More
on the politics of the Kingdom of God
To my friends in the Church, both of the left and the right,
We all must concern ourselves with the justice of the
Kingdom, the justice that seeks restoration in the midst of brokenness, and we
should be concerned for such restoration in the world, not least for the sake of
our own hearts.
In the height of the political season, there exists much
conversation on the condition of social justice and human rights within our
nation. Both sides hurl insults at each other, each assuming that their
policies are more considerate than the policies of the opposing side. The right often suggests that too much giving causes an entitlement mentality, and the left often suggests that the government has a blind responsibility for redistributing wealth, no matter the cost. One side (right) runs the risk of villainizing the poor by
suggesting that they simply live in squalor because of their own choices, which
is often more of a reaction to the left than to real experiences with the poor,
while the other side (left) runs the risk of self-righteously redistributing
their own moral responsibility by legislating that people who they see
as “rich” take on the responsibility of seeing justice done. At their worst,
both sides run the risk of blinding themselves to the plight of the poor.
The issue is much bigger than I will be able to address in
this post; so, I know that what I am about to say might seem idealistic and naive,
but I am not claiming that what I want to suggests is the great answer to
social injustice. I simply want to say something very specific and practical.
First of all, we should all recognize that there are marginalized people in
this world (and even in our United States) that suffer by no fault of their
own. We have an obligation to help. Second, once we see the plight for what it
is, we cannot simply legislate a solution to a slow and inefficient government
that can only provide by taking from others as it sees fit. In other words, we
all must act.
There is a learning opportunity that will be available to us
when we loosen on our narrow solutions. For the people to the right, avoiding
the extreme means dropping the ancient prejudice that all suffer due to their
own sins (John 9:2). Such recognition will make people a more active and caring
community who uses our great privileges to benefit others. For the people to
the left, avoiding the extreme means dropping the modern prejudice that big
government is the great hope for human progress (Matt 6:33). Such recognition
will make our efforts more affective by being direct answers to the issues of
poverty.
As I get to my main point, I must say this. I am not
suggesting that the person of the right or the left are inherently guilty of
the extremes, but it seems that we are in a season of extremes, of reactionary
motives. In the end, this is a call for persons of the right and the left to
avoid blinding themselves to the poor, whether by denial or delegation of
personal responsibility to the government.
I say all of this to say the thing I have wanted to talk
about this whole time. What will happen when we take personal (and
communal/Church) responsibility so that we are directly in contact with the
poor: We will learn a hard lesson. What is this lesson we will learn? We will
learn we have turned a blind eye to the poor for so long because the poor are
often very difficult to serve. Just as the affluent has the tendency to move to
extremes, so too do the poor.
When you actually reach out to the poor with what you see as
a great and restorative hand, a solution that might just get them back on their
feet, you will find many do not want it. Many will take your grace and mercy
and abuse them. Many will exploit you, just as they exploit the government
right now.
So, why help? While there are certainly many levels to this
answer, I want to talk of a practically spiritual answer. First, we learn
something of what it means to be merciful as God is merciful. Just as He offers
a helping and restorative hand to the lost (and therefore, spiritually poor)
world and is rejected time and time again, so too will we find that some
perversely choose their poverty, as we might have always assumed, but that has
not stopped God and shouldn’t stop us. We learn the personal worth of love as
we feel the sting of having that love thrown back in our face. Second, the reward is
great when finally we are able, by God’s grace, to help a person find
restoration. After rejection after rejection, when grace is finally accepted, our hearts will rejoice more than they would if everyone we met simply took
what we have to offer.
Therefore, serving the poor becomes an experience of
sanctification, becoming more like God through experiencing something of what
He experiences as He reaches out to all of us in love. Through loving the often
unlovable, we come to better appreciate God’s relentless pursuit of each of us
in our own rebellion, and through actually being a part of the restoration of a
few, we begin to understand the joy God has in restoring each of us.
To those of the right, I know today is a day of
disappointment, but it is not time to give up. Even while the government has
taken a different path, people still should move to see their convictions being
actualized in the world around them. Your duty does not end when you are out
voted. You still have personal strength and means to see great things happen.
To those of the left, I know today is a day of victory, but
the battle has not been won. Even while the government has taken your desired
path, people still should move to see their convictions being actualized in the
world around them. Your duty does not end with your convictions being legislated
to the government. You are not off the hook. You still have personal
responsibility to restore. You cannot simply make it someone else’s problem.
To us all: Be the Church.
Bright blessings,
Rev. Tab M. Miller
No comments:
Post a Comment