The Interview Pt. 1
On Thursday, I had the honor to be interview by a friend from my high school days. She works for a company that has seen business affected from COVID-19 and has recently seen that a lot of her clients are not supporting the Black Lives Matter movement and peaceful protests thereof. She also noticed much of her clientele is white. Suddenly, for her, an idea sparked. What if she interviewed various white voices in leadership from various businesses that were supporting BLM and were actively protesting? Her hope is to shed light on these white voices that were standing beside black voices to see very real change. I thought I would share my thoughts on some of the questions she asked me.
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Recently, I participated in a peaceful protest walking through a city next to my own called Haw River. It was hosted by Beyond Measure Ministries. Unfortunately, this is the first protest I have been part of. I say unfortunately because I should have been part of this before. I was compelled to participate because of the obvious injustices that have been happening to my friends of color and POC community. I am protesting for their rights as equal citizens as well as fair and improved justice practices throughout our justice system. I also believe that black voices have screamed for their own lives far too long and we needed to join them and raise our own with theirs. As a follower of Jesus and youth pastor, it is central to my belief system to help people understand their value, worth, and purpose in this world.
Where/how do you believe hatred/racism begins, especially in people who proclaim to be Christian? What can be done to reverse this?
(I began this question with a long pause and a deep breath)
Let's remember that Christians are definitely humans. And Christians just like many have an opportunity to do two things everyday: do good, or royally screw it all up. Many people who have racist ideology of any sort find the roots of that in their family tree. Much of it is handed down through generations and generations without ever being challenged. If you never leave your house, town, state and get out of your comfort zone, your most basic ideologies are rarely challenged. If you do not sit and listen to diverse voices and really choose to hear and listen, you never gain someone else's story and perspective.
This can stretch to our LGBTQ friends as well. Conservative Christians will typically cling to a handful of passages typically referred to as "clobber passages" that allegedly give ability to call people and actions sinful and wrong. Unfortunately what these passages also do is make people feel less valuable, less worthy, and can further distance people from God. What has happened with these passages is that people have taken these verses at face value. The old mantra is "The Bible says it, I believe it, that settles it." However, people do not read these passages and study them within their context. The message in the verses changes when studied and interpreted properly.
My church, Storied Church, values individual stories. We want people to gain the courage to tell their story, see that their story is valuable, and come to understand where God is intertwining Godself into their story. We believe when we can sit at table and truly hear a story, we cannot walk away from that table without either having more questions or being changed from the experience. Stories should challenge the way we think and live just like they did in the days of Jesus.
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This is likely enough to read, I will continue this tomorrow with questions about Bible verses, thoughts on "All Lives Matter" and how the current leaders in politics have handled the situations of peaceful protests and the issues these protest bring forth.
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What events/protests have you attended for Black Lives Matter? Where were they located? What compelled you to participate in a protest? Have you ever protested before?
Recently, I participated in a peaceful protest walking through a city next to my own called Haw River. It was hosted by Beyond Measure Ministries. Unfortunately, this is the first protest I have been part of. I say unfortunately because I should have been part of this before. I was compelled to participate because of the obvious injustices that have been happening to my friends of color and POC community. I am protesting for their rights as equal citizens as well as fair and improved justice practices throughout our justice system. I also believe that black voices have screamed for their own lives far too long and we needed to join them and raise our own with theirs. As a follower of Jesus and youth pastor, it is central to my belief system to help people understand their value, worth, and purpose in this world.
Where/how do you believe hatred/racism begins, especially in people who proclaim to be Christian? What can be done to reverse this?
(I began this question with a long pause and a deep breath)
Let's remember that Christians are definitely humans. And Christians just like many have an opportunity to do two things everyday: do good, or royally screw it all up. Many people who have racist ideology of any sort find the roots of that in their family tree. Much of it is handed down through generations and generations without ever being challenged. If you never leave your house, town, state and get out of your comfort zone, your most basic ideologies are rarely challenged. If you do not sit and listen to diverse voices and really choose to hear and listen, you never gain someone else's story and perspective.
This can stretch to our LGBTQ friends as well. Conservative Christians will typically cling to a handful of passages typically referred to as "clobber passages" that allegedly give ability to call people and actions sinful and wrong. Unfortunately what these passages also do is make people feel less valuable, less worthy, and can further distance people from God. What has happened with these passages is that people have taken these verses at face value. The old mantra is "The Bible says it, I believe it, that settles it." However, people do not read these passages and study them within their context. The message in the verses changes when studied and interpreted properly.
My church, Storied Church, values individual stories. We want people to gain the courage to tell their story, see that their story is valuable, and come to understand where God is intertwining Godself into their story. We believe when we can sit at table and truly hear a story, we cannot walk away from that table without either having more questions or being changed from the experience. Stories should challenge the way we think and live just like they did in the days of Jesus.
----
This is likely enough to read, I will continue this tomorrow with questions about Bible verses, thoughts on "All Lives Matter" and how the current leaders in politics have handled the situations of peaceful protests and the issues these protest bring forth.
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