I want to confess that i have been avoiding the details of this uncomfortable story about Trayvon Martin since i got an email about it from change.org last week. But when 2 of my friends posted this blog, I decided to read it. I wept. http://jenhatmaker.com/blog/2012/03/26/dear-trayvons-mom#.T3E9t386G78.facebook I had literally just got done reading the story of Micheal Oher in the book “City on a Hill” by Toby Mac to my kids for their bedtime devotional. It hits me, how come some people see a person walking down the street and they feel compassion and a desire to help and another feels threatened and a desire to shoot. We talked at Anchor this week about forgiveness. Matthew 6:15. We talked about how we judge people when we see them and decide their value based on whether or not we think they are worthy of forgiveness. The conclusion I am coming to is that if you are racist, you don’t deem a person of another race as worthy of forgiveness. And according to Matthew 6, If you don’t forgive, then God will not forgive you. Sooo, If you are racist, can you be a Christian? I’m thinking no.
Racism and Forgiveness
In our discussion of James 5 today at the anchor, we stumbled onto the topic of living in the realms of social justice via our purchases as a means to alleviate human suffering. I mentioned that this is a passion of mine. I relayed the story of the Chinese girl from the “What Would Jesus Buy” movie. She found herself in prison in China for being a christian and as a punishment she was to make Christmas lights that would be sold in the U.S.. I also mentioned that I haven’t gotten to the point of being able to scrutinize every purchase to see where it comes from or who made it. One thing that I and my children have committed to is not eating at Mcdonalds. After watching movies like “Food. Inc.” “SuperSize Me”, “Food Matters” and “King Corn”, we decided this was a socially unjust system of food policy and production (Not to mention it is unhealthy for the consumer). To us, it is a way to protest the system and be healthier. Is it a sin to eat Mcdonalds? As I gradually delve into this rabbit hole in my life, it becomes increasingly frustrating. We do our best, but I am confronted almost daily with a new issue. Tap water tastes gross and has chemicals, so we switch to bottled water. Then we see “Tapped” and realize we should not be supporting the bottled water industry, so we buy a filter for our tap. Nestle buys cocoa beans from farms in Africa that employ child slaves… So we only buy Hersheys. Oh wait, they do too. So we buy fair trade. The pharmaceutical industry is corrupt on many levels, so we avoid drugs and vaccines, but what happens when your daughter is diagnosed with cancer. Understandably, most people say it’s pointless and throw up their hands. It’s true, doing every right thing in your daily spending and consumption so as not to violate any social justice would require more work than the 600 jewish laws of Jesus’ day. These self-imposed “laws” would over-take your very existence. NEVER drink bottled water, NEVER eat anything made with GMO or that comes from Monsanto frankenfoods, NEVER purchase anything made by a slave or prisoner and is not Fair-Trade, ALWAYS recycle everything, ALWAYS use rechargable batteries, NEVER take a shower for more than 3 minutes, NEVER…eat mcdonalds… The pharisees were so consumed with the Jewish Law that they forgot why they had the law to begin with. Joel Sodeman mentioned that Jesus didn’t rage against the corrupt Roman Government during his time on earth, but he did rage against the Jewish Law Machine. A machine that preoccupied it’s participants into forgetting the purpose of their existence in the first place… to promote grace and love and alleviate human suffering. If my goal is to love God and help usher in His Kingdom on earth, but I am so consumed with buying local, organic produce that I can’t afford to give money to someone in need, then I am a pharisee. I have missed the boat. I’m reminded of Jesus healing on the Sabbath. Love and grace trumps the law. The law is only there to promote love and grace. If I eat fair-trade, but have not love, I am only a resounding cymbal or a clanging gong. If I never buy things made in China, and never shop at Walmart and never drink bottled water and never eat at Mcdonalds but have not love, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. (1 Cor 13:3) I attached a video that sums it up. http://www.godvine.com/Police-Officer-s-Final-Act-of-Kindness-Caught-on-Tape-Before-Dying-1065.html
Mcdonalds, Social Justice and Grace
