Building the Beloved Community: Reflections on Modern Racism

Beginning February 27th, Carolyn and I attended a two and a half day diversity and sensitivity training for all appointed United Methodist clergy in Florida called “Building the Beloved Community.” Though it was not planned in response to the shooting death of an unarmed black 17 year old boy named Trayvon Martin which happened February 26th, the things I learned during that training have echoed in my mind in the wake of his violent death.

I wish I could say that it was my idea to attend the training. I’m not that good. We went to the training out of duty. Our bishop, the Rev. Timothy Whitaker, had a vision for the clergy and churches of the Florida Conference United Methodist Church to address the crisis which not only threatens our future, but renders us unfaithful in the present. Our crisis is a church that is far too homogenously white, aging and middle class.

The United Methodist Church in Florida inadequately reflects the diversity of people who live in the state of Florida. Why is that? Are we ok with that? Wait, the better question: Is God ok with that?

Perhaps you agree with me that God is not ok with that. Perhaps you agree that the angel in Luke’s gospel was right when she announced Jesus’ birth to the shepherds by saying, “I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people.” You might also recall the vision of God’s kingdom that the writer of Revelation imagines in chapter 7, “After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the Lamb [Jesus], robed in white, with palm branches in their hands.” This diverse and inclusive people of God are worshipping God together.

It is God’s hope that the church be a community that recognizes differences and seeks to understand and appreciate the diversity that exists in the world. Notice that these Scriptures don’t call us to be “color blind” or a “melting pot,” but rather multi-cultural. I’m learning that there is a difference.

This vision, though beautiful I think, sounds simpler than it is to achieve. One reason for that is discerned in this quote by William Faulkner: “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”

My assumption as a white, able bodied, middle class, male is that racism is mostly a problem of the past. I assume this because of the progress made through the civil rights movement of the 1960’s to change laws that were unjust toward black people. As a result of this progress, I assume that racism exists today only in isolated pockets and is perpetrated only by a few.

What I’m learning is that the experience of black people is different from mine. I’m learning that racism is still very much a reality in the present. And I’m learning that this reality is as much subtle as it is overt, indirect as it is direct. I’m also learning that racism is a reality that extends beyond personal and interpersonal hateful actions said or done because of someone’s color.

It is difficult for me to imagine what it is like to be considered “suspicious” because of the color of my skin. I’ve never been watched by the manager while I walk through the aisle of a store. I expect people will want to hear what I have to say when I talk in a group. And it has never occurred to me that I wouldn’t be welcomed, have the opportunity to participate fully and have my culture represented and appreciated in my neighborhood, church and school. Those experiences of modern racism are all too common for black people.

Faulkner was right, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”

[For more on this reality see columns by Darrell Owens, Mark Pinsky and Drew G.I. Hart ]

Our bishop reminded us that the work of Martin Luther King Jr. may be most noted for his confrontation of unjust Jim Crow laws and a call for the nation to start obeying the 14th commandment of the US Constitution which states:

“No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

“But,” said our bishop, “King gave us a vision that was bigger than simply obeying the 14th amendment. He led as a Christian who longed for something bigger than that – a vision of becoming a beloved community."

Our faith gives us resources of love, forgiveness, humility, courage, joy, perseverance and hope (just to name a few) that will sustain us in the difficult, confusing, fearful task of confronting the ongoing problem of racism which fractures our churches, communities and nation. We will make mistakes. We will not agree. And that is ok. We can courageously enter the conversation.

So what do we do next?

Another Faulkner quote is instructive: “The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.”

Here are the small stones I’m picking up (I’ll start with one):

• I’m going to read authors and writers who are not white men (admitting that two of my favorite authors are white men!). I need to learn more about the perspectives, differences and contributions of black men and women. I’ve decided to do this instead of visiting my black friends with endless questions to educate me and "help me understand." One place to start are the editorials referenced above and this article by Valerie Batts, Ph. D., Executive Director, VISIONS, Inc. “Is Reconciliation Possible: Lessons from Combating Modern Racism”

Toxic Work

Ever since I wrote about “Take Your Pastor to Work” day, I’ve had the privilege of visiting several workplaces. I’ve been to schools, diners to meet those searching for work, Dunkin Donuts to meet Realtors, a national plant nutrient group, a world-wide database company, a tax accountant, a world-wide missionary mobilization center and a fitness boot camp (yes, I did push-ups).

What impresses me about all these people at work? They all like their jobs. Even the guy looking for work was having fun doing it. Perhaps I caught him on a good day, but he was leaning into the opportunity to be part of God’s next adventure for him. These folks talked about working with great people who supported and respected one another – even prayed for one another. They all had great talent for the work they did and felt a connection to the mission of their organization. But this wasn’t always the case.

I heard some of them talk about previous experiences working in toxic environments. They spoke of distrust. They spoke of gossip tearing at the company culture and undermining its mission. They experienced people who had power and liked to use it for their advantage and people without power who passively sabotaged those who had it.

Those conversations came to mind as I read a New York Times Opinion blog this week by former Goldman Sachs executive, Greg Smith. He spoke of the culture when he started at Goldman Sachs almost 12 years ago and how it changed over the years.

He writes, “[When I first arrived, the culture] revolved around teamwork, integrity, a spirit of humility, and always doing right by our clients. The culture was the secret sauce that made this place great and allowed us to earn our clients’ trust for 143 years. It wasn’t just about making money; this alone will not sustain a firm for so long. It had something to do with pride and belief in the organization. I am sad to say that I look around today and see virtually no trace of the culture that made me love working for this firm for many years. I no longer have the pride, or the belief.”

Not having the power to change the culture of the company and not being aligned with its current toxic culture led Mr. Smith to resign. That choice is difficult in any economy, but in one that’s struggling, it’s even harder. Some of you know exactly what that is like and think, “Hey, toxic work is better than no work.” Maybe.

If you are in a toxic work environment, let me ask you this: Is God compelling you to stay for some reason? Just because your workplace is toxic doesn’t necessarily mean God wants you to leave. There are plenty of Biblical stories of God sending people into toxic environments with a mission in mind. [See Elijah, Jonah, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Jesus and his disciples]. Those folk had a calling to run toward toxic places like rescue workers toward a burning building. God had given them power to speak truth, model a new way, be agents of change. Even though the sacrifice would be great, they were led by a higher calling. Some people have that calling. Do you? If that’s your calling, then lean into it with all your heart.

In fact, that’s good advice for all of us: “Lean into your calling with all your heart.” Called to stay? Then stay. Called to leave? Then leave. Either way, it’s a leap of faith in the face of fear.

There is something of God that can only be known when we are obedient to go where he calls us to go, no matter what the environment is like.

Next blog will be about the practices of discerning God’s call. How do you know where God is calling.

Invite Your Pastors to College Day

It’s been almost 20 years since I graduated from college. Wha?! For a guy who still thinks he’s barely out of high school, this is difficult to believe.

I thought about my distance fromcollege days this week when Carolyn and I were in Gainesville for a continuing education conference. In addition to the conference we took the opportunity to meet for dinner with all the Spring of Lifers who are attending the University of Florida. I was so glad everyone’s schedule worked out so we could meet.

We started at the United Methodist campus ministry building known as “Gator Wesley” at the corner of University and 13th. In case you don’t know, the Spring of Life UF students are Adam Gutman, Tyler Crossley, Nathan Githens, and Alex Githens. I was particularly glad too that our friend the Rev. Dan Wunderlich, one of the campus pastors at Gator Wesley could join us for dinner as well. Incidentally, Dan was in the youth group at the Conway United Methodist Church when Carolyn and I started as associate pastors. We pestered Dan about God calling him into the ordained ministry the whole time we were at Conway. He’s a great guy, a talented preacher and I’m so glad that we got to introduce our college students to him.

After a brief conflict over sushi or BBQ, we made our way to the famous “Adam’s Rib Company” just down 13th street from the Gator Wesley building. It was meant to be. Adam’s Rib Company sells good BBQ in large quantities for a low price – the perfect place for 7 hungry Gators. In fact, one peek at the menu and we knew what we were ordering: “The Pro Platter.” The sub title for the Pro Platter said, “Enough to feed 8 hungry Gators.” Perfect. Only after we were finished, I suggest that they update their menu to read: “Enough to feed 7 hungry Gators.” There were no leftovers. I’ve never seen a human being eat so much, so fast (Nathan!).

The time for eating and conversation went by fast. I found myself feeling like more of a parent than a student (even though I clearly look more like a student). We listened as they shared about adjusting to new freedom and responsibility. We heard about challenging course work, deciding on a major, interesting internships, roommates, apartment living and of course football and basketball. And no dinner with your pastor would be complete without a little encouragement: “And if you haven’t ever gone to worship at Gator Wesley . . . Dan’s a really good preacher! What time did you say those worship times were, Dan???”

Going to college can be an exciting and fun experience, and it can be a challenging, frightening, difficult experience too. I hope you will join me in remembering to pray for all our college students from Spring of Life. I wish we could visit them all, but since we can’t I ask you to pray for them all. Here are their names: Kayla Hilkert, Kayla O’Donnell , Tyler Crossley, Kira Peterman, Brain Gutman, Adam Gutman, John Tomlinson, Nathan Githens, Alex Githens, Carson Sherrod.

If you’d like to do a little more, like send a card or a care package then send Debbie Sherrod an email request for address. She wants to help our church support our college students while they are at school.

Invite Your Pastor to Work Day

Not that I want to perpetuate the myth, but most of you think we preachers only work for an hour on Sunday. Since we’ve got so much extra time on our hands, I wanted to invite myself to join you at your job. Why you ask? Well, I’d like to see what you do and how you put your talent to work. I’d like to know what you are struggling with and what you want to celebrate so I can join you in prayer. Following Jesus, after all, is a work place endeavor as well as a Sunday worship endeavor.

It had to be a covert operation since we all know that religion and public schools don’t mix. But recently I was smuggled into a local elementary school by a member of our church who works there. I don’t want to incriminate my host in case this blog is being monitored by the school board. So, I’m changing his name to protect his awesomeness.

Mr. Levi (remember, not his real name, but a cool name nonetheless!) called me several weeks ago and said, “Hey! Would you like to come to my school to pray for our students and staff just prior to the week when we will be taking the big FCAT writes test?” He said he would even provide breakfast. I said, “Say no more. I’ll be there!”

Mr. Levi started by introducing me to his staff and sharing different initiatives to help struggling students while challenging the bright ones. He said he has a veteran staff that has had their share of adversity this year too. Some are battling cancer, dealing with divorce, or grieving the death of a parent. They deal with all this while creating an environment where children can learn, grow and reach their potential.

The students in Mr. Levi’s school face their own challenges. Over 50% qualify for the free or reduced cost lunch program. One is battling Lupus. Many come from single parent homes and/or have parents who are looking for employment. But these are not excuses for a lack of excellence according to Mr. Levi. He says, “I have a ‘whatever it takes’ attitude, and I expect the same from my staff.”

We walked down the halls and admired the children’s creative artwork, pictures of supportive PTA families, a destination college display, celebrations for kids who made the honor roll and kids who had met their reading goals for the quarter. We poked our head into a few classrooms - some with students sitting quietly and some with autistic kids crying loudly as teachers worked patiently along-side them. As the occasional child walked past us in the hall Mr. Levi would call them by name. He nearly knows all 500.

As Mr. Levi prays for his students and staff, particularly as they enter the “FCAT Writes” testing next Tuesday, he will be joined by me and now, you . . . all because he invited his pastor to work one day.

Email me and invite me to work with you one day! I promise I’m not a picky eater and I would love to encourage and pray for you as you take your everyday ordinary going to work life and offer it to the Lord.

Do You Ever Feel Clueless?

Do you ever feel clueless? There are certainly times that I do. For example: I am clueless doing math that goes beyond simple addition, subtraction, multiplication and division (I’m doing well helping with fourth grade math but I fear for Julia’s future); I am clueless about how cars work (I put gas in and they go); I am clueless as to why anyone would want to run a marathon (I’m proud of you Dave, but why do you take such pleasure in running?).

I am also clueless about more important things in life: Why are some people able to have children and others are not? Why do some people get cancer and others don’t? Why is there so much hatred and violence in the world?

I am a pastor and some people think I should know all the answers to questions like these, but I stand in good company when it comes to cluelessness. Jesus’ disciples, his followers that he chose, were clueless and they spent years traveling with Jesus and sitting at his feet listening to his lessons. They didn’t truly understand who he was and why he had to die. They argued about who was the greatest among them. They couldn’t believe it was really him after the resurrection. And the religious leaders of the day were clueless as well. The Pharisees and Sadducees (the Jewish religious leaders) could not see Jesus as the Messiah because he didn’t do things the right way. He didn’t hang out with the right people. He didn’t follow the laws like he was supposed to (healing people on the Sabbath? Unheard of!). He didn’t look like or act like the ‘King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.’ He was homeless. He came from a poor family. He didn’t own anything. He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and not a magnificent stallion. And he died a death meant for the lowliest of the low.

The scriptures tell us that Jesus will come again. Will we be as clueless the second time around? Will we recognize him as the Messiah or will we be too caught up in our own standards of living?

This is why it is so important to be open to the movement of the Holy Spirit in our lives. In the hymn “Open My Eyes, That I May See” we sing, ‘Open my eyes, that I may see glimpses of truth thou hast for me; place in my hands the wonderful key that shall unclasp and set me free, silently now I wait for thee, ready, my God, thy will to see. Open my eyes, illumine me, Spirit divine.’

We need the Holy Spirit to help open our eyes to our cluelessness, to help us see the work of God before us. When John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, went to a church meeting one evening with the attitude of ‘great, one more church meeting’, the Holy Spirit opened his eyes to God. As Will Willimon writes in This We Believe, “The Holy Spirit refused to let John Wesley’s sincere but often priggish and soulless piety get in the way of God’s making a way to John Wesley that evening at Aldersgate Street. Wesley thought he was going to a church meeting, only to be blindsided by an unexpected meeting with God. Let this be a lesson to you: If you are going to be in relationship with a living God, then don’t be surprised that often you will be surprised.”

Holy Spirit, meet us in our cluelessness, and open our eyes to God.

It Was Hell Week

That’s what they said when I walked up to the boot camp going on in the church parking lot on Tuesday night. “Welcome to hell week!”

“Perfect,” I thought, “I hadn’t been to one of these in a while, and I happen to pick hell week. This can’t be good.”

The workout lived up to its name. I thought my leg muscles would literally burst into flames. I still feel the after effects a few days later.

After an hour of hell, I went home for an ice pack and sent a text to the leader of the boot camp. I felt a little awkward thanking her for putting me through hell. She laughed and said she was aware of the irony of having “hell week” in a church parking lot.

I told her it wasn’t the first time (and probably wouldn’t be the last time) that someone caught hell at the church.

If you’re surprised by that, let me introduce you to Jesus’ words to the religious leaders in Matthew 23. Jesus is giving hell to the church leaders in this section of the Bible because they had an amazing way of keeping all of God’s rules while completely missing the point.

These church people had forgotten that the point of God’s law was to restore and reconcile people with God and one another. But they were using God’s law to exploit people, condemn people and shut people out of God’s community. This kind of thing made Jesus’ face turn red, his eyes bug out and the veins pop out the side of his neck.

Yeah, it wasn’t the lepers, prostitutes, tax collectors, gay people or those who’ve had abortions that Jesus went off on. That’s something you might not know if all you had was the example of church people in the Bible and church people in the news today.

Contrary to popular belief, Jesus is interested in restoring people in community. He’s interested in including those who don’t feel included. He’s interested in everyone having a part in the redemptive story He is writing for the world.

Some will argue that a holy God demands that we draw the line between the sacred and the secular, the clean and the unclean, the holy and the common, heaven and hell.

That is true. But Jesus makes us rethink where that line is between the sacred and secular, clean and unclean, holy and common, heaven and hell. Jesus surprises us with where God is willing to go, who God is willing to touch and with whom God is willing to hang out. He is much more present on the margins and in hellish places than we might have suspected.

Jesus is far more than a “good example” for us to follow. Jesus is God reaching into the depths of hell to take us back to the place we were made to live. Jesus is God coming to us to do for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves – make us holy.

God, thank you for your grace. Keep us from missing the point, even if it means giving us hell in church.

How Can You Follow a God Like That?

Jesus never gave people a list of things to believe about him. He didn't say, "Pray this prayer so you can be with me in heaven when you die." He didn't give us a list of principals by which to live our life. What he did say over and over to people was, "Follow me."

He didn't give people a lot of information about what following him would mean. In fact, it is obvious that most, if not all, of Jesus' first followers began that journey with assumptions and expectations that Jesus didn't meet. Jesus seems to be perfectly fine with the fact that we don't understand all there is to know about him when we start following him. He seems happy to teach us new things about himself and his mission "in route" - along the way.

I continue to be amazed at people today who hear Jesus say, "Follow me," and then have the nerve to do it. Though we preachers today try hard at it, we struggle to find a good marketing plan for “Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me.” Or “Sell everything give it to the poor and follow me.” (Both things Jesus said). What kind of person “likes” that on Facebook (or anywhere else for that matter)?!

Jesus is demanding enough, but then you've got to put up with his other followers too. That's the thing that may be the hardest about following Jesus. Contrary to some bad advice from preachers, Jesus never intended us to follow him alone. Jesus may love us personally, but never intended for us to follow him privately. Yes, the greatest challenge might be learning how to live in communion with the other weirdoes who said "yes" to following Jesus too. It's hard to practice forgiveness, loving our enemies and serving others unless you're committed to a particular church for a while. Stay with the church long enough and Jesus will give you plenty of opportunities to forgive and be forgiven.

This week I met a man who told me he had been angry with God for three years because he had prayed for his mother to be healed of breast cancer and she was not. This left the man feeling abandoned and betrayed. God had not heard or answered his prayer, at least not the way he was hoping. In this man's mind this meant God is either mad at him for something, doesn't care or doesn’t' exist at all.

Later I recalled the words of a man in his 60's who had been following Jesus all his life. I remember him saying to a young man struggling with unanswered prayer. "Hey, I have followed Jesus for a lot longer than you, and I promise, you've only just begun to be offended by Jesus." While Jesus encourages us to ask for whatever we want in prayer, he won't be controlled by us as if he were a genie bound by our three best wishes (even if our wish is for the life of one we love). Jesus seems at the ready to shatter our preconcived ideas about who God is and how God ought to operate.

While listening to this man pour out his hurt and anger, I recalled the prayer that Jesus himself had memorized and prayed while he was being executed by the very people he came to love. "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?" Psalm 22:1 Who makes up a God who prays like that?! A God who suffers?!

I found a strange sense of hope for this guy knowing that Jesus (God himself) had experienced some of his own feelings of abandonment. Interestingly, this same Psalm ends with these hopeful words that echo resurrection and restoration. "To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, and I shall live for him." Psalm 22:29

Ah, maybe this sadness, confusion, anger, division and aloneness don't have the last word after all.

Could you follow a God with hope like that? Jesus is still calling, "Follow me."