privilege

In Equity

/ JJS / Leave a comment

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Today’s readings:
Psalms 56; 149, Isaiah 46:1-13, Ephesians 6:10-24, Mark 5:1-20

In his various letters, Paul reminds us again and again that in Christ all are equal. However, he also recognized that isn’t the way the world works. In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul tells husbands to respect and love their wives, and wives to obey their husbands. By modern standards that’s a sexist stance, but at the time – when women were the property of their husbands – it was radical. He tells children to obey their parents, and fathers not to provoke their children to anger. In Christ, any authority granted us by culture is not ours to exploit or wield ruthlessly, but to execute justly.

Paul’s words for masters and slaves were controversial then and now, but for different reasons. He told slaves to obey with fear and trembling, and to serve with enthusiasm, and he told masters to stop threatening slaves and to “do the same to them.” Since he didn’t demand outright that slaves be freed, some people who aren’t fans of the Christian faith drag out this passage as if it we an overall Christian endorsement of slavery. (It may not help that some defenders of slavery actually did use this and similar scripture passages to support their position.)

We don’t know what Paul’s feelings about slavery were, since addressing slavery wasn’t his mission (though we do know he intervened on behalf of at least one runaway slave). Paul was introducing the gospel to people in their present circumstances; because he believed the return of the Lord was imminent, restructuring society would have been immaterial.

Of course slavery is utterly indefensible (and its abolition in the west was due in large part to Christian efforts), but let’s remember we still live with many social injustices that are dismissed even – and sometimes especially – by Christians as “the way things are.” From exploiting labor to dumping industrial waste on communities too impoverished to fight it, we are part of a world that turns blind eyes toward injustice. Changing society may be like turning the Titanic around, but what we are willing to tolerate or promote in our lives indicates how closely we take the gospel to heart.

Authority and privilege should be used – and if necessary sacrificed – in service to those who lack them. Unequal roles may be unavoidable, but expressing love, dignity, and spiritual equality within them is always an option.

Comfort: In God’s eyes, you are not defined by your position in life.

Challenge: Exercise any authority or privilege you possess as through it was entrusted to you for the purpose of spreading God’s love … because it was.

Prayer: God of mercy, teach me to be merciful. Amen.

Discussion: Has anyone shown you mercy when they didn’t have to?

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Idol Tales

/ JJS / 1 Comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 96; 148, Exodus 13:1-2, 11-16, 1 Corinthians 15:51-58, Luke 24:1-12

In Luke’s telling of the story of the first Easter morning, several women who followed Jesus from Galilee – not just the two Marys – visit his tomb to finish preparing his body for burial with spices and perfume. Instead of Christ’s body they find two men dressed in dazzling clothes (presumably angels) who tell them Christ has risen. The women return to the remaining eleven disciples to deliver this astonishing news, “but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.”

Huh?

Several recent studies have shown the male brain processes male and female voices differently – essentially tuning out the latter. Unfortunately, the preponderance of responses to this study are about how women can help men listen better by altering their voices. Few if any responses (full disclosure: didn’t find one) teach men how to listen better to women; on the contrary, it almost becomes an excuse. How often do we dismiss the firsthand experience of others because they don’t communicate in our preferred manner? In the case of the women disciples, their firsthand experience was dismissed until it was verified by a man (Peter). People with disabilities, transgender people, ethnic minorities, and many other groups outside the “norm” know what it’s like to have their stories ignored or declared lies until someone from the “right” social group corroborates them.

It’s easy to dismiss someone’s story if – like the eleven – your frame of reference is a bunch of people sharing your worldview and hiding away from facts which contradict their assumptions. If we treat someone who begs us to listen as weak or a victim, we may be denying a prophet. When someone has actually been in the trenches perfuming a corpse, deciding which restroom won’t get them beaten up, or navigating a wheelchair through city streets with no cut-ins … we need to listen to the truths they tell, not sweep them aside until we can find a reason to personally relate.

The faces of the poor and oppressed may change over time, but Christ calls to us through them in the same voice across the ages.

Comfort: Listening to people who have different experiences than yours helps you to better understand the diversity of God’s creation.

Challenge: Learn about the struggles of people who suffer from hidden disabilities.

Prayer: Grant me, O Lord, ears to hear and eyes to see the stories of your children who struggle unnoticed. Let me never ignore the voice of Christ calling for justice. Amen.

Discussion: Whom are you prone to ignore or dismiss because of their social group?

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Justice isn’t blind yet.

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 143; 147:12-20, Deuteronomy 16:18-20, 17:14-20, 2 Corinthians 8:1-16, Luke 18:1-8

As the Jewish people prepared to settle into the promised land, God laid down some rules about who might be their king. The king could be rich, but not too rich. He could have wives, but not many wives. And quite specifically, he could have horses, but not too many horses, especially if he had to get them from Egypt, where the people were forbidden to return. These conditions were meant to keep the king focused on God and to prevent him from “exalting himself above other members of the community.”

The wealthy and powerful have always lived by different rules than others, not only because they can afford to buy their way out of consequences for their actions, but because we make different assumptions about the wealthy and the poor. And since we have not yet untangled our nation’s historical relationship between race and poverty, that disparity becomes even more pronounced across racial divides. Add to that mix the prosperity gospel which teaches God financially rewards the faithful – and conversely implies the poor are lacking faith and morality – and the down-on-their-luck are perceived as unworthy of luck. Outcomes of the supposedly blind justice system are more predictable by economic status and race than by similarity of crime. From health care to education to housing loans, many systems are designed – often through lack of understanding but sometimes intentionally – to give further advantage to the already advantaged, and more insidiously to make us believe that’s just and fair.

What’s the remedy for this? In 2 Corinthians, Paul tells the church a “fair balance” is not based on what you’ve earned, but on what needs you can help relieve. He reminds them, “It was written, ‘The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little.’” Moving money around is relatively easy. Moving social capital around is more difficult, is more time-consuming, and requires more intentional education, effort, and sacrifice. Jesus invites us to develop a deeper sense of justice more concerned with who we can serve than with what we deserve.

Comfort: We are all equal before God.

Challenge: Read this article about racial disparities in criminal sentencing.

Prayer: Merciful God, may Your justice transform our land and lives. Amen.

Discussion: What can you do to promote justice in your community?

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Stop or I’ll shoot (my mouth off)

/ JJS / Leave a comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 104; 149, Isaiah 61:10 – 62:5, 2 Timothy 4:1-8, Mark 10:46-52

“Tone policing” means dismissing someone’s message by condemning the tone in which it’s delivered. Frequently used by groups in power to silence those who seek equality, an example of this tactic might be telling a woman who seeks equal pay, “I can’t listen when you’re so shrill and angry.” Tone policing prioritizes politeness over justice.

The term is relatively new, but the behavior is not. When Jesus was leaving Jericho, a crowd was following him. Buried in the crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus began shouting for Jesus’s attention. The crowd ordered him to be quiet. Though we don’t know their exact words, they essentially told him to know his place and not to speak out of turn. Never mind that no one had the basic decency to offer help him or push him forward – it was his “rudeness” they made an issue.

Like many who are silenced, Bartimaeus only wanted access to the same things other people had. In his case, these things were the mercy and healing offered by Jesus. Fortunately for Bartimaeus, Jesus stopped in his tracks and called him over.

Jesus asked Bartimaeus: “What do you want me to do for you?” Now Jesus certainly knew the man was blind, but he made no assumptions about what the man wanted based on his most obvious characteristics, and instead allowed Bartimaeus the dignity of speaking for himself. Bartimaeus asked for his sight, and Jesus told him: “Go; your faith has made you well.” Note that Jesus did not say “I have made you well.” Jesus may have facilitated it, but acknowledged Bartimaeus had within himself the resources for his own wholeness.

When we ally ourselves in seeking justice with people who are less advantaged, let’s follow the example of Christ. Let’s relinquish social and political space for people to speak, rather than speaking for them. Let’s listen to what people tell us they need, rather than assuming what’s best for them. We don’t always need to cast ourselves as the creators of justice; a lot of the time we just need to get out of its way.

Comfort: God hears all cries for justice.

Challenge: When listening to people, try to concentrate on what they are saying more than how they are saying it.

Prayer: God of justice, grant me the wisdom to speak and listen justly. Amen.

Discussion: Under what circumstances do you find it difficult to listen to people?

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Intersections

/ JJS / 1 Comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 50; 147:1-11, Isaiah 9:8-17, 2 Peter 2:1-10a, Mark 1:1-8

In the opening of Mark’s gospel, the author quotes the prophet Isaiah: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” The quote continues to say valleys shall be raised and mountains brought low. In this metaphor, the highest and lowest of us all are equal before God and God’s justice. It’s easy to picture a single, clear, straight road leading the Lord right to that place of justice. But note that Isaiah uses the plural “paths.” This may simply indicate turns or changes in direction, but could it be more?

Promoters of social justice often use the term “intersectionality.” In brief, it means that all forms of justice, rather than being separate situations, are connected and intertwined. Issues of poverty are not separate from issues of race, which are not separate from issues of gender, and so on. It is possible to make headway directing our efforts down only one of these paths, but that means we aren’t contributing to progress on the others, which actually holds us back. Even the most privileged person is trapped in systems of injustice, and intersectionality teaches him to see how he is both oppressed by and contributes to them. Intersectionality is not about saying one group’s privilege is bad, but about removing obstacles to that same privilege for everyone else.

And that brings us back to paths, plural. God is beyond time, space, and understanding. His paths to righteousness are infinite, cutting through many wildernesses at once. The Lord’s justice is not completed in a single march, but through a convergence from all directions, all times, all the colors of its spectrum merging into a destination shining with divine understanding. We each have the opportunity to walk with the Lord on many paths, all headed toward that unified light. Let’s make sure we’re not making progress on leveling our own path by throwing our rubble onto someone else’s.

Like love, justice exists in endless supply, but we must let it rush through us like rivers instead of damming it up. Over time, rivers straighten their own paths, and so can we.

Comfort: Your path is as valid as everyone elses.

Challenge: Read about intersectionality.

Prayer: Infinite God, I will seek your justice in all directions. Amen.

Discussion: Have you ever found your well-being tangled with someone who was not like you?

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The Fringe

/ JJS / Leave a comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 123; 146, Hosea 12:2-14, Acts 26:24-27:8, Luke 8:40-56

A leader of the synagogue named Jairus moved to the front of the crowd to fall at Jesus’ feet and beg him to heal his dying daughter. Among the crowd who followed Jesus to Jairus’ house was a woman who’d suffered incurable hemorrhages for twelve years. She timidly touched the fringe of his robe, and was instantly healed. When Jesus asked who touched him, the woman tried to hide. After he asked a second time, she fell trembling before him. Jesus said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.” Afterward Jesus continued on to the house of Jairus, and though many said the girl had died, Jesus said to her, “Child, get up!” and she did.

Jairus, a man and a religious leader, did not hesitate to force his way through the crowd and demand Jesus’ attention. By contrast, the woman’s ailment would have rendered her unclean; approaching Christ directly would have been unthinkable for her. It was no wonder she hid when he called her out, because according to her culture she should never have touched him and could have been punished. Instead, Jesus stopped to call her Daughter, and bid her go in peace.

Is our society so different? Privileged people still move to the head of the line and ask for what they need, and we usually get out of their way. The less privileged are pushed to the edges, and frequently shamed simply for asking. Whether it’s cash or a voice or a vote, too often we suspiciously insist they justify their requests in ways we’d never expect of the financially or socially affluent. We’ll fork over chunks of cash for a new church social hall, but want reckoning for every dime of grocery assistance. We call them “takers” then wonder why they’d rather hustle than be humiliated. Somehow we are more sympathetic to the poor halfway around the world than the homeless living under a bridge downtown.

Jesus was respectful of everyone in need, regardless of privilege. If we call people out, let it be to say, “Go in peace!”

Comfort: When you are in need, it’s all right to ask.

Challenge: While accountability is important, try to follow your more charitable impulses.

Prayer: God of abundance, help me to remember more for others does not have to mean less for me, and let me be willing to share when others have none. Amen.

Discussion: What’s your favorite charity and why?

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Threats Both Foreign and Domestic

/ JJS / 1 Comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 88; 148, Esther 8:1-8, 15-17, Acts 19:21-41, 4:31-37

A pack of foreigners and their radical leader – well known for recruiting people to his strange and potentially dangerous religion – wander into town. Locals worry these men will change the character – perhaps the very foundation – of their society. Merchants are projecting exactly how the influence of these aliens will negatively impact local jobs, revenue, and tourism.  First there are angry murmurs, then protests about this evil religion, then angry mobs ready to forcibly evict these strangers, though doing so means sacrificing civil rights on the altar of security.

You know who we’re talking about.

That’s right – Paul and his merry band of Christians wandering into Ephesus. The Greek city was famous for its grand temple to Artemis. Artisans there sold a lot – a lot – of silver shrines and other souvenirs to pilgrims and tourists. They were worried Christianity was going to be bad for business, so they nearly started a riot to drive Paul and his companions out of town. The local authorities talked some sense into them and explained the courts were available but there wasn’t any justification for charges let alone a riot. There aren’t many stories older than the one about people who hold privilege rationalizing their hostilities toward people who don’t.

Christians might be tempted to look at this story and say: “But… those Ephesians have nothing to do with me; their religion was wrong and ours is the right one. Those Christians weren’t actually dangerous.” Nope. Like it or not, Western Christianity is compromised by privilege, because every group that rises to power eventually believes both that it deserves to be at the top and that sharing said privilege is a threat to its security.

Remember when Jesus said: “Blessed are you who value safety above mercy?” Of course not, because he actually said: “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.” Real faith offers love, mercy, and forgiveness because Jesus has offered them to us. It’s hard for the last to be first if we insist on starting from the top.

Comfort: When we feel threatened, Jesus is still beside us.

Challenge: Read this article on 30+ Examples of Christian Privilege.

Prayer: God of mercy, teach me to be merciful. Amen.

Discussion: Have you ever been confronted by your own privilege?

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