Pastor, scholar and university professor the Rev. Dr. Cornel West is often quoted as reminding Christians that “justice is love in the public square.” For me, this declaration is an echo of Micah 6:8, which commands the believer that God requires us to DO justice as an action word in all our interactions. Christians, and more particularly Presbyterians, are fundamentally called into a place of love and justice because of our belief in God. These ideals are consistent and constant themes throughout Scripture. From Genesis, where God calls us to be good stewards over Creation, to the New Testament proclamation to love our neighbor as ourselves. The Bible is clear that it is imperative to recognize that all humanity is valuable and created in the precious image of a loving just God. Therefore, to assert that Black Lives Matter is to affirm this decree as truth.
Blacks, Indigenous peoples, and other people of color (BIPOC) are not simply those who are marginalized because of their race. They often find themselves working the hardest for racial justice. My friends of color tell me it is grueling to feel the oppression and to also be left with most of the responsibility for fighting it. Working toward racial justice can be exhausting.
Sometimes it is challenging to read the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, given the fact that they are full of what one can only call “good news” and “bad news.” Of course, this text from Amos is taken from the version known as the Good News Translation, which is intended to keep us moving toward God’s final act, even as the path often seems circuitous. In the end, of course, it leads us to the fulfillment of God’s promises in the person of Jesus Christ, born among us, crucified and raised in glory for the salvation of the world. That’s the good news.
As the team tore down the last of the vines covering the garden gates, Young Adult Volunteer Regi Jones realized they had just helped to unwrap the gift of Okra Abbey for the Pigeon Town neighborhood in New Orleans.
I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.
Christians often sing “Amazing Grace” without understanding what it is like to actually be blind — either legally blind with diminished vision or completely blind. More importantly, what is it like for those who are blind when they come into a church? How are they treated? How are they incorporated into the worship service?
New words are added to the dictionary on a regular basis. Oftentimes these are words we hear but are not quite sure of their meaning.
“Intersectionality” is one of those words.
In Minneapolis, Kwanzaa Community Church’s Northside Women’s Space is reaching some of the most marginalized people in the community—women and children who are facing homelessness and precarious housing, poverty and unemployment, and those struggling to break the chains of sexual exploitation, prostitution and sex trafficking.
