Stand for

Do you ever stop and wonder what ever happened to the activist you used to be? I remember distinctly fighting for civil rights in college, walking through church picket lines going to seminary in Chicago. I used to argue and debate social work and theological ethics. If someone were to ask me point blank what my calling was, without hesitation I would have told them that I was called to “bring hope and reconciliation to the outcasts in the world.” Standing up for minority rights, looking out for socioeconomic community shortfalls, I always viewed myself as a voice for the outcast and misunderstood. It was Alexander Hamilton who said “Those who stand for nothing fall for anything.”

However, this week I was shaken to my core by the questions and concerns of a 15 year old girl. Let me explain. For the last couple weeks I’ve been dating a new woman in Lakeland. This last weekend I had the opportunity to be invited to a family wedding down near Vero Beach. Like I was not worried enough about meeting her extended family, to my surprise my now girlfriend’s daughter joined us on the trip.

To make a long story short, the trip was a blast, the wedding was crazy and my time with my girlfriend and her daughter was inspiring. I guess I share all of this with you really only to encapsulate one moment of the weekend. There was this moment an hour into our two hour trip back to Lakeland when the conversation in the car turned to issues of sexism, racism and gender biases. My girlfriend’s liberal-minded 15 year old daughter was talking to her mother about social rights issues that I had long ago fought for in churches, schools and communities. She asked questions about how Christians can call themselves Christians if they cannot love unique families and individuals. She talked about racisim in her school and sexual orientations amongst her friends.

Though we all dialoged, shared stories and opinions which I think uplifted her scrutiny, I found myself feeling quite convicted by my level of apathy and consolation around her issues. I was once so passionate about each of these major social and spiritual concerns. What happened to the social activist inside me? Did I give up? Was I swayed by public opinion? Did I give in to societal norms and blaze community morays? Had I fallen into the church and societal responses of “This isn’t the time for change”, “Don’t rush things; society and the church will change when our communities are ready”!

For a short time I let myself off the hook simply rationalizing, I was just choosing the fights worth fighting! But then I realized it was not a 15 year old convicting me, it was the Holy Spirit.

Bringing all these concerns to prayer, my soul reminded me of Martin Luther King’s great Letter From Birmingham Jail. I do not know how long it has been since you read or re-read that letter, but I certainly recommend it to you. The letter is written by Marin Luther King as he sat in the Birmingham Jail after being arrested in a non-violent peace march. The letter was addressed to both local and national church pastors who were telling Mr. King that he was rushing and pushing the civil rights cause too hard. He explained that many of the letters he received stated that they saw that change needed to take place in the U.S. but that they did not see now as being the time.

Letter from the Birmingham Jail was an eloquent response to those “middle of the road” churches. The letter convicted them just like this 15 year old girl convicted me. With words like:

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”….”We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial “outside agitator” idea.” Dr. M.L. King

All of this led me to question, what is it that I do still stand for? Has my calling changed? When scriptures say “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.” (1Cor 13:11) Did it mean that we as adults need to give into to injustices we once used to see in the world?

You are probably thinking of course scripture and faith causes us to address social injustices! To you I need to ask you as the 15 girl convicted me– what social service injustices does your community stand up against? What issues does your family stand up for? Do you think racism is an issue in Lakeland? Do you see your church addressing sexism, socio-economic stereotyping, homelessness or other injustices around you? I suppose the most important question is—As an adult, what is your stand on the social injustices around you? And how would your children know?