But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone. – Titus 3:4-8
Unfortunately us Christians have a bad reputation in many circles. We are often called hypocrites, judgmental, mean, or a slew of other things. I have heard many people respond to that by saying that of course Christians are people too. We have the same faults and limitations that everyone else has.
I read this fantastic article this morning about 9/11 and it made me think of where I was on that fateful day. My mind went back to another time and place far from here but close to my heart.
I was in FortalezaBrazil.
My great friend Kieran and I left the US on September third 2001 to begin our study abroad semester in Brazil. I remember feeling a mixture of happiness, excitement and fear as I headed to a land where I didn’t speak the language or know the people.
I decided to go there because Brazil has the largest population of black folks outside of Africa and is second only to Nigeria in having the largest population of black folks in a single nation. I wanted to see if our common ancestry as people of African Descent would lead to a common bond.
I had no idea that my world and the world as we knew it would be turned upside down in eight days.
The first week there was spent in orientation. The program focused on social justice so we spent that week reading about the different inequalities in the world. We read and discussed everything from inequalities of power, consumption of resources, poverty, and politics. On September 10th we talked about what our role would be in helping to make the world a better place. It is our responsibility to help bring balance to the world. If we don’t do it, someone else will.
Then BOOM… the towers were hit.
As I sat there, watching the towers fall, live, on international news from thousands of miles away, I wondered what we as a country would do. Would we seek revenge and attack whoever we thought was responsible? Or, would we use this as an opportunity to seek understanding about why folks might sympathize with these attacks; regardless of how wrong they were.
Of course the rest is history.
Today, nine years later, a small church in Florida has decided to make an international statement by burning Qurans. There are many folks around the world who are infuriated by this. They not only blame this church but also our entire nation and my faith for this act of violent disrespect.
Of course as Americans we know that this is a very small group of people with very radical beliefs. We know that they do not represent the values of a majority of US citizens. Sadly, we cannot control how the acts of a few people are received by others. The US and Christianity have been smeared with the blame reserved for this small, socially irresponsible church.
But is this surprising? Didn’t many of us do the same thing? How many of us looked at Muslims differently based on the acts of the terrorists on 911? How many of us felt a twinge of fear when we were on a plane with folks that we thought were from the Middle East? How many of us treated Muslims as enemies when those particular people had done nothing to harm us?
We all must try hard to view the world and others through the loving lens of graceful forgiveness. We must try to remember that the acts of a few people, or even the acts of powerful organizations, do not represent the hearts and minds of everyone they claim to represent. We must try our best to give everyone a chance at love, a chance at peace, a chance at redemption.
After all… that is what we want right? We all want the chance to be viewed by the content of our character, not by the actions of another.
So on this important day let us remember to honor the sacrifices of all of those who have suffered as a result of the attacks and the wars that followed. But let us also remember to love.
Love is the answer. It is the only path toward peace.
When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, "How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!"
David said to Michal, "It was before the LORD, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the LORD's people Israel—I will celebrate before the LORD.– 2 Samuel 6: 20-23
For a long while I was ashamed to identify myself as a Christian.
This had nothing to do with my faith in Jesus; that never wavered. But it did have a whole lot to do with how popular culture viewed “Christians”.
The 2000s were an interesting time for me. There was so much change. I went to college, 9/11 happened, I studied abroad in Brazil, I graduated college and entered the “real world” trying to figure out what kind of man I would be.
It was at this time that my Stepdad told me something that I’ll never forget. “This is the time in your life when you decide what kind of man you will be.”
I believe that we are always becoming who we will be in the future but he did have a point. It was one of those crucial turning points.
But as I really started to think about my spirituality I started looking around at the world got confused. I saw wars being waged in Jesus’ name, an epidemic of child abuse in the Catholic church, and many other fellow Christians being led astray by media designed pull at their spiritual heart strings.
And if that weren’t enough, how about the absurdly dogmatic hypocrites making the lives of “sinners” miserable while these same church leaders were guilty of the same sins…
Sigh…
I was frustrated and hurt. Where are the good Christians? Where are the “love your neighbor as yourself” Christians? Where are the Christians who will admit that they don’t have all of the answers; the ones who aren’t scared to ask questions?
Where are the other folks who just want to be the best that they can be and to spread their love to those around them.
You know what I finally realized?
What me and God have going has NOTHING to do with any of these folks.
When I figured out that I was focusing on the wrong things, that I was focusing on other people rather than going straight to God with my questions and concerns things got a lot easier.
God answered with the quickness.
It became easier for me to be like David, to dance and sing and enjoy the life that I have been blessed to live.
Because, when it comes down to it, only God can judge me… being concerned about what others think or do can only distract from what I need to do.
Now I feel free to be the Christian that I am, not the one that others try to make me into, to fit their frame of mind.
"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. – Matthew 7:1-5
This is one of those scriptures that touches a soft spot with me. Every time I read it I am sent into a sort of tailspin of irony. It’s amazing how this collection of words said so clearly and so directly seems to be so consistently ignored by Christian folk these days.
Maybe I’m being too harsh…
Well I’m definitely generalizing. There are many millions of Christian folk who are incredibly loving of other people, regardless of whether or not they agree with their values.
But that’s not how it seems.
For a long time I focused on what I saw in the media and learned through my studies of history. I saw words and actions and policies and wars being waged by people who called themselves Christians. And I started to wonder to myself… if these folk are Christian, then what am I?
And then I read Jesus’ words above and I remembered some important things.
First: Part of being a Christian is to not be judgmental.
Second: When I judge folk that I have never met based on what I perceive about them from a distance I am no better a person than I assume they are.
Worst of all, I saw how when I judged them it made me question who I was at the very core.
That is unacceptable.
When we judge people we are giving them way too much power in our lives. Things become much simpler when we focus on removing the plank from our eyes; on doing the best that we can to be the best we can be. Often times it is the journey of doing the work necessary to remove the planks from our eyes that puts us in the position to have the love, knowledge, and experience to help others.
So then, when that same neighbor or friend comes to us asking for help, we can see clearly enough to offer a loving, helping hand rather than reaching out and poking them in the eye in the process.
