by Rev. Danielle Rogers
When I was a young woman I remember saying to my mom, “being a Christian requires work. It's not a passive faith.” She smiled and agreed saying, “ Yes it requires work. You should never feel too comfortable as a Christian.”
Her words stay with me today as I see so many conflicts and atrocities in our society. There was a time when I felt I could remain in quiet contemplation and inwardly practice the agape love Jesus teaches, but that time is long gone. Any complacency I may have had was replaced with an urgent call to speak against injustice, advocate for the poor and marginalized, and organize with others who have learned from the great theologians of Liberation Theology.
“You should never be too comfortable as a Christian.” I recently read a poem by Rev. Traci Blackmon that speaks to the great divide occurring within Christianity right now. Division within the faith is not a new concept. In fact there have always been disagreements about how the Faith is practiced.
Today I find myself aligning with my moral compass as taught by Jesus, and if it doesn't align, I must speak up loudly and with confidence. Rev. Blackmon's Poem reads:
I want to meet your god.
To see if your god really exists.
The god you preach about.
This god you quote and say you read about.
This god who cannot hear the children cry.
This god who does not provide shelter.
This god who is nourished but does not feed.
This god of guns but not of grace.
This god of Kings but not of kingdoms.
This god of greed but not of generosity.
This god of the womb but not of the woman.
This god who fears black skin.
This god of America but not all America.
Not all of the world.
I do not know your god.
What is your god's name?
— Rev. Traci Blackmon, Executive Minister, United Church of Christ Justice & Witness Ministries
We have an opportunity to live our faith publicly and unapologetically. We no longer can remain quiet and allow other interpretations to do harm in Jesus name. When we say nothing, it allows others to speak for all Christians. It's time to flex, to strengthen your faith muscle and proclaim the word according to your moral compass.
In Isaiah 58:6-10 we are told to worship actively and not to a dead and hollow God:
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn from your own flesh and blood?”
I pray we as a congregation will continue to do our part, to strengthen our selves in the word of God and follow in Jesus' teachings that rely on our acts, not just our prayers, not just our good intentions, but requires us to be uncomfortable. Relish in that feeling and grow from it. It's time to flex your faith and show the world another interpretation of a loving, living God.
—Rev. Danielle Rogers serves as Pilgrim’s Christian Education Director