Maturity Matters
Yesterday I had two calls with people I've not met in person. The first was with a congregation out east, a mostly white church that has taken decisive steps toward pursuing multiracial ministry. They've experienced some good things but the road has been difficult and there has been some discouragement. The second was with an acquaintance down south who is doing very intentional, thoughtful, and fruitful work related to economic justice. His enthusiasm was infectious and I hung up feeling encouraged.
Last weekend our church hosted a workshop to check in about how we're doing with our commitment to racial justice and reconciliation. During our time together, I heard our associate pastor and myself say repeatedly something like this: With multiracial ministry, there is no arriving. We're always on the way.
If you've been a part of racial justice work, you understand this intuitively. As soon as you think you're reaching healthy equilibrium, something shifts in the culture or the community and you recognize how far you have to go. The sense of discouragement and encouragement expressed in yesterday's phone calls can flicker quickly; one moment it feels like the wheels are coming off, the next someone is sharing how much their life has been changed.
That we need to hold both the joy and pain of the ministry of racial justice and reconciliation is one of the reasons why, despite everything, I'm convinced the church is where this work can best happen. Why? Because it takes spiritual and emotional maturity to hold such contradictory experiences at once. And maturity - in the pattern and likeness of Jesus - is what churches do.
So much of the static expressed by people about racial justice has to do with spiritual immaturity. The tendencies to defend, deny, or deflect when confronted with instances of racism are all examples of immaturity. The inability to sympathize with someone who is suffering because they don't share your race is an expression of immaturity.
But mature people can feel more than one thing at a time. They can hold confusion and care, frustration and curiosity, anger and love. Maturing people, in the Christian tradition, are growing more like Christ as we grow into the people God always intended us to be.
Want to stay in the good fight for justice over the course of your life? You could do a lot worse than belonging to a church community that provokes your maturity while connecting it to God's commitment to justice in his world.
The View From Here
Reading
I'm still sloooowly making my way through The Brothers Karamozov, a few chapters each evening. It's fantastic! (Dimitri was just arrested but I'm not sure he did it.) I'm learning a lot from Kyle Harper's From Shame to Sin. Highly recommended if you're interested in how disjointed the early Christians were with the sexual norms of the Roman Empire. I picked up a copy of Barry Lobez's Crossing Open Ground at The Book Table in Oak Park. It seems like a perfect bedside book but the stack on the night stand is getting unruly so I've got to hold off for now.
Book Updates
I had a good conversation with my editor at InterVarsity Press last week which made the new book seem slightly more real. They're currently working on a title and I'll get the manuscript back later this month to begin working on revisions with the aim for a fall 2024 publication date. More to come!