Oh, this has been my struggle for years. I pray for bravery to step outside of a space that no longer fits me and one that better reflects Jesus and the mission he has called us to.
Agreed! So many of the calls for (or humble-brags of) unity and so on have sounded like “Peace! Peace!” where there is no peace. And so many of the teachers and leaders who have dismissed as divisive anything other than platitudes about the kingdom being bigger than the empire have struck me as insulated to the point of ignorance, in complete denial, or eager to spiritually bypass the uncomfortable emotions to keep things going on as usual (by that, I sadly mean the offering plate).
Thank you for this. I have found church leaders’ calls for unity to be sickening. They sacrifice solidarity with the vulnerable at the altar of “live and let live” as they fail to reckon with the oppressive ideologies fueling a death-dealing politic.
I was the guest preacher at a politically mixed church the Sunday after the election. I focused on a story, in hopes that might be heard: that of St. Óscar Romero, embodying the preferential option for the poor. His story is analogous to Jesus celebrating the generosity of the widow as exemplary in Mark 12. Both Jesus and Óscar were calling for a unity of solidarity with the poor and marginalized. This has never been a popular opinion — they’re not the only ones who have been killed for it.
It’s not that unity is somehow a bad value — it’s that it needs to be rightly prioritized, mediated by our other values, led by love. Not put in a pedestal or played as kind of moral trump card (pun intended).
Oscar Romero has been so deeply formative for me as well. His preferential option for the poor and the impact it's had on me is largely to thank for my being able to take a stand like this at all. Rightly prioritized is the perfect way to put it! Calls for unity before or in place of the work that it takes to produce a genuinely unified environment will continue to fall empty and reveal itself as genuinely harmful for the least of these who bare the consequences of the privileged continuing to unify with power and empire with no remorse or pushback. Sickening is also the perfect word for it.
Oh, this has been my struggle for years. I pray for bravery to step outside of a space that no longer fits me and one that better reflects Jesus and the mission he has called us to.
Joining you in that prayer and holding such hope for and with you!
Agreed! So many of the calls for (or humble-brags of) unity and so on have sounded like “Peace! Peace!” where there is no peace. And so many of the teachers and leaders who have dismissed as divisive anything other than platitudes about the kingdom being bigger than the empire have struck me as insulated to the point of ignorance, in complete denial, or eager to spiritually bypass the uncomfortable emotions to keep things going on as usual (by that, I sadly mean the offering plate).
"I have listened attentively,
but they do not say what is right.
None of them repent of their wickedness,
saying, “What have I done?”
Each pursues their own course
like a horse charging into battle." Jeremiah is certainly feeding the soul right about now
Thank you for this. I have found church leaders’ calls for unity to be sickening. They sacrifice solidarity with the vulnerable at the altar of “live and let live” as they fail to reckon with the oppressive ideologies fueling a death-dealing politic.
I was the guest preacher at a politically mixed church the Sunday after the election. I focused on a story, in hopes that might be heard: that of St. Óscar Romero, embodying the preferential option for the poor. His story is analogous to Jesus celebrating the generosity of the widow as exemplary in Mark 12. Both Jesus and Óscar were calling for a unity of solidarity with the poor and marginalized. This has never been a popular opinion — they’re not the only ones who have been killed for it.
It’s not that unity is somehow a bad value — it’s that it needs to be rightly prioritized, mediated by our other values, led by love. Not put in a pedestal or played as kind of moral trump card (pun intended).
Oscar Romero has been so deeply formative for me as well. His preferential option for the poor and the impact it's had on me is largely to thank for my being able to take a stand like this at all. Rightly prioritized is the perfect way to put it! Calls for unity before or in place of the work that it takes to produce a genuinely unified environment will continue to fall empty and reveal itself as genuinely harmful for the least of these who bare the consequences of the privileged continuing to unify with power and empire with no remorse or pushback. Sickening is also the perfect word for it.