OUR RESPONSIBILITY

Every month, students get together to worship, fellowship and testify about the wonderful things God’s done on campuses across New Jersey. 

Last Jersey Cru, our staff decided to invite a panel to discuss what God says about diversity and unity within the body of Christ. I was able to join a panel of intellectual, God-fearing believers to answer questions about race and our roles as Christians in the conversation.

A week after the panel, I was given the opportunity to speak at Kean’s Cru movement meeting on Ephesians 4:1-16. We talked about the 4 major responsibilities we have as Christians in addressing those different from us within the body of Christ.

Together, we recognized that humility, patience, gentleness & bearing with one another in love are all ways through which we can yield to our brothers and sisters in Christ. Yielding to one another is not very different than yielding to someone in traffic on the road. It takes the Holy Spirit giving us humility to lay down our desires (to be right, to be in control, to be comfortable) so that others may feel loved and so that the body of Christ may grow in maturity. 

“We are called to speak and act in humility, patience, gentleness and love.”

No matter what our opinion on a social justice issue, politician or carpet color of the church rug, we are called to speak and act in humility, patience, gentleness and love. This isn’t easy, but is necessary for the Christian church to grow more fully in Christ and therefore more accurately represent Jesus Christ to the world. When we do this, more will want to be a part of God’s family - because of our love. The Lord has challenged me to consider how I’m applying Ephesians 4:2 to my speech on social media, in person, or within the body of Christ.

A Call to Humility

I've heard a lot of opinions from all perspectives on #BlackLivesMatter (with which I agree),#BlueLivesMatter (with which I agree), and#AllLivesMatter (with which I also agree). I also believe that it's important to grieve with those who grieve and not respond to #BlackLivesMatter with something that could sound like you really mean "people die everyday, so move on". When we mourn with our Black peers over the loss of someone they relate to, it shows the love of God.  Here's an attempt at a similar example for believers in Jesus. I once told a friend who isn't a Christian about how grieved I was over the loss of Christians in persecuted countries.Her response was "Those countries don't want the Christian faith, those people should've known better. I'm not saying they deserve to die but if they must've done something wrong. And all Muslims aren't murders. After all, Christians used to kill a whole lot more for a long time. Look at the Crusades." Was my friend right? In some aspects. Was she wrong? In some aspects. Was she a friend? Not in that moment. In that very moment, I sympathized with people who I could relate to and she simply explained why I shouldn't grieve. I share this to remind myself and to charge us as believers to rise! Rise above our "right to be heard" or our "right to communicate all the facts as we see them." We have all sinned. We have all been hurt by sin. We have all been separated from God as a result and have experienced the excruciating pains of sin. And we all deserve death as a result... but that word means spiritual separation from God. God came to rescue all that would believe through the sacrifice He made of His "right to equality with God" (Philippians 2:6) to be hung on a tree. He has been hung. He suffered. He gave up His rights (Philippians 3) - it happened. As an ethnic minority, I want to SCREAM for equal rights and corrected systems. As a light-skinned person, I want to SHOUT that I'm not racist and my life matters too. But the reality is that none of those claims help me grieve with my neighbor or love my friend. We can defend the truths behind both of these statements, but how ought we respond? PastorMartin Luther King Jr said “All this is simply to say that all life is interrelated. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality; tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. As long as there is poverty in this world, no man can be totally rich even if he has a billion dollars... Strangely enough, I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. You can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be.” Don't take me at an extreme here. I think it's important to have safe people in our lives with whom we communicate every feeling and thought, but I also think we need to consider how to apply Philippians 2:1-11 to our speech and our actions.  "So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy bybeing of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." We ought not decide to behave this way because it is politically in our favor or because social media says it's right. We ought to behave differently from the world, no matter what our view, because in our love for one another, God will be made famous!

How can you love someone today who you feel has caused you pain? With silence? (not fighting against someone else's belief just because you disagree) With a voice? (standing in the gap of understanding that when you're for something, it doesn't mean you're against something else) With a gesture? (listening is a gesture not often practiced and smiling is still acceptable in most societies - even New York City! :) With a question and willingness to learn? (how can I pray for you today?) Differing on an opinion doesn't mean someone is wrong. Being different allows for Christians to bring even MORE glory to God by showing that we are ONE in the love of Christ despite our differences.