Tags
Amos, Jesus, justice, Mark Buchanan, Micah, Riot Studios, social justice
Last week I watched a documentary called One Nation Under God, and then a sort of sequel called Beware of Christians. In short, it is about a group of college-aged, Christian guys who go out to America, and then Europe to really discover what it is to live a life that follows Jesus. The honesty, self-reflection, and the sorting through of the opinions of people from many different backgrounds was incredible. And the way that God shone through the documentaries was even more incredible. These guys went on to create their own production company called Riot Studios and they also go around the U.S. to speak to people about their experiences and encouraging them to “leave religion behind to follow Jesus.”
I’m not typing this post to write some kind of documentary review. I’m typing it because it rekindled a fire in me. The kind of fire that makes me want to join other Christ-loving world-changers, and to do just that: change the world through Christ’s love. One thing I got out of these documentaries is that we can do what we want or we can do what God wants; we can let it go or we can take it seriously. Giving our lives to God isn’t a choice to take lightly and it isn’t only a 15 second prayer. It’s an every day thing- or at least that’s what people have to decide, right? When the guys were interviewing people about their personal beliefs, afterwards (no matter what their belief was) they asked them if they were living out what they just said. And it got me thinking, am I really living out what I say I believe? The whole point of this blog was to learn more about who God truly is, especially when it comes to His love and His grace; but when I look at my life, am I really living as a person who has faith in that? I would say no, but others might look at my life and say yes. Ultimately, it should go without saying that nobody is perfect and we do screw up at times, but in the end do I want to say that I lived out a mediocre faith the majority of my life? To give a more specific example, do I want to live my life knowing that God has called me (and all Christians) to proclaim social justice in an unjust world, but yet not do anything about it?
I came across this quote today and found it to be very convicting: “A typical reaction of most churches and most Christians to the overwhelming injustices in the world is to avoid the matter altogether. It’s too big, too complex, too costly, too dangerous. But in avoiding the matter we’ve become, in effect, the priest or the Levite in Jesus’ parable: we join the company of those who walk past the beaten man.” (Mark Buchanan). Are we as Christians looking at the world as God does: with love and a fierce passion for justice? Or are we sitting back, walking by, or ignoring the world and all it entails?
This post may be a little scatter-brained, but I think what I’m trying to say is that God is calling us all to something. We can either ignore it/ be unaware of it, like many people that were interviewed in the documentary, or we can listen and follow.
“He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8
“But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” Amos 5:24
