It's Time to Listen

"The first duty of love is to listen." - Paul Tillich

This past week I took a step back and I observed, read, and listened to a lot of people who have posted and shared and this is what I've seen.

I've seen a lot of statistics, videos, and explanations supporting the idea of systemic racism in our society.

I've then seen a lot of people attempting to disprove those statistics and videos with statistics and videos of their own.

Then I have seen my friends, colleagues, and even strangers of color speaking up about their own experience. Expressing their pain from their own experience of prejudice in our society, expressing their anger for how long their voices have been ignored and expressing their fear of the probability that their children will have to face these issues one day.

I have heard these emotions spoken out by people at work, on social media from people I went to Bible school with, from fellow students in my current course,  from old friends from my childhood, etc. These same emotions have been expressed by people from all walks of life and beliefs. They are not all democrats nor are they all republican, many are Christian but some are not. The only thing they all have in common is that they are people of color and they have experienced prejudice throughout their life.

What saddens me the most, is how many of my friends, many of them Christian, who state that they love and respect all people, completely ignore the people speaking up about the pain, anger, and fear that they are feeling. They dismiss the experience as a conspiracy by the media or the politicians and fail to recognize the real people who are speaking up.

Even if you deny the existence of systemic racism doesn't love mandate that we take a moment to listen?

Doesn't love mandate that we try to understand?

How can we love our neighbor when we refuse to listen to what they have to say?

Some Thoughts on Recent Events

"Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends,

than that good men should look on and do nothing."

John Stuart Mill

I do not condone violent protests. I think that they take the focus away from the situation at hand and give fuel to people who want to criminalize the protesters.

That being said... I understand it.

I understand why the frustration has built up to the point of violent protests.

I understand why the anger has built up to the point that it boils over in this form.

I do not condone but I understand.

Our African American community has been trying to speak out against continued oppression for decades and we have ignored them. 

They've written songs about it but we didn't listen, they made sit-com episodes about it and we took as a joke. They've tried to build diversity groups in our workplaces and we took it as another requirement to sit through and then go on with our lives. 

I say "we" because I did the same thing. I grew up listening to Christian Hip-Hop but skipped over songs like "Tears of a Black Man" by Gospel Gangstaz. My favorite show has always been "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" but I never really listened to the message portrayed in the episode where Will and Carlton were arrested and accused of being car thieves just because they were driving a fancy car. Both of these examples were peaceful attempts to get the message across almost 30 years ago and we never listened. 

Recently, the media has finally been picking up these real life events of unjust killings and we made it into a political issue. We made it into an either/or issue with the African American community pitted against the cops. Despite their being unarmed, the victims were consistently criminalized and the perpetrators were let off with a "slap on the wrist" at most. 

Each time the African American community cried out against the injustice and the majority of white America ignored them. Those who didn't criminalize them, remained silent.

In the last month, three innocent African Americans have been killed largely due to racial profiling and prejudice.

Ahmaud Arbery was killed by the son of a former police officer while going on a run,

Breonna Taylor was sleeping when police performed a raid on the wrong house and killed her in her own home,

and George Floyd was killed by an officer's knee while trying to tell him that he couldn't breathe.

This is not even mentioning the incident with Christian Cooper.

These are the ones that have been caught on video or shared in the media, but how many more are happening? 

It is time to stop being silent. It is time for us to speak up against the injustice that is happening towards our African American brothers and sisters.

This is not a political issue, it is a life issue. 

Who is the Child of Christmas?

"For unto us a Child is born,

Unto us a Son is given;

And the government will be on His shoulder.

And His name will be called

Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Isaiah 9:6

My regular readers have probably figured out long ago that this is my favorite verse regarding Christmas. This is my third year in a row, and my fifth year overall, that I am writing about this verse. 

In my previous posts regarding this verse I focused on the fact that Jesus came to earth in order to establish a new Kingdom, a Kingdom that is backwards to the world's ways of doing things. This year I would like to address what this verse means to each of us personally. This post is inspired by a short message given by Pastor Jeff Amsbaugh at Heritage Baptist Church during the School Christmas program. 

This verse identifies several names for Jesus, several roles that Jesus has promised to take in our lives. 

Wonderful: First it identifies that Jesus would be called wonderful. There are times in our lives where we can get bogged down by the monotonous of life and we can forget the wonders that Jesus has done for us. I am sure that each one of us, if we take the time, can identify several wonderous things that Jesus has done. This Christmas season start there. Calm yourself down from the busyness of life and think back over the wonders performed in your life. 

Were you delivered from an addiction or a nagging sin?

Has God blessed you with a wonderful family?

Have you been miraculously healed from sickness or disease?

Have you seen God bring you out of financial difficulties?

Counselor: In today's society we are hearing more and more about mental illness. Suicide and homicide seem to be on the rise and more and more people seem to be diagnosed with depression, bipolar, and other mental illnesses. In addition, we continue to see a large percentage of marriages ending in divorce. I am thankful for human counselors and, having worked in the mental health field, I have seen the tremendous benefit of psychiatric medications when properly prescribed. However, it is important for us as Christians to remember that Jesus is the ultimate Counselor. He should be the one we go to first with our issues. He should be the one that we are allowing to council us each and every day as we approach various decisions and problems. 

Jesus is our marriage counselor.

Jesus is our career counselor.

Jesus is our psychiatric counselor.

Jesus is our financial counselor.

Jesus is our legal counselor. 

Mighty God: Jesus is our Mighty God! 1 John 4:4 tells us; "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." It is important to remember that we do have an enemy in this world, but it is even more important to remember that our God is greater, mightier than that enemy! Jesus came down to earth as a baby, fully human, but He also came down at the Mighty God, fully divine. He conquered death, hell and the grave and took all authority in heaven and earth. He then gave us the ability to walk in that authority. When discussing how Jesus is Wonderful, I suggested looking back at the wonderous things He has done in your life. When discussing Him as Mighty God it is time to recognize those things that are not as they should be and put your faith in Him to make them right!

Are you or a family member fighting illness? - He is your healer.

Are you lacking the resources to do what God has called you to do? - He is your provider.

Are you fighting addiction or sin? - He is your deliverer, your victor. 

Are you experiencing attacks on your family? - He is your protector.

He is Mighty God!

Everlasting Father: You may or may not know what it is like to have a loving, earthly father. A good father is a protector, a comforter, a guide, and one who brings teaching and even discipline. On the other hand, there are few people who can bring more pain to a child than a bad father, whether that father is absent, abusive, or simply complacent. If you have a difficult experience with your earthly father then God is present to heal you from that experience and to show you what a true father is supposed to be. Still, if you had a great father, and I hope you did, we all know that our earthly father will not be around forever. I try to be the best father I can be to my daughter but I have to recognize that there will be a point where I will not be able to be there for her. God is our Everlasting Father. He is the only father who can always be there and will be there for eternity. 

Prince of Peace: Lastly, Isaiah identifies the coming Child as the Prince of Peace. There is a lot of turmoil in our society. Despite the continual promise and recognition that Jesus has overcome the world as Mighty God, there is also recognition that as long as we are on this earth we will experience trials and difficulties. The early church definitely experienced this going through significant persecution, first from the Jewish leaders, and then from the Roman leaders. There is no promise that our life will be perfect or that we will not have difficult times, but there is a promise that Jesus is our Prince of Peace. Through Him we can have peace even in the most difficult of times. Paul mentions that the peace of God "passes all understanding". In other words, God's peace will allow us to be in rest when our circumstances seem anything but peaceful. Through Jesus we can be like He was, asleep in the boat in the midst of the storm (Mark 4:38). 

This Christmas, take some time to remember who He is to you. Yes, we are celebrating the day that Jesus was born as a baby but we are celebrating that day because He came as much more than a baby. 

If you would like to read some of my previous posts about this verse here are the links:

Christmas and Politics from 2018

The True Meaning of Christmas from 2017

For unto us a Child is born... from 2014

The Truth About Christmas from 2013

Christmas Message from 2010.