A call to action: Policy but not politics
My former youth pastor, Pastor Paul Allen ( I wouldn’t be who I am without him and Laurie!) commented on my post, How can Christians work to end poverty? His comment really gets to the heart of what I’m trying to wrestle with.
Here it is:
Sarah, the blog was great! As a Pastor I am constantly wondering how I can lead a church to become part of the solution. As you stated, the eventual outcome leads to politics and I feel that our mission to the lost is compromised when we (as an organization) become too political. I know others would disagree, but I feel compelled to keep politics as far from my pulpit as possible in order to reach everyone despite political ideologies.
So, how do we get to the heart of the problem when the most effective answer is our greatest roadblock? I only offer this as an intellectual spark, but don’t we need to encourage as many of our bright young Christian people to engage the culture in the political arena? We need to combat the issue on two fronts-the church must do it’s part today. In whatever capacity it can to relieve the immediate burden, while our Christian politicians need to be focused on solving the long-term issues.
Just one guys thoughts…let me know what you think!
My response:
Hey PP – I have been thinking about your response to my post.
I think the key difference here might be between policy and politics.
I agree that the church must work to relieve the immediate burden! But since we live in a society that has laws and policies, at the local, state, federal, and international level, that affect everyone’s daily lives. We participate in these policies, as well as an economic system that doesn’t “act ethically” or ensure that those God cares for have the opportunity to thrive. By not speaking against these policies, and enjoying benefits from these policies, we support and further injustice and oppression. {I will say it – I support injustice and oppression through choices I consciously make, and by choices I don’t make.}
That is one of the reasons I agree with you that it is important to wrestle with this. But even if we were somehow able to not participate in oppression, scripture shows that speaking out against oppression by others, and ending injustice at all levels of society, is part of working with God to build his Kingdom here on earth.
This implies, then, that as a church we need to participate in this work and not simply leave it up to politicians. In fact, as Christians we have handed over our responsibility, which is to work with God to build his Kingdom, to politics and politicians. We do this through Moral Majority, Christian right, religious right, etc. (and liberal groups as well, but they’re not quite as influential, not much of a force to be reckoned with!). Evangelicals became married to a party rather than married to building the Kingdom vision of Shalom that God gives us in scripture.
We gave our job as God’s people to politicians.
As a church, I think we should be involved with policy, but not politics (though as individuals, it’s difficult to avoid politics). Nehemiah 5 shows that just policies are a necessity. And in fact, the Levitical laws were really policies. So I don’t think we need to stay away from influencing policies that are just, but from siding with a political party.
I agree that becoming political is a problem in a church. However, I think Isaiah 59 (check out my latest post!) shows that we need to “speak out against injustice.”
How we can become involved
These are some ways that I think are safe for the church (and churches) to become involved with “big picture” solutions, while staying away from politics:
- Get involved with international issues. Hopefully most Christians can agree that education for girls is a good thing, which is a major issue in many countries. Or that women should not be killed for “shaming their families” (check out the book Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn). Thankfully, we view those in poverty globally with more compassion and kindness than we do those in poverty in the U.S.! Supporting an end to systemic injustice globally is pretty safe.
- Get involved with an issue like human trafficking and modern day slavery in the U.S. Thankfully, this is not too political yet. But there’s federal and CT state legislation around this issue right now to protect victims. Churches who entered the fight for civil rights were certainly acting in obedience to God.
- Supporting statements and petitions calling for justice. It may seem like small potatoes, but the National Association of Evangelicals signed the petition, Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform (immigration policy should show “biblical grace to the stranger”), and passed a resolution on this as well. These types of petitions influence politicians, but in a non-partisan way (Repubs and Dems may come on board as a result), and doesn’t support a specific political party.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on these! I’m also interested in how other churches and bodies of believers are doing to try to wrestle with this issue!
From deepest dark to highest light: Isaiah 58-61
By Sarah
*****************
Austin concluded in his post titled Do Not Hide Yourself From Your Own Flesh that, based on Isaiah 58, God sees the well-being of all members of the community as the responsibility of all of God’s people (perhaps – “we are our brothers and sisters keeper,” or “it does take a village to raise a child”). Isaiah describes the fasting God has chosen as loosening the chains of injustice, setting the oppressed free, breaking every yoke, sharing food with the hungry, providing shelter for the homeless, etc. True worship is not fasting, but is acting as God’s hand and feet on the earth, as it were.
But after this vision of how God’s people should worship him, in Isaiah 59, Isaiah tells Israel that their iniquities have separated them from God. It’s not sexual immorality, laziness, or lack of tithing that separates them, but injustice. And not only because of acts of injustice, such as “hands stained with blood,” but also because Israel is not crying out for justice. Later in the chapter, God is so fed up with their sin of injustice that he puts on his breastplate of righteousness, his cloak of vengeance, and decides to take care of business himself.
*************
18According to what they have done,
so will he repay
wrath to his enemies
and retribution to his foes;
he will repay the islands their due.
*************
He regarded the Israelites as his enemies because of their acts of injustice, and their silence at injustice, and brings retribution.
But still, after all of that, God longs for Israel to turn to him (Isaiah 60):
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1 Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.
2 See, darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the LORD rises upon you
and his glory appears over you.
3 Nations will come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
*************
After angrily highlighting the despicable injustice and oppression his people have engaged in, God tells them that there is still hope! If they turn to him, put away injustice, and call for justice on behalf of the oppressed, the justice they practice will reflect God to such an extent that others will see him and be drawn to him through their community.
The light of the Lord rests upon Israel because it reflects a central aspect of God’s character: justice.
Then in Isaiah 61, Isaiah presents a vision of Shalom,* of what could be.** Good news is preached to the poor, mourners are comforted, ancient ruins are rebuilt, and the people of God become all priests and ministers of the Lord – and all of this because they reflect the completeness of who God is. Through Israel God reconciles the oppressed to himself.
Part of our witness is modeling what could be. Despite their horrible sin (unjust acts and silence in the face of injustice), God still longs to give Israel the opportunity to display to all nations what God’s Kingdom can look like.
What about Jesus?
In the synagogue in Luke 4, Jesus said that Isaiah 61 was fulfilled in the hearing of those present:
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18“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
19to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
*************
When Jesus was asked by John the Baptist, “are you the Expected One,” Jesus replied that the poor receive sight, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor (Matthew 11:1-4). All of these people were despised because they were sick and poor. Yet what Jesus gave as evidence of being the One – his ministry to those rejected by the community.
When we talk about the Expected One, is this what we tell them? As evangelicals, we spend a lot of time on individual forgiveness and repentance, which are important. But Jesus himself answered that people know him because he goes to those who are rejected by society and brings justice to them.
Our Choice
In my post, Does the Body of Christ Lift People Out of Poverty, I posed some rather difficult questions about how the church can engage in eliminating poverty, or in the context of this section of Isaiah, how the church can engage in relieving oppression on an individual and societal level. Not getting involved doesn’t appear to be an option, if we read Isaiah 59. Remember, Israel was not only going to be punished for perpetuating oppression, but also for her individual and collective silence.
What would your life look like if you took God’s priority as your own? What if you made this your ministry: to work toward God’s vision of shalom, laid out in Isaiah 61? What would that look like not only in your community, but in the U.S., in the world?
What would it look like if you cried out to God because of injustices around you? Do you notice injustice around you? If not, pray that God would give you his love for the forgotten, despised, and rejected that live around you.
Christ did not come only to free me from the guilt of my own sin, but to free those whom I oppress, both as an individual and as part of a community. I have a choice. I can foster only my personal piety and ignore the people Jesus came to love. Or I can foster my personal piety and work with God to free those he came to free.
You have the same choice.
* Shalom – Flourishing. “…not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice” (MLK Jr.). “…wholeness, completeness, harmony-the total sense of well-being, what God initially intended before the Fall-for both individuals and for community” (Cannon, Mae Elise, “Social Justice Handbook: Small Steps for a Better World,” 2009). Flourishing as individuals and as a community.
** Psalm 72 also presents a vision of Shalom for an entire nation
A Victory for Christians – No more Day of Prayer
By Austin
Kathy Kattenburg over at the Moderate Voice points to a story NPR did about a U.S. District court ruling that makes it unconstitutional for the President to proclaim a national day of prayer (a practice that stared in 1952).
Why do I say this is a victory? Because for too long, American Christians have blurred the distinction between worship of God in church and worship of nation at sporting events, national holidays, and schools.
But this blurring is wrong. Christianity has always defined itself against such provincial bonds because it proclaims the life, death, and resurrection is for all peoples, and that the church is universal. I have more in common with my Chinese, Iranian, or Cuban bothers and sisters in Christ than I do with my American neighbors who do not confess Jesus as Lord.
Holidays like the “National Day of Prayer,” while often initiated in good faith, actually participate in national “liturgies” of unity. And these liturgies have a specific function that Christians are often confused about. I’ve heard Christians say that national day of prayer should help us get back to the faith of the founding fathers (read Drew’s discussion of such “faith” here), but the real function of these liturgies is to develop a primary loyalty to one’s nation, rather than a loyalty to Jesus. It does not rule out loyalty to Jesus (obviously that’s a part of this holiday), but it promotes a particular vision of what that loyalty means - the hope is that by getting the country “back onto God’s path” the country itself will prosper and flourish.
But the main guarantee of loyalty to Jesus is not success. In fact, the one guarantee is that if you follows the way of the cross, you will suffer (consider: Acts 5.40-42; Acts 9.15-16; Rom 8.16-18). The attitude of early Christians we see in the New Testament, and texts form figures like Polycarp and Ignatius of Antioch, is that they expected and welcomed suffering. They almost universally did not expect prosperity – which is one of the reasons Romans found them so strange (their view was that Christians were atheists, anti-family, and immoral). Roman civic religion, as Augustine noted in the City of God, promised prosperity to the nation. But Christians knew, said Augustine, that the real “patria” (fatherland) is not the nation, but Jesus.
So this is indeed a real victory for Christians. The more our faith is publically distanced from the nation, the freer we are to be who we are. If we truly confess Jesus as Lord, we will always remember what the Epistle to Diognetus says about Christians:
They live in their own countries, but only as nonresidents; they participate in everything as citizens, and endure everything as foreigners. Every foreign country is their fatherland, and every fatherland is foreign.
Do ‘Not Hide Yourself From Your Own Flesh’
By Austin
Sarah has a good challenge for us in her latest post: what is a theological response to this disparity in underemployment for people of color?
For two millenia, the Christian church has understood the four Gospels in terms of Isaiah. It is the most quoted book of the OT in the NT, and in particular, Isaiah 40-66 has provided the basic understanding of what Jesus has done. So it’s only appropriate to look at one particularly powerful passage, Isaiah 58, for a glimpse of a response. 
This chapter is really about worship. The prophet speaks of Israel’s sins, and responds to Israel’s attempted penance. The people ask, “‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not?” The response they get is
Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure,
and oppress all your workers.
Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
and to hit with a wicked fist.
Fasting like yours this day
will not make your voice to be heard on high.
Is such the fast that I choose,
a day for a person to humble himself?
Is it to bow down his head like a reed,
and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?
Will you call this a fast,
and a day acceptable to the LORD? (vs. 3-5)
Yahweh sees this fasting as a self-serving justification, like when a politician stands with this wife after infidelity and apologizes, telling how he “hurt” lots of people. This contrition is false contrition because it is a lament for lost power – and as the prophet calls to the elite of Israel, the true nature of this lament is to hedge their power, to get back to that place where they can oppress their workers, compete and jocky for more power.
So what does a true fast look like?
Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? (vs. 6-7)
The correct way to fast, the correct way to worship, is not to deny yourself in order to regain your power, but to deny yourself in order to give to another.
Think about this for a second. What does fasting have to do with breaking “every yoke?” Calvin said that the essence of the Christian life is to deny yourself. Why? For the sake of your neighbor. Right worship is not so much connected with right belief as with ethics, with breaking all oppression, with bringing the homeless into your house, with feeding the hungry, clothing the naked.
This phrase “hide yourself from your own flesh” is perhaps the most interesting phrase of the passage. Who is “your own flesh” here? The context makes it clear: the hungry, the homeless, the naked. So in not giving, not breaking yokes, not overcoming oppression, we are hiding ourselves from ourselves, those others who are us.
So what is an initial Biblical response to the underemployment of people of color? It appears that the first response is to realize they are our own flesh. What is happening to them is happening to us. Once we fully realize this – which means we change our practice -
Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up speedily;
your righteousness shall go before you;
the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer;
you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you take away the yoke from your midst,
the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
if you pour yourself out for the hungry
and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
then shall your light rise in the darkness
and your gloom be as the noonday. (vs 8-9)
The end of ”pointing of the finger” is a start (stop blaming the poor!), the end of speaking wickedness goes further, and healing springing up is the end.
So what does God think of these underemployed people of color (along with all people of course!)? Apparently he sees their welfare as a part of the worship due to him, and apparently only then will
your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of streets to dwell in.
Unemployment in Black and White
By Sarah
Unemployment– 1 out of every 6 Black workers is unemployed (16.5%). Child poverty – 1 out of every 2 Black children are in poverty (53%).
That’s pretty high, right? The U.S. unemployment rate is now at 9.7%, down slightly from last quarter, but still, almost 1 out of every 10 workers is unable to find a job. But 16.5%? The pre-recession level of unemployment for Black workers was already high at 7.5% (1 out of every 13), only slightly lower than the current 8.8% (1 out of every 11) experienced by White workers. Hispanic workers are also unemployed at a higher rate as well at 12.6% (1 out of every 8).*
While the media and politicians have been celebrating declining unemployment levels this quarter, they have actually increased by point seven percentage points (+.7%) for Black workers.
If you’d like to explore more unemployment statics, The Kirwan Institute publication, Race-Recovery Index: Is Stimulus Helping Communities in Crisis (March 2010) is a good place to start. They review them in light of the second priority of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which is:
“To assist those most impacted by the recession”
Based on the employment levels above, it’s clear that people of color have been affected most by the recession.
When looking at underemployment non-whites are more affected as well. According to the Economic Policy Institute**, As of November 2009, White workers were underemployed at 14.6% (1 out of every 7), Black workers were underemployed at 24.3% (1 out of every 4), and Hispanic workers were underemployed at 25.1% (1 out of every 4). The projected underemployment rate looks less bad for White workers over the year as well. The EPI estimates White workers will be underemployed at a rate of 29% (1 out of every 3.4), while Black workers are likely to be underemployed at 38% (1 out of every 2.6) and Hispanic workers at 46% (1 out of every 2.1) for the remainder of 2010.
White college-educated workers also fared better in 2009 – their unemployment rate was 4.2% (1 out of every 24) compared to 7.3% (1 out of every 14) for Black workers, 5.7% (1 out of every 18) for Hispanic workers, and 5.6% (1 out of every 18) for Asian workers.
The picture becomes even more troubling when we look at child poverty which has increased dramatically due to the loss of jobs. The total child poverty level has increased from 18% (1 out of ever 6) in 2007 to 27% (1 out of every 4) in 2010. However, the rate of Black children in poverty has increased from 34% (1 out of every 3) in 2007, already almost twice the average rate of poverty, to 53% (1 out of every 2) 2010.
When it comes to the foreclosure crisis,
“borrowers of color were more than 30 percent more likely to receive a higher-rate loan than white borrowers”
even after controlling for a variety of risk factors. Neighborhoods of Philadelphia and Baltimore with the highest concentration of color also had the highest rates of subprime loans. The New York Times found that
“even at higher income levels, black borrowers in New York City were far more likely than white borrowers with similar incomes and mortgage amounts to receive a subprime loan.”
One study also found that in the seven metropolitan areas they examined,
“high-risk lenders captured at least 40 percent more of the market in lower-income…neighborhoods than in higher-income…areas…”
[Important digression – people refer to an outdated 2000 Federal Reserve study that found that Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) loans were not only less profitable as non-CRA loans, but were also delinquent at twice the rate. This is the foundation of blaming poor people of color for the foreclosure crisis. However, a subsequent 2002 Federal Reserve study, which was more rigorous and reliable, found that the loans are actually profitable or marginally profitable, and that the delinquency rates are actually quite low. You can fact check the next person that cites this research!]
I would argue that all of these stats are problematic. Unemployment, child poverty, and foreclosure are horrible, regardless of race or income status. As Christians, we should be concerned about all of them and work to support anyone around us who may be experiencing these situations. However, they are affecting people of color at a much higher rate. This should at the very least concern us and make us wonder how we should react.
These problems are incredibly large, and I’m not offering an easy solution. At the very least, instead of blaming people for being poor, as Christians we need to think about how we should respond to these troubling disparities based on scripture.
When I was a (somewhat rebellious) teenager, my dad taught me that I was responsible for how I responded to situations. I can’t control what other people do, but I can control what I do. If I think that’s true, then it applies to my response to problems in the world as well. I can’t control if employers pay their workers so those workers can put food on their child’s table (outside of policy, at least). I can’t control whether people in poverty make good decisions (though I could run a financial education program or start a credit union with my church). I can’t control if banks exploit people in poverty through unethical lending practices (again, outside of policy).
But I can control whether I obey what God has clearly laid out in scripture.*** When God talks about the poor, he doesn’t blame them for bad decisions (though in Proverbs, there are two people poverty who are called “lazy” twice), but instead, blames rich people for exploiting the poor for their own gain, thus making them poor. As Christians, shouldn’t we model scripture before we model politicians? If God supports and “rescues” the poor and oppressed, how can we twist that to mean that our response should be to blame and judge them? Why are we so quick to defend those with wealth and so slow to defend those in poverty?
I am interested in what people think about the idea that we should respond within the responsibilities that God gives to us – to care for the poor and the oppressed, particularly as it relates to this information.
What can our Christian communities do to support people affected by racial disparities? Looking strictly at scripture, how should we as Christians respond to these disparities? Most importantly, what does scripture show that God might think toward these workers, families, and children?
* A recent report found that income accounted for a huge gap in employment. Households with an annual income of $12,160 or lower are experiencing unemployment at a mind-blowing 31% (1 out of 3.3). However, based on the unemployment information above, it is likely that White workers in that income bracket are unemployed at a (very high) rate in the high-20′s, but that Black and Hispanic workers in that income bracket are experiencing unemployment at a (very very high) rate in the mid-30′s.
** You can explore these stats through EPI’s interactive data tool at Economy Track, or check out the presentation that I took these data from at the Transforming Race conference.
*** To explore some of these things, look at the post at The Just Life, The Bible on the Poor.
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