More thoughts on Ferguson – What can we do?

Yesterday I wrote some thoughts on the situation in Ferguson:

http://stevenuessle.blogspot.com/2014/08/some-thoughts-on-ferguson.html

Perhaps not surprisingly, this post resulted in the most feedback I have received for any of my blog posts. It was very positive with a lot of people sharing how they are engaging with the situation and the issues that flow from it, and a lot of frustration and uncertainty overall. The main theme, and the one I want to address today, is the idea of what can we, as Christians who believe in justice, do in response to what is happening.

My initial thoughts are not all that robust. I think the most important thing we can do is to engage in the conversation. I think this builds upon the main point that Edrin was making in his blog post, when he was being (rightfully) critical of the lack of response by white Evangelicals. He addressed the reasons why we are silent, but they are not excuses. Just starting the conversation can lead to positive change.

Building upon this is to have better knowledge of what is happening, and the historical context upon which these issues are occurring. There is power in knowledge. As I confessed, growing up when and where I did I did not have much knowledge of what came before me and what is still happening across our country. This was especially bad for someone like me who loves history so much. As a Christian, I should not know more about the social context of Jerusalem in the time of Jesus than I should know about the social context in the very country that I live in and hope to model the message of Jesus. If nothing else, that is making me a poor vessel of the Gospel.

With knowledge comes some responsibility. It is not good enough to know, it must inform all of your relationships and actions. This can include friends, family, place of work, recreation, and every other social interaction. This will obviously vary within someone’s own personal context, but if we are Christians who believe in the justice of Christ this has to be part of the conversation. We cannot proclaim the Gospel and fail to work for His justice.

This is not sexy, but it is a start to what we can do in response. Some people will be in a position to more than others, but we are all in a position to be willing to have the conversation, to be aware of what is happening (both currently and past context that lead to this), and be willing to advocate for justice within our own personal situations.

A link for Sojourners provides a more robust article that I provided, but is more or less the same types of actions:

http://sojo.net/blogs/2014/08/19/dont-ignore-it-5-ways-christians-and-churches-must-engage-michael-browns-death

The article lists 5 ways that Christians and churches must engage the situation:

1.     Don’t ignore – silence is a statement. If nothing else, the church can mention the situation and pray for wisdom.

2.     Name it – this doesn’t mean making definitive statements of what happened, but to acknowledge an unarmed 18 year old was killed.

3.     Explain that it is a justice issue – this is not the first incident in Ferguson, and there are historical reasons that the tensions exist.

4.     Explain that this is a body of Christ issue – this is more than just news, this is a very real pain, anger, frustration, mourning within a community.

5.     Explain the hope and invitation of the Gospel – this is the unique perspective that Christians can provide. There is hope in our savior!

And finally, we can pray. Pray for reconciliation, pray for wisdom for our leaders, pray for healing, pray for understanding, pray for the community. Prayer is always a strong response.