"I KNOW RIGHT?" we both yell, flailing our arms up in the air. "ME TOO!" we both exclaim with both excitement and contempt. "I can't stand those arguments!" we both sigh.
A blunt title, I know. Let me explain real quick. Today I got to sit down and sip a java with April in this beautiful (but ever-changing) Vancouver weather. April is my friend. How did we meet? I go to school with her boyfriend Luke who, one day, came up to me and said I should meet her because apparently we had a lot in common. And so it began. The first time we hung out I think we ranted for hours about social justice in the Christian context, human trafficking, and other issues in the world.
Just when we were talking today it made me think of the Bechdel Test. Wanna know what the Bechdel test is? Simple: Think of a movie. Then apply three questions to it. If the movie passes all three questions, it passes the Bechdel test:
1. Does it have at least two named women in it?
2. Do these two women talk to each other?
3. Do they talk about something besides a man?
You'd be surprised how many movies do not pass this test. Having said this, if our coffee date had been a movie scene, our movie would definitely pass this test.
I love, love, love talking to people about their views on social justice and how they regard Christians' involvement in it.
Something we both encounter in our conversations with people are individuals who are completely oblivious to the fact that Christians are called to act out love in this world. "Justice is what love looks like in action" goes the famous saying. And it's true. How can you truly love someone if you're not willing to care for them? How can you truly love someone if you're not willing to stand up for them if they're being oppressed?
"Well, that may be your calling in life but it's not mine." Whenever April and I hear this sentence, our muscles tense up, and we usually try to resist a very strong urge to punch something. No. No, no, no. Please. Just no. Don't say this. You're just insulting your and my intelligence in the process. Social justice and standing up for the oppressed is not simply a call some Christians have in their lives. No. It's a call that everyone is meant to live out. Can you live it out in various ways? Of course! No one's telling you what to do. Just do something! Educate yourself, educate others, donate, write to your leaders, etc.
Try to picture me saying this in love (I know, I know. That's hard to do.). Enough with the excuses already, alright? Can we all just acknowledge that we either don't care enough or are just too lazy to act instead of excusing our actions? And after acknowledging that, how about we work to change that? After all:
"The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.
"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick in prison, and did not help you?'
"He will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me." Matthew 25:40-45
It's not my intention to scare you into being compassionate. Not at all. That would be a false sense of compassion and the world doesn't need that. What I do want to do is get a response out of people; a discussion going. What does social justice look like? How much should we be involved? What can we do? What should we do? What exactly is our responsibility? I want compassion to arise naturally in others, not by force (unless it's by the force of the Holy Spirit of course). But what I want most of all, is for people to genuinely care.
What do you think?
I think sometimes I can care a lot but feel somewhat overwhelmed by the seemingly endless stream of social problems, which are sometimes more awful than I can (or perhaps want to) even comprehend. Maybe that falls under the lazy category, or maybe it's a lack of faith to fuel my resolve, but the various cares of this life can certainly get in the way. I find that picking my battles wisely is not as simple as I would like it to be, when walking through a world of overlapping battlefields (of which some battles are being fought against me). It seems that there is a big hurdle in going from feeling the pain of sweeping injustices, and taking the initiative to find ones own place in the picture, but I do agree that we need to somehow confront the tension of working that out.
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