This is a blog I wrote for The Urban Gospel Mission. Read the original post here.
As a part of my job for The Expectations Project (and during a good portion of my free time as well…) I think a lot about ways people can advocate for the disenfranchised children in our country – most especially, how people of faith can build bridges with communities and schools that are often very different from their own to better be a voice and an advocate for these children. But a couple weeks ago a question popped up on The Expectations Project’s Facebook newsfeed that resonated with something I’ve been thinking the past few months (well really, the past few years):
Basically, this was the question: “If we aren’t even willing to be in church with those who are different from us, modeling to the world even inside our own church walls what it looks like to support those with different backgrounds, how can we do it in our schools?”
Wow. The Church should be leading the way in doing life with those who are different from us, showing the world what it looks like to be in relationship with those who are different from us in ethnicity, background, or socio-economic status – showing the world what it looks like to live in community as equals, loving and supporting each other. But our churches are often the most segregated places, and as I’ve personally sought to love those different from me the past couple years I’ve wrestled with this. It is hard for us Christians to get outside our comfort zones, to get outside that crowd that is similar to us, doing things we like to do, talking about God the way we like to talk about Him. It is hard to bring Him to groups and cultures that seem so different from us. We need to get outside ourselves. We need to bridge the divide.
But how?
And we are called to follow His example in our lives. At least to try.
We are called to be discontent as long as there is injustice and inequality; as long as there are people who don’t know the love of Christ and don’t have a chance to live the life He created for them. He taught us to pray for His “kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven.” We are created to long for the world as it should be – and use all that God has given us towards this reality, looking forward with hope to the day all things will finally be made new.
We are called to show the world a different way – in a way that shows the reality of Christ and foreshadows the Kingdom to come. How we do this will look different for everyone, but to truly live and love like Christ, we all must bridge divides.
For me, this means missing a night or two a week at home with my husband or out with friends so I can spend time with a 5th son of a single-mom friend. It means going outside my comfort zone and hanging out with him for a while (even though 5th graders are not an age I connect easily with!), forming a relationship with him and giving us time to become buddies – because now he lets me in, answers my personal questions, and asks me deeper things than even some of my closest friends.
Simply driving this 10 year old friend home from school once a week has opened my eyes to the brokenness of the world in which he has grown up and allowed me to feel pangs of the deep love our Father has for this young friend of mine.
And just by being there for him, God has allowed me to show some of that something different to him. One day he asked me (I’ll try to summarize a long and very heavy conversation into a few sentences here) if my husband and I would ever cheat on each other. “Why wouldn’t we, what would keep us from doing so, how could I really trust my husband and know he would never leave me, does love really mean you won’t cheat on someone….?”
As one intense question after another came from the mouth of someone much too young to know enough to ask such questions, my heart hurt a little more. But my heart was also encouraged at the same time – because just by being there for him every week for the 6 months leading up to this conversation, by letting him be himself with me, by singing along to the radio together and through him witnessing my relationship with my husband…. all these moments added up to the point one day where he subconsciously (or maybe consciously) decided that he trusted me enough to ask some very deep, probing question; questions that allowed me to speak truth about God’s intention for his life and his relationships.
Crossing divides for my husband has meant working in a school that is 99% non-white, being the minority in an environment where his job is harder because of his skin color. It has meant teaching and volunteering countless extra hours of his time after school and on weekends with kids who say things he would never have known to say at their age. It means allowing himself to be yelled at, made fun of, and made heartbroken by the life so many of his kids lead and the true Life so many of them don’t know.
But through being present in his school, after school, in the summer when he takes some of his students to camp, he crosses divides. He proves he cares. He follows God’s call and shows up. And that is all God asks of him.
That is all He asks of all of us. To obediently cross the divide, using whatever path He has laid before us.
Such as people who volunteer in a classroom once a week, people who drive the neighborhood kids to school so a single mom can get to work on time, people who hang out with that angry kid after school no matter how frustrating he is, and people who cook dinner for a lonely neighbor. It’s people who enter a church with an unfamiliar style of worship just so they can worship side by side with people of completely different backgrounds and people who give up that happy hour with friends to babysit foster kids whose foster parents are about to crack and could really use that date night.
Despite my best intentions to do more, all that God has called me – and all of us – to do is to love Him and then love others, in whatever unique way He has asked of us. He doesn’t ask us to save the whole world – He has already done that. He just asks us to follow Him across the divide.
Because when did Jesus not cross the divide?
He created a new social order, and He asks us as the Church to carry this social order into the world today. We are not to be content with the options the world offers us; we are to live out His example – a social order that seeks something better for this world, that looks outside of ourselves and our own personal interests, that gives up some of our own comforts and crosses all divides so all may know the love and justice of God.
Imagine how powerful it would be if every follower of Christ, if the whole Church, was bridging the divide in some way in our lives? The world would look very different. We see throughout history how God is seen the most when the Church is united in His vision to love the least, the lost, the enemy. This is our calling.
Christ turned this world upside down with the life He lived. He talked to and touched and loved those who were so far across the divide it would have been impossible to reach but for a miracle. So He did a miracle. And He asks us as His Church to follow His example, living in the power of His Spirit, changing whatever needs to be changed about our lives so that we are in relationships with those who the world has forgotten. (or maybe those with whom we just feel really uncomfortable….)
He crossed the divide before His father in heaven so that we might know Him and spend eternity with Him. And He crossed the divide here on earth, breaking down cultural and racial and socioeconomic barriers with the Cross, so that all types and classes would be seen as equal before His eyes – and would all have a chance to hear of His Love that bridged the divide between us and the Father. We are called to follow His example, carrying His love across the divides – and in the process allowing God to change the lives not just of the “other,” but our own lives as well.
As a part of my job for The Expectations Project (and during a good portion of my free time as well…) I think a lot about ways people can advocate for the disenfranchised children in our country – most especially, how people of faith can build bridges with communities and schools that are often very different from their own to better be a voice and an advocate for these children. But a couple weeks ago a question popped up on The Expectations Project’s Facebook newsfeed that resonated with something I’ve been thinking the past few months (well really, the past few years):
Basically, this was the question: “If we aren’t even willing to be in church with those who are different from us, modeling to the world even inside our own church walls what it looks like to support those with different backgrounds, how can we do it in our schools?”
Wow. The Church should be leading the way in doing life with those who are different from us, showing the world what it looks like to be in relationship with those who are different from us in ethnicity, background, or socio-economic status – showing the world what it looks like to live in community as equals, loving and supporting each other. But our churches are often the most segregated places, and as I’ve personally sought to love those different from me the past couple years I’ve wrestled with this. It is hard for us Christians to get outside our comfort zones, to get outside that crowd that is similar to us, doing things we like to do, talking about God the way we like to talk about Him. It is hard to bring Him to groups and cultures that seem so different from us. We need to get outside ourselves. We need to bridge the divide.
But how?
BUILDING THE BRIDGE
Honestly, I‘m not sure. As much as I wish there was, I’ve realized there is no set recipe God gives us. But He has given us some pretty clear instructions in His Word for how He desires us to live, what He desires this world to look like, and what brings Him glory. We see that He clearly desires that we bridge divides – as Christ did throughout His whole ministry. It was to bridge the ultimate divide that led Him to give up His own life.And we are called to follow His example in our lives. At least to try.
We are called to be discontent as long as there is injustice and inequality; as long as there are people who don’t know the love of Christ and don’t have a chance to live the life He created for them. He taught us to pray for His “kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven.” We are created to long for the world as it should be – and use all that God has given us towards this reality, looking forward with hope to the day all things will finally be made new.
We are called to show the world a different way – in a way that shows the reality of Christ and foreshadows the Kingdom to come. How we do this will look different for everyone, but to truly live and love like Christ, we all must bridge divides.
For me, this means missing a night or two a week at home with my husband or out with friends so I can spend time with a 5th son of a single-mom friend. It means going outside my comfort zone and hanging out with him for a while (even though 5th graders are not an age I connect easily with!), forming a relationship with him and giving us time to become buddies – because now he lets me in, answers my personal questions, and asks me deeper things than even some of my closest friends.
Simply driving this 10 year old friend home from school once a week has opened my eyes to the brokenness of the world in which he has grown up and allowed me to feel pangs of the deep love our Father has for this young friend of mine.
And just by being there for him, God has allowed me to show some of that something different to him. One day he asked me (I’ll try to summarize a long and very heavy conversation into a few sentences here) if my husband and I would ever cheat on each other. “Why wouldn’t we, what would keep us from doing so, how could I really trust my husband and know he would never leave me, does love really mean you won’t cheat on someone….?”
As one intense question after another came from the mouth of someone much too young to know enough to ask such questions, my heart hurt a little more. But my heart was also encouraged at the same time – because just by being there for him every week for the 6 months leading up to this conversation, by letting him be himself with me, by singing along to the radio together and through him witnessing my relationship with my husband…. all these moments added up to the point one day where he subconsciously (or maybe consciously) decided that he trusted me enough to ask some very deep, probing question; questions that allowed me to speak truth about God’s intention for his life and his relationships.
THE SACRIFICE
Crossing divides for me has also meant giving up some time on my weekends to spend time with this boy’s mother. And what I once viewed as time away from a restful weekend has often resulted in some of the best conversations of my life with this woman, who I now consider a dear friend. She has asked me questions that remind me of the deep love of God and the reality of His mercy. The time I’ve spent with her has also included laughing till my stomach hurts at our differences –recognizing them and letting those differences deepen our friendship, not make it uncomfortable. This woman is now not just someone I support and help – she is one of my closest friends, someone I look to for comfort.Crossing divides for my husband has meant working in a school that is 99% non-white, being the minority in an environment where his job is harder because of his skin color. It has meant teaching and volunteering countless extra hours of his time after school and on weekends with kids who say things he would never have known to say at their age. It means allowing himself to be yelled at, made fun of, and made heartbroken by the life so many of his kids lead and the true Life so many of them don’t know.
But through being present in his school, after school, in the summer when he takes some of his students to camp, he crosses divides. He proves he cares. He follows God’s call and shows up. And that is all God asks of him.
That is all He asks of all of us. To obediently cross the divide, using whatever path He has laid before us.
WE ALL CAN CROSS THE DIVIDE
In addition to my husband, there are countless other examples of people doing this all around us, showing us practically what it looks like to bring more of God’s Kingdom onto this earth:Such as people who volunteer in a classroom once a week, people who drive the neighborhood kids to school so a single mom can get to work on time, people who hang out with that angry kid after school no matter how frustrating he is, and people who cook dinner for a lonely neighbor. It’s people who enter a church with an unfamiliar style of worship just so they can worship side by side with people of completely different backgrounds and people who give up that happy hour with friends to babysit foster kids whose foster parents are about to crack and could really use that date night.
Despite my best intentions to do more, all that God has called me – and all of us – to do is to love Him and then love others, in whatever unique way He has asked of us. He doesn’t ask us to save the whole world – He has already done that. He just asks us to follow Him across the divide.
Because when did Jesus not cross the divide?
He created a new social order, and He asks us as the Church to carry this social order into the world today. We are not to be content with the options the world offers us; we are to live out His example – a social order that seeks something better for this world, that looks outside of ourselves and our own personal interests, that gives up some of our own comforts and crosses all divides so all may know the love and justice of God.
THE RESPONSE
So I guess the right question to ask wouldn’t be how do we cross the divide, but are we crossing the divide? How will depend on the unique calling God has for each of us.Imagine how powerful it would be if every follower of Christ, if the whole Church, was bridging the divide in some way in our lives? The world would look very different. We see throughout history how God is seen the most when the Church is united in His vision to love the least, the lost, the enemy. This is our calling.
Christ turned this world upside down with the life He lived. He talked to and touched and loved those who were so far across the divide it would have been impossible to reach but for a miracle. So He did a miracle. And He asks us as His Church to follow His example, living in the power of His Spirit, changing whatever needs to be changed about our lives so that we are in relationships with those who the world has forgotten. (or maybe those with whom we just feel really uncomfortable….)
He crossed the divide before His father in heaven so that we might know Him and spend eternity with Him. And He crossed the divide here on earth, breaking down cultural and racial and socioeconomic barriers with the Cross, so that all types and classes would be seen as equal before His eyes – and would all have a chance to hear of His Love that bridged the divide between us and the Father. We are called to follow His example, carrying His love across the divides – and in the process allowing God to change the lives not just of the “other,” but our own lives as well.
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