It seems that, right now, in the United States, in the midst of the Charleston shooting, two years of national conversations about race, and arguing over the confederate flag, we have long ignored the most crucial part of communication.
A Should’ve Asked Question
When Jesus tells us to proclaim the gospel to all nations, what does he mean? This seems to be one of the most enduring questions in our history. What does Jesus mean when he talks about “gospel” and “proclaiming” and “all nations”?
The more pressing question for American Christians at the moment is not “what?”, but “how?” As in How is that gospel heard?
In scripture, we get these great moments of clarity for the disciples (though, on the whole, they are few and far between). They are Jesus teaching in the synagogue when he “opened the scripture to them” and at the Transfiguration, when Peter, James, and John witness something profound that they aren’t allowed to speak about. It seems that proclaiming the gospel has a bit of that “opening up” quality to it. Not so much eloquent speech, but something of a GOD-thing going on.
It isn't what you say, it's what people think you said. Share on X
We also know that in communication, the means is as important as the message. Mark Twain argued for humor as the most reliable vehicle for a message. Others prefer visual art or kinesthetic experience. This acknowledges that people need a way into the message to really get it. And many don’t get in through a straight-up interpretive process.
It seems that, right now, in the United States, in the midst of the Charleston shooting, two years of national conversations about race, and arguing over the confederate flag, we have long ignored the most crucial part of communication.
It isn’t what you say, it’s what people think you said.
Black Lives Matter
Right now, the Episcopal Church is gathering for General Convention: a gathering of deputies from every diocese in the Episcopal Church, from all over the world to do the business of the church. Several prominent people, including The Rev. Mike Kinman, dean of the Cathedral in St. Louis, are bringing the message of Black Lives Matter to a convention that, while having more diversity than conventions 30 years ago had, is still likely to skew older and whiter than the population.
Kinman has spoken eloquently for the last year about his growing understanding of race relations since Ferguson. Having a great theological plight in his own backyard, Kinman had to move, had to rise to the occasion. We didn’t need another prominent Episcopal Church ignoring the plight of the injured. We needed someone with fidelity and grace. His support and personal formation around the issues of race and justice have been marked on his blog and Facebook page: each a testament to the work and the experience of living with and learning from a black community that has long been seen as separate and apart from his own. Kinman’s writing is humble and honest and certainly worth your time.
From Convention, I keep seeing these wonderful, positive pictures on Facebook of Episcopalians, laity and clergy, holding a black sign with white lettering: Black Lives Matter.
And under every post, in the comments section, some person is compelled to post simply “All Lives Matter” as if Black Lives Matter excludes all the whites, rather than recognize that this statement takes for granted that we, all of us, already take as a given that white lives matter.
That so many feel the need to repurpose or respin the message they’ve received: a gospel proclamation that the other, yes, that other, is in fact human, too: and make it some shiny, happy “everybody is a precious flower!” statement. A statement void of its central conviction: by our systems, our actions, and our community structures, the white normative culture does not think black lives matter.
How Jesus proves All Lives Matter
Imagine if Jesus told his disciples the story of the Good Samaritan and after he left the room, Peter turns to John and says “Let’s tell that story, but instead of a Good Samaritan, let’s call him a Good Stranger!” Because it really is a story for everyone!
No it’s not! It is a story for those Jewish elites who need to confront their prejudice and bigotry. Jesus said over and over “All Lives Matter”, not by saying those words or treating everybody as fictitious equals, but by sharing his time and food and sacrificing his ritual purity to prove that Poor Lives Matter, Sinner Lives Matter, Traitor Lives Matter. He proved that Crowd Lives Matter and Child Lives Matter.
But he didn’t go around saying Temple Leadership Lives Matter, Pharisee Lives Matter, Roman Lives Matter. Why? Because the system is geared to protect them! The system gave them all they needed. Their lives were a given!
In the early time of our country, the prevailing hashtag would be Protestant Lives Matter (to the detriment of Catholics) and White, European, Landowning, Slave-holding, Hetero-Male Lives Matter (to the detriment of everyone else).
It is precisely because we actually do believe that All Lives Matter, that we can argue that it is time to prove it by showing how we as a society treat our minorities. How we make them a priority. How we, like Jesus prove our belief in the universal, not by making the majority idyllically comfortable, but in showing more comfort to the afflicted. Proving that their lives, specifically matter.
How are you heard?
The familiar maxim “The medium is the message” may be the quintessential definition of what it means to proclaim the gospel. It isn’t simply what is said, but it is also how it is going to be received.
Of course, we can’t help being taken out of context. Our work on behalf of the disadvantaged will always rile up those in the majority who want to claim disadvantage. We can, however, stop pretending that the gospel is a universal constant and is immutably delivered. The gospel is enfleshed: we are the means by which the gospel is proclaimed.
Here are a few things to consider
Consider This:
- Jesus does treat people differently
- Jesus shows special compassion for the suffering
- Jesus constantly calls out those who know better
- Jesus doesn’t reject people, but many people reject Jesus’s message
But here’s the twist. Many people don’t want to hear the truth. There’s a real reason Jesus told his followers to knock the dust off their sandals and continue on. Many can’t hear you, no matter how you communicate, because they reject the message and they reject you. This is particularly true of those of us most in-line with the system, most willing to support what is and never truly dream about what will be. These people only hear what they want to hear, no matter what we actually say, or how we try to say it. The ones who so want all lives to matter that they won’t even give the opportunity for black ones to.
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