tending
Some of us feel guilty about not doing enough. In rethinking what we are supposed to be and to do, we have been reacting to a life-long emphasis on just getting one’s ideas straight. What has mattered is just that you have your list of ideas about God and right behavior straightened out. Now, we are sensing that there needs to be expression of those stated beliefs in the form of action. Practical issues of justice, fairness, and concern for social issues are coming to the forefront of our minds. “What are we going to do?” is the question instead of simply, “What do we believe?”
A people who have the sense that they have not ‘done’ much are suddenly confronted with a world full of real concern (injustice, racism, poverty, etc.) and are left feeling overwhelmed with guilt for not doing enough. The decision may seem to be between carrying around a self-deprecating load of guilt (for not doing enough) or going back to simply being concerned with getting the facts straight.
I don’t think that ignoring the real hurts in the world and crawling back into the cave of private cognitive exercise and personal sin management is the answer. But I don’t think it is helpful to keep flailing ourselves with all the things we aren’t doing. And I’m beginning to wonder if the two aren’t really all that different after all.
The impulse to participate with God in the healing of the hurting world around us must be disciplined with discernment as to what particular parts of God’s work we are invited to share. Without such clarity as to what our particular part is, we unnecessarily burden ourselves and others with responsibilities that belong to others. It is not an issue of minding one’s own business while ignoring the rest of the world. It is an issue of tending well to one’s own row in the garden.
People in positions of influence must be careful with the burdens they place on others. What may be a responsibility for one person is not the responsibility of all. Jesus criticized religious leaders for placing burdens on people that were crushing and life-suffocating. What we do in alerting people to the need for missional engagement in the world must be something that empowers people to identify their God-given responsibility in the places they are.
What we sometimes do (with good intentions, no doubt) is to send people looking for other places that appear to be in more obvious need than their present situation. That is an insidious form of pride: to assume that we and our ‘place’ are not the ones in need of God’s healing. This is not an excuse to ignore other places. It is simply a call not to ignore the one we’re in. It is not an invitation to avoid the burdens of living as a servant of Jesus. It is an invitation to only carry the ones handed to you.
There is much pain and suffering in the world. What can one person do? Asking that question leads to delusion or despair. We must begin by asking, “What has God entrusted to me/us as our part in the work of bringing heaven to earth?” Discerning the answer to that question, we must then do our part well.
We are not then faced with the option of “Do nothing or do everything.” We are faced with the option of “Do your part or not.” It is an issue of being appropriately small and being faithful. This is not an easy thing for many of us to accept, but I think it is right, and once we’re humble and courageous enough to accept our own responsibility, it is liberating and life-giving.
A people who have the sense that they have not ‘done’ much are suddenly confronted with a world full of real concern (injustice, racism, poverty, etc.) and are left feeling overwhelmed with guilt for not doing enough. The decision may seem to be between carrying around a self-deprecating load of guilt (for not doing enough) or going back to simply being concerned with getting the facts straight.
I don’t think that ignoring the real hurts in the world and crawling back into the cave of private cognitive exercise and personal sin management is the answer. But I don’t think it is helpful to keep flailing ourselves with all the things we aren’t doing. And I’m beginning to wonder if the two aren’t really all that different after all.
The impulse to participate with God in the healing of the hurting world around us must be disciplined with discernment as to what particular parts of God’s work we are invited to share. Without such clarity as to what our particular part is, we unnecessarily burden ourselves and others with responsibilities that belong to others. It is not an issue of minding one’s own business while ignoring the rest of the world. It is an issue of tending well to one’s own row in the garden.
People in positions of influence must be careful with the burdens they place on others. What may be a responsibility for one person is not the responsibility of all. Jesus criticized religious leaders for placing burdens on people that were crushing and life-suffocating. What we do in alerting people to the need for missional engagement in the world must be something that empowers people to identify their God-given responsibility in the places they are.
What we sometimes do (with good intentions, no doubt) is to send people looking for other places that appear to be in more obvious need than their present situation. That is an insidious form of pride: to assume that we and our ‘place’ are not the ones in need of God’s healing. This is not an excuse to ignore other places. It is simply a call not to ignore the one we’re in. It is not an invitation to avoid the burdens of living as a servant of Jesus. It is an invitation to only carry the ones handed to you.
There is much pain and suffering in the world. What can one person do? Asking that question leads to delusion or despair. We must begin by asking, “What has God entrusted to me/us as our part in the work of bringing heaven to earth?” Discerning the answer to that question, we must then do our part well.
We are not then faced with the option of “Do nothing or do everything.” We are faced with the option of “Do your part or not.” It is an issue of being appropriately small and being faithful. This is not an easy thing for many of us to accept, but I think it is right, and once we’re humble and courageous enough to accept our own responsibility, it is liberating and life-giving.
posted by joel at 8:19 AM
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