DON'T BULLY - BE A FRIEND

The Jesus of the bible is the God-man who, in the incarnation, stepped into humanity and spent the recorded  years of his public ministry standing in solidarity with the oppressed and the marginalize.  He is a friend of sinners.  It was so surprising to the religious leaders of His day that He would dare to align Himself with those who had been pushed to the outside, that they actually plotted to kill Him. 

Because of the radical hospitality of  Jesus and the example of His grace and kindness toward ALL people, anytime an organization claiming to promote the values and message of Jesus stands up to fight against an anti-bullying campaign, a few eyebrows are sure to raise.  And some questions should be asked.

“Mix It Up at Lunch Day” is a program started by Southern Poverty Law Center 11 years ago, and over 2,500 schools around the country participate in the program each year.  The purpose is to break up cliques and prevent bullying.  But the New York Times reported that this year, a Conservative Evangelical Group is urging parents to keep their children home from school the day of the event.  They’ve publicly declared themselves to be anti-bullying.  The leaders of the American Family Association are not only uninterested in supporting “Mix it Up at Lunch Day”…their website slider includes an ‘Action Alert’ and asks parents to contact their children’s schools to complain to the school administration – or to keep their kids at home to avoid the event.

THE REASON? According to the group’s website:  

‘Mix It Up’ day is an entry-level ‘diversity’ program designed specifically by SPLC to establish the acceptance of homosexuality into public schools.’

‘The reality is we are not a hate group.  We are a truth group.’ Said Bryan Fischer, director of issue analysis for the association.  ‘We tell the truth about homosexual behavior.’

Here’s an inconvenient truth for the ‘truth group’.  *as reported in the article in the Times, the suggested activities for Mix It Up at Lunch Day DO NOT address gay and lesbian students.  The official position of the organization itself promotes equal treatment for gays and lesbians.  Equal treatment, as in ‘please don’t call them names, beat them up in the bathroom, or continue bullying that has contributed to the unprecedented numbers of students that are resorting to suicide rather than face continued and unchecked threats of violence, mistreatment, and rejection from their peers.  Mr. Fischer of the AFA goes on to say, ‘No one is in favor of anyone getting bullied for any reason, but these anti-bullying policies become a mechanism for punishing Christian students who believe that homosexual behavior is not something that should be normalized.’

To summarize the ‘logic’…For fear that this anti-bullying campaign may inadvertently lead to the ‘tolerance’ of gay and lesbian students – which is apparently a bad thing? – they are actively fighting against it.  To them, all students being bullied means LGBT students being bullied, and that’s the important thing, if no students are bullied, then LGBT students aren’t bullied – and that’s a slippery slope to the “normalcy of homosexuality” in society.  Therefore, according to the AFA, it’s best to be (anti) anti-bullying.

‘We are not a hate group. we are a truth group.’

Well here are some inconvenient truths:

·        LGBT youth are more than two times as likely as non LGBT youth to say that they have been verbally harassed and called names at school.  Among LGBT youth, half (51%) have been mocked or name called at school for being gay.

·        17% of LGBT youth have been physically assaulted or attacked while in school.

·        Nearly six in ten LGBT youth (57%) say that churches or places of worship in there community ARE NOT accepting of LGBT people.

·        50% of LGBT youth that ‘come out’ experience rejection in their own families.

·        LGBT youth that experience rejection in their own families are more than 8 times as likely to have attempted suicide.

·        There are as many as 100,000 homeless LGBT youth on the streets in America.

Remember Jesus?  Given these statistics, even if ‘Mix It Up at Lunch Day’ were explicitly promoting equality of gay and lesbian students, I contend it would be UN-Christian to boycott such a program on grounds it might actually work.  It’s no wonder, then, that the SPLC has recently added the AFA to its National List of active hate groups, which includes neo-Nazis, black separatists, and Holocaust deniers. 

Remember Jesus?  “Love one another.” – “All will know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” – “To the extent you did it to even the least of these, you did it to me.”  This isn’t about taking a stand for being ‘right’ – it’s about standing up for the rights of others.  No kid should be bullied regardless of their sexual orientation!!

Be Blessed

This Is Pure

News of the Rabbi who taught a radical redemption was spreading well beyond the religious community.  The common people followed Him in hoards, hoping to hear His healing teaching – or even experience the touch of His hand. 

Jesus made His way through Jericho – the place Joshua and the people of Israel saw the city’s walls of self-protection fall down, making way for a new kingdom.  It had been the home of King David’s great grandmother, the restored, Rahab.  The crowd pressed in as Jesus walked along the road, hanging on His every word.  The region’s most notorious traitor, Zaccheus, hurried along trying to break through the crowd to catch a peek of this problematic prophet.  It was rumored Jesus encouraged His followers to live lives tilted toward grace, not judgment; reconciliation, not separation; radical hospitality, not exclusion.  Some said He had even restored sight to those who were blind.

As the chief tax collector, Zaccheus, had acquired from his neighbors the heavy tax imposed by the Roman occupiers on the Jewish people, his reputation within the Jewish circles was damning – but the pay from the empire for his extortion was incredible.  In spite of his reward, Zaccheus was wounded by the looks of disdain and disgust he received each time he was around his people.  He often heard whispers behind his back – stinging words, cursing his name, wishing him dead.  Zaccheus often masked the pain with anger, resulting in heated arguments and hateful words, there was a constant tension an ‘edge’ in every interaction.  This time was no different.

As he tried to penetrate the mass of those gathered to follow Jesus, he found himself blockaded by a human wall.  Almost instinctively, the group closed the gaps he could sneak through – some even locking arms in an effort of partiality.  ‘You’re the LAST person who deserves to see Him, you financial whore.’

Unable to see over the gathering, Zaccheus left the road and ran ahead to where he knew Jesus was going, about a mile up the only road leading out of town.  Exhausted and out of breath, he climbed a large Sycamore tree near the side of the road.  He was desperate to catch a glimpse of grace incarnate.  When Jesus got to the tree, He looked up – His grace-giving eyes met those of Zacceus.

‘Come down from there, my friend.  Today is my day to be a guest in your home.’  Everyone who saw this was indignant and grumbled to one another, ‘what right does Jesus have to eat, associate, and stay with him?  He’s a sinner!’  Hurrying down, Zaccheus accepted the imposition of God and opened his home to the teacher.  But the accusations kept coming.  ‘He’s still a tax collector!  He’s not really one of us!  He still works with and for them!’  ‘He’s impure by the very nature of his work – dealing with gentiles!  He is a sinner – you shouldn’t be here, Jesus.’

Zaccheus defended himself to Jesus, stammering apologetically. ‘I give half of what I earn to the poor – and whenever I’m caught cheating, I pay four times the damages to make up for it.’  The words sounded hollow, even to Zaccheus.  The crowd that had gathered outside expected Jesus to condemn him, a vindication of their intolerance.  ‘Today salvation is in this home!’  Jesus put His arm around the host.  ‘This is Zaccheus, and he’s just like all of us!  A son of Abraham.  I came to find and restore that which was lost, not condemn it.”  The crowd stood in disbelief absorbing the irony.  “Zaccheus” is translated, “pure.”  This is pure – and he’s just like us. 

Jesus again had surprised everyone in His response of grace, forgiveness, and hope.  His commitment to solidarity with all people was leading to some interesting conclusions.  All of the people were hanging on His every word – and expectation of the coming kingdom had never been higher.  What they failed to realize is IT WAS ALREADY HERE!

Be Blessed!

POSSIBILITIES

The Jesus we encounter in the gospels is fascinating.  He’s usually up to more than we catch at first glance.  Speaking with the woman at the well; telling the story of the Good Samaritan; defending the woman caught in adultery; touching and healing the leper; restoring the crippled man in the synagogue; time and time again, we find Jesus doing all sorts of interesting and surprising things, challenging the status quo.  There’s always more, not less, going on in the stories compiled in the gospels.  It’s what’s so intriguing about Jesus.  It’s what draws me in as I study, seek, follow, and walk with Him.  He’s always up to something.  This, of course, is what got Him into trouble with the religious leaders of His day – in fact, it got him killed.

Jesus revealed God in a way that had not been seen or imagined before – and encouraged those who dared to follow Him to live like-minded.  He tilted His disciples toward a direction of kindness rather than hostility; toward justice for the marginalized rather than a prejudice for the powerful; toward gracious truth rather than misinformation or ignorance, toward contagious generosity rather than close-minded fear, toward unbridled hope rather a stifling cynicism; toward self-giving rather than self-protection.

Jesus opened up all kinds of possibilities and a fresh, new way of looking at God…and it got Him killed.  Jesus threatened the exclusivity and religious hierarchy of first century Judaism – Jews were in, gentiles were out, end of story.  The Jews were God’s chosen people, and they had rules to follow.  If you followed the rules - if you sacrificed correctly, prayed enough, celebrated the festivals, and kept yourself clean – you had a chance to receive God’s favor.  The tribes and institutions were solidly in place to keep things running smoothly.  But then Jesus came, brining THE FRESH WORD of God’s love, mercy, and grace to not just ‘some’ but ‘all.’  The God-man made God’s divine favor accessible to everyone.  He threatened the status quo and it got Him killed.

Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs.  Ask the wrong questions or take the wrong position – challenge the status quo – and you may just find yourself banned, shunned, burned at the stake, or crucified.  Tribes and institutions veer toward self-preservation.  That’s their trajectory.  Whenever anything (or anyone) threatens the status quo, the very structure and existence of institutions are at risk.

When you bring THE FRESH WORD, you open yourself up to:  Misinterpretation, confusion, anger, ignorance, fear, jealousy, opinions, evaluation, critique, agendas, baggage, convictions, and projections.  But then again, you also open yourself up to the possibility of truth, light, hope, repentance, desire, compassion, longing, revolution, confession, inspiration, comfort, solidarity, salvation, and resurrection…but you don’t get to choose.  If you open yourself up to even one of these possibilities, you must be willing to surrender the outcome – and risk opening yourself up to all the ‘others.’  So the question becomes, ‘how badly do you want it?’

Are you willing to dive into the wonder and joy of exploration, hoping to be surprised with what God is up to?  Are you willing to risk being misunderstood, misinterpreted, and misquoted in hopes of inspiring and engaging ‘others’ with a fresh and hopeful word?  Are you willing to challenge the status quo with the possibility that perhaps the Good News is even better than we thought?  I am!  And if I am called a heretic…well…honestly, I’ve been called worse.  

What about you?  What do you think?

Be Blessed!