of acceptance and righteousness, He cares for His creation and the state of the family. He welcomes the refugee and cares for the orphan and the widow. Jesus never derided the poor, the sick or disenfranchised. He drew them near, he tended to their needs.

There seems to be a prevailing belief in the American church that a certain political party holds the key to heaven on earth; that its political platform lines up perfectly with Scripture. I suggest that God's will lies on both sides of the political divide. There are things that each side is getting right and areas where they both fall woefully short. If that is true, navigating our political and spiritual beliefs becomes a little more complicated than simply "voting for the babies" or saying "Black Lives Matter."

This is an opportunity for the church to seek God's perspective and repent for the areas where we've gotten it wrong- on both sides of the aisle. His line, not any political party line, is where we need to be aligned.

Muted

As I prayed about what to say in this week's blog, I felt that I've said enough already on social media platforms. Instead, I will listen and give room for other voices to be heard.

If you are one our regular supporters and readers, I encourage you to find a Black Christian writer and listen to what they have to say.

Upgrading My House of Straw

The past few days I've been reflecting on what we're trying to build here. You see, long before we packed our bags to leave, years before we sold our house in Seattle, Eddie and I felt a strong call to return to Belize.

From having lived here (short-term) previously, we had a strong sense of the needs here. Over months and years, we researched the culture, economy, development statistics, and then formulated (what I felt) was a killer plan.

I created PowerPoint presentations that showed why we were the right people to make a difference in Belize. Our years of social work and community work, our multi-cultural and multilingual family- it all made so much sense! While we prayed, we got confirmation after confirmation of our call, but no specifics about what we would do here. So, we started to make a plan of our own, telling God He could redirect us at any time. What we didn't expect was for that redirection to hit a month before we were scheduled to leave. What had taken us a long time to painstakingly create was wiped out in a single blow.

What had seemed so solid was no more than a house or cards...or straw.

In the story of the Three Little Pigs, the first little pig used what was easy and on-hand to build something quick, but that couldn't withstand even the slightest test. Once it was over, I realized that what I had built up in my mind and heart was just as flimsy as that house of straw.

So, stepping over the ruins of our first dream, we boarded the plane determined to only build what God instructed us to build.

Fast forward several months and a new plan starts to formulate that just makes sense. With all the multinational NGOs in Belize, it just makes sense that I would pursue a job with one of them. I can do community development work while Eddie does whatever ministry He is called to do. Why hadn't I thought of this earlier!?

I guess I fancy myself the architect of our family's life. It wasn't until this week that I saw this new idea for what it was: another way for me build something in my own strength. Like the second little pig's house of wood, this plan would require more time, more effort and offer more security than the house of straw. But I was kidding myself if I thought I could direct my life, and that of my family, better than God can.

Psalm 127:1 says, "Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain."

There's a reason God's plans take time. Whatever He builds are built to last. They are built to shelter us, protect us and withstand the storms of life.

Matthew 7: 24-25 says, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock."

So, rather than waiting for the Big Bad Wolf to come and obliterate my wooden house, I am voluntarily walking away from it. If God wants the NGO job idea to happen, it will. But instead of wracking my brain to figure out how all of this is gonna work-out, I'm going to "hear His words and do them." If He builds the house, it will stand the test of time.