Why Exposing Social Injustice is Risky Business

Today as I was sitting at Starbucks and doing my morning blog, I had a clear mind. I was into the scriptures I was studying. I was at peace. I was enjoying the music in the background. Hell, I even got interrupted and had to move to a different Starbucks right in the middle of writing. I was in the zone.

When I finished publishing and sharing to Facebook, I looked at my notifications. I clicked on one of them and it took me to a Christian Facebook page. The conversation that was going on had to do with a Muslim who was posting stuff on the page. I didn't see the content of the Muslim's stuff, the conversation going on made it sound like it was offensive to the people on the page. So, the administrators of the page deleted the content. 

As I read over the comments having to do with the Muslim's material, I couldn't help but see the prejudice. It was a true insider/outsider, us vs. them conversation. I felt like I needed to say something and say it quickly. So, I did. 

One of the comments I made was, "Does anyone know of a Christian Facebook page that promotes open-mindedness?" 

I was trying to be as diplomatic as possible, and I think I did a pretty good job of it. I didn't say anything mean or hurtful. Good job, Jon. 

If the story were to stop right there, I could say things like, "I stood up for what I believed in." 

The truth is, on the outside, the part people could see, I did stand up

for what I believed in. I let it be known what was going on. I copied and pasted the whole line of comments onto my Facebook page and let everyone make their own judgment about it. The people were seeing the part of me that stood up for justice, humility, and Jesus. I was truly the actor putting on an award-winning performance. 

The title of my post is, "Why Exposing Social Injustice is Risky Business," because most of the time when I'm angry about something, my words are not replicating what my heart is saying. While my Facebook post may have exposed some incredibly hypocritical action on the part of my counterparts, this is what my heart was saying to my brothers and sisters over there:

"I'm sick and tired of you fucking hypocrites telling people that you KNOW the TRUTH. I'm sick of you talking to everyone who doesn't believe the way you do that they're wrong, and that they have to believe in the same version of Jesus and God that you do. I would do anything to see your Facebook page crumble to the ground. What kind of idiot are you to say that Muslims, homosexuals, pro-choice, atheists, and everyone else who disagrees with you that they're going to hell? Have you been there? Do you know what it's like? Do you have any idea what God looks like, or what gender God is, or what God sounds like, or what it's like to wrap yourself up in His arms? 

Do you know what kind of intimacy a practicing Muslim has with God? Do you know the incredible discipline Muslims have in revolving their lives around the submission to Allah? Maybe if you knew, you might learn a little something about tolerance. Maybe if you took two seconds to ask a Muslim what their prayer life looks like, you're mind would open a slant to see that you've got some work to do on this relationship with God thing. Maybe if you took a moment to ask a question, read a post, say something friendly, or do anything that involved not castigating, rebuking, scolding, or mocking, you would find that we are ALL just as clueless as the next person when it comes to getting it right. Quit telling us that you hold the key to truth mother fuckers!! The world doesn't need anymore of you're two-faced, law abiding, old covenant, non-masturbating, non-everything theology to keep getting in the way of what it looks like to be FREE in the love of God. As my friend says, GO EAT DEAD RATS!!" Good bye."

This is still what my heart is saying. I'm affected. I've taken a risk in stepping out into the arena of standing up for what I believe is right, and I left angry and unresolved. And that leads me to my point.

When we step up, or step out, or speak up for things that we just don't think are right - no matter how unjust or wrong they are, we are taking a huge risk. We are risking losing our own sanity, peace, contentment, and ability to tolerate those who we disagree with. When we speak out for someone who has no voice, we are simultaneously speaking against someone who has a voice. 

I went into the situation today without armor. Like David in his battle with Goliath, I went up against a giant except that I was relying on my own defense, my own security, my own know-how, and my own experience. I didn't ask for God's will to be done, and for that I got swept right into the thing I was trying to sweep up. 

I admire people who are able to stand up for what they believe in without getting their feelings hurt. I look up to folks who speak out for those who have no voice, and walk away with peace and confidence. It seems that every time I do so, I walk away worrying about whose toes I stepped on, and how the world views me. I leave angry at people. I leave with more work to do than I bargained for. If I can't learn how to put down my battle garb, and leave the battle up to my God, then I need to keep my mouth shut.  

I was wrong for harboring a spirit of hatred as I wrote in peaceful prose. I was wrong for being a clanging cymbal and a beating gong. I'm blessed to even have the ability to believe in a God who accepts me just as I am, in all of my wrongness, and accepts all of us in all of our wrongness. I hope to continue learning how to (as a pastor once told me after I had tried to assassinate his character through writing) use my talents to build up and not tear down, to build bridges and not doze valleys. 

It's an amazing gift to be able to trust in a God whom I can't see, touch, taste, smell, or hear, yet know deep within the recesses of my soul that because of that same God, "It is well." God loves us regardless of how right or wrong we are, how Christian or how Muslim, how conservative or how liberal. I believe God sees us through the filter of Jesus, and because of that the stories God writes for us are way better than the stories we write for ourselves and others. 

In the words of my Muslim friend who tried to make their voice heard today, "Allahu Akbar." God is the greatest.