Doing the right thing is rarely the easy thing. Do the right thing, anyway.
There are so many reasons to conclude that our world is spinning out of control. Many of us are nauseous from the noisy news cycles. Others are disillusioned by the disintegration of our institutions. Some of us are disturbed by the elevation of absurdity. We are sickened at the celebration of cruelty. It appears that we are fully upside down.
How do we get right-side-up again?
- Systemic change?
- Organizational reform?
- Revolution?
- Resistance?
These are uneasy questions – too much, too unsettling?
So perhaps we should start smaller – closer.
We can float above reality in the land of theories and ideas – that has a place somewhere. But, considering the immediacy of the crises confronting us, I suggest that we come in a bit closer.
Attempting to transform systems as elaborate, interdependent, and in many cases as convoluted as the ones we currently inhabit can feel disempowering. Just thinking about it can feel overwhelming. Desperation and futility are always lurking.
So again, maybe we start by surveying our immediate context, and in addition, our subtexts.
It is high time for each of us to take a long slow look in the mirror and begin the painful process of interrogating our ethics, intentions, and our actions.
Through the lens of God’s life-affirming love, and by extension, God’s command for us to love others as we love ourselves – let us begin the difficult process of examining ourselves. And then let’s apply that same lens to the ethos, intentions, and actions of our communities (the Church – both local and universal).
Sure, we may feign outrage and impersonate some prophetic voice. Certainly, we can retreat to personal piety while pulling back at any mention of public justice. But as I read Scripture, I’m reminded that ‘it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household.’
So, then…
Do we retreat into shallow piety that insulates us from the real pain of others?
Do we deflect by railing loudly against the systems and structures that perpetuate suffering, perhaps assuaging a sense of guilt we feel but not in fact practicing or embodying God’s righteousness?
Do we resign ourselves to a comfortable hypocrisy?
Or
Do we take the long slow look in the mirror, and commit to the painstaking work that demands we “take the log out of our own eyes, so we can see clearly how to assist our neighbors?”
I pray that it is the latter.
This is fine work – it demands that we lean in close and maintain proximity. But it is a work to which the Church is both called and well-suited to facilitate. Yes?
Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.
Matthew 7:3-5
Here are some questions that may get us off in the right direction:
- What is it about our human nature or cultural ethos that so consistently lures us into seeing the speck in our neighbor’s eye before taking the log from our own?
- What consistent rhythms are you engaged in that affirm the Imago Dei – the Image of God – in every single human being?
- In what ways are we enabling systems, structures, and policies that are in tension (or plainly inconsistent) with our professed values and confession of faith? How can we faithfully respond to this misalignment? What will be difficult about this process?
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