Fragile White Male Egos Meet Jesus
I'm writing this week in response to a comment from a white man on my last post. He wrote, "See they want me ta die." Wow! To which I replied, "No, sir. That is the last thing that any of us would want." This is a teachable moment. So here goes.
So what happened? As an outreach strategy to make our ministry better known in our community, I posted my blog on my congregation's Facebook Page, and paid Facebook to boost it in our zip code. It's the 21st Century's equivalent to knocking on doors. I wrote about the multi-racial, multi-cultural nature of the Pine Island Church. I included a photo of the multi-colored blanket we created in worship from strips of different colored cloth, which worshipers placed on a doll bed, as a symbolic act to make ready for Jesus' birth. I suggested that the blanket is a symbol of the beautiful diversity of the church of Jesus Christ worldwide and of our particular congregation.
To which we received a comment from a nonmember white man who engaged with our "boost." He appears to have projected his own fears and thinking onto us, suggesting that we have an agenda to do away with him. No, just the opposite! We try our best to be a welcoming community of faith fulfilling God's agenda as we understand it through Jesus Christ. Jesus constantly expanded the table of blessing. This mission agenda does not eliminate anyone, but extends the welcome and blessing to everyone.
I may have misinterpreted this comment, but it appears to be what male privilege and racism looks like. It exemplifies the resistance today by a few (certainly not all because I am one) white, straight, men who feel threatened by the civil rights struggles of women, people of color, and LGBTQ persons, who have long been marginalized and subjugated to less privileged roles in society. Such thinking assumes only a few can have such privilege, and that privilege cannot be shared. Like the childhood game, king of the hill, that I played as a child, this thinking claims there can only be one or a few on top of the hill.
On the contrary, the gospel I know and believe proclaims an invitation to a banquet feast where there is enough for all, and calls for an extended table at which there is room and blessing for all. No one need feel excluded. God loves all, and seeks the blessing of all, including white, straight, men. As the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. taught, God calls us to be a beloved community. It is a vision we share.
Unfortunately, many white working class families feel the blessings of a middle class lifestyle slipping through their fingers as economic trends shift. This economy is NOT working for many. There is reason for anger. Injustice for one, is injustice for all. And anger needs to be directed somewhere at someone or group. Those seeking a slice of the pie which they've long been denied, are an easy scapegoat. This misdirected anger betrays a fragile male ego and racist ideology, which like a two years old tantrum, does not share well with others.
Some THINGS do need to die, unjust behaviors, policies and laws, which cripple some and benefit others, but not people! The Apostle Paul's words to the congregation in Rome at the height of the Roman Empire, a city where the balance of power was very skewed and out of balance, address the comment to my earlier post, "they want me ta die." "The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23). We are all sinners, everyone of us. We all need God's grace of forgiveness. God gives that to us in Jesus Christ. Salvation comes along with repentance, a turning from our sinful behavior, a dying to that which binds us, which separates us from each other and from God. In Baptism, every Christian dies to our old life and ways, and rises in Christ to a new life and in gratitude turns to Jesus' way of love, peace and justice. Paul gets this, because he was once an angry zealous religious bigot, but the risen Lord met him on the road to Damascus, and asked him, "Why do you persecute me?" (Acts 9:4). His assault on Jesus' followers who were finding new status was an assault on Jesus himself. Paul was transformed through this encounter with God.
God is trying to speak to all of us. We must all learn to recognize the privileges we've had because of our particular gender, orientation and race, and let go of it as we all lift each other up together. Together blessed! This is the vision we celebrate at Christmas.
One of my favorite songs of the Advent Season is Mary's Song. Rory Cooney paraphrased Mary's words (Luke 1:52) in her Canticle of Turning.
Our world is turning, thanks be to God. The fires of God's justice are burning. The baby Jesus whose birth we celebrate at Christmas grew up and ushered in a new day. We must also grow up and together as his body in the world today join that turning. Fragile egos, meet Jesus!
So what happened? As an outreach strategy to make our ministry better known in our community, I posted my blog on my congregation's Facebook Page, and paid Facebook to boost it in our zip code. It's the 21st Century's equivalent to knocking on doors. I wrote about the multi-racial, multi-cultural nature of the Pine Island Church. I included a photo of the multi-colored blanket we created in worship from strips of different colored cloth, which worshipers placed on a doll bed, as a symbolic act to make ready for Jesus' birth. I suggested that the blanket is a symbol of the beautiful diversity of the church of Jesus Christ worldwide and of our particular congregation.
To which we received a comment from a nonmember white man who engaged with our "boost." He appears to have projected his own fears and thinking onto us, suggesting that we have an agenda to do away with him. No, just the opposite! We try our best to be a welcoming community of faith fulfilling God's agenda as we understand it through Jesus Christ. Jesus constantly expanded the table of blessing. This mission agenda does not eliminate anyone, but extends the welcome and blessing to everyone.
I may have misinterpreted this comment, but it appears to be what male privilege and racism looks like. It exemplifies the resistance today by a few (certainly not all because I am one) white, straight, men who feel threatened by the civil rights struggles of women, people of color, and LGBTQ persons, who have long been marginalized and subjugated to less privileged roles in society. Such thinking assumes only a few can have such privilege, and that privilege cannot be shared. Like the childhood game, king of the hill, that I played as a child, this thinking claims there can only be one or a few on top of the hill.
On the contrary, the gospel I know and believe proclaims an invitation to a banquet feast where there is enough for all, and calls for an extended table at which there is room and blessing for all. No one need feel excluded. God loves all, and seeks the blessing of all, including white, straight, men. As the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. taught, God calls us to be a beloved community. It is a vision we share.
Unfortunately, many white working class families feel the blessings of a middle class lifestyle slipping through their fingers as economic trends shift. This economy is NOT working for many. There is reason for anger. Injustice for one, is injustice for all. And anger needs to be directed somewhere at someone or group. Those seeking a slice of the pie which they've long been denied, are an easy scapegoat. This misdirected anger betrays a fragile male ego and racist ideology, which like a two years old tantrum, does not share well with others.
Some THINGS do need to die, unjust behaviors, policies and laws, which cripple some and benefit others, but not people! The Apostle Paul's words to the congregation in Rome at the height of the Roman Empire, a city where the balance of power was very skewed and out of balance, address the comment to my earlier post, "they want me ta die." "The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23). We are all sinners, everyone of us. We all need God's grace of forgiveness. God gives that to us in Jesus Christ. Salvation comes along with repentance, a turning from our sinful behavior, a dying to that which binds us, which separates us from each other and from God. In Baptism, every Christian dies to our old life and ways, and rises in Christ to a new life and in gratitude turns to Jesus' way of love, peace and justice. Paul gets this, because he was once an angry zealous religious bigot, but the risen Lord met him on the road to Damascus, and asked him, "Why do you persecute me?" (Acts 9:4). His assault on Jesus' followers who were finding new status was an assault on Jesus himself. Paul was transformed through this encounter with God.
God is trying to speak to all of us. We must all learn to recognize the privileges we've had because of our particular gender, orientation and race, and let go of it as we all lift each other up together. Together blessed! This is the vision we celebrate at Christmas.
One of my favorite songs of the Advent Season is Mary's Song. Rory Cooney paraphrased Mary's words (Luke 1:52) in her Canticle of Turning.
"My heart shall sing of the day you bring,
Let the fires of your justice burn.
Wipe away all tears, for the dawn draws near,
and the world is about to turn."
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