Instagram Posts from the Week of Feb. 9, 2020

Podcast Rec. - Feb. 11, 2020

Current Listen - Pass the Mic podcast: “The Blood of Jesus is the Bridge, Not My Back" with Ekemini Uwan (Released April 9, 2019)

“An antiracist is about disrupting; it’s about actually breaking down these systems; destroy in order to rebuild...Truth is a hammer...When I’m coming in and I’m speaking the truth about racism, what I’m trying to do is reveal the wickedness of the systems that are in play, but I’m also coming for ideologies, racist ideologies, that people have imbibed and are acting out, in individual ways and in systemic ways.” - Ekemini Uwan

“Racism is a stumbling block. It keeps people away from Jesus, especially in America because white supremacy has been so entangled with Christianity. My job as an antiracist public theologian is to disentangle white supremacy from Christianity. Period.” - Ekemini Uwan

In this episode of Pass the Mic, Tyler Burns and Jemar Tisby spoke with Ekemini Uwan. Ekemini Uwan is a prophetic voice speaking the truth in love as an antiracist public theologian.  Thank you for recommending this episode to me a few months ago @shamelessbibliophile.

#tylerburns #jemartisby #ekeminiuwan #passthemic #podcast #podcastrecommendation #podcastrec #faith #lovegod #loveyourneighbor #love #empathy #equality #learning #reflection #action #community #seekjustice #restorativejustice #racialjustice #socialjustice #racialequity #lovemercy #walkhumbly #antiracism #antiracist #challengethenarrative #broadeningthenarrative


Additional Rec. - Feb. 13, 2020

Additional Rec. - "A Letter to Young Christian Feminists" by Cheryl Bridges Johns

“Sometime back in the 1970’s, when my generation began our own journey toward liberation, we naively believed that by now things would be settled. As children of the modern era, we were schooled in the myth of progress. We became convinced, that just as the Berlin Wall had fallen, the barriers against full inclusion of women in society and the church would one day crumble...We were wrong...Because we believed things would only get better for women, we were not as diligent as we should have been...My generation could not imagine there would be organizations such as The Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. We failed to anticipate The Gospel Coalition, John Piper, and the genteel Tim Keller. In the old days people who believed in the subordination of women were inclined to talk about women as inferior to men, referring to us as ‘the weaker sex.’ There was a lot of talk about ‘women knowing their place.’ There was no effort to hide overt prejudice. Now, a newer generation has taken patriarchy and wrapped it in more palatable language like ‘complementarian.’”

“You are right to point out that while your elders read culture with a critical lens, we failed to deconstruct the church’s purity culture. The church has bought into the long standing belief that men, being hormonally driven, get a pass in regards to objectifying and abusing women. This false assumption places an undue burden on women to dress and behave in a manner that does not entice men. The unfair double standard, seen in ‘purity balls’ and ‘purity rings,’ makes it clear to young women they are first and foremost sexual objects. They are objects under their father’s protection until they marry and come under the protection of their husbands. Many of you grew up in this ethos and, as a result, carry a heavy burden of shame. Your mothers’ silence in this matter meant we were complicit in the abuse. I ask your forgiveness, and I commit to join you in addressing this blight upon our churches.”

I read this letter last month and was encouraged by the humility of Cheryl Bridges Johns in owning that her generation didn’t get everything right. It reminds me that there is no way my generation is getting it all right, and there is certainly no way I am getting everything right. Though I was encouraged, it’s so hard to stay hopeful when the Church in the United States as a whole is lagging embarrassingly behind the rest of society here. It’s a stain on the witness of the Church when I can be fully accepted in all of my strength outside of the walls of certain churches but never inside of those walls. It is past time for all women, not just white women, to be able to show up with the whole of who they are celebrated in praise to the God who created such beautiful diversity.

#additionalrecommendation #recommendation #cherylbridgesjohns #alettertoyoungchristianfeminists #antisexist #antisexism #feminist #feminism #whitefeminismisnotfeminism #faith #evolvingfaith #deconstruction #reconstruction #faithshift #justice #humanity #empathy #equality #reflection #action #lovegod #loveyourneighbor #love #learning #seekjustice #restorativejustice #lovemercy #walkhumbly #challengethenarrative #broadeningthenarrative


Book Rec. - Feb. 15, 2020

Past Read- Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw

“And any debt that folks had incurred during the past six years was erased. These laws ensured that those in society who were intent on getting ahead had to take a break so that the gap between the rich and the poor would be kept to a minimum. It is almost impossible for us to grasp how wildly counterculture (and difficult) this economic practice really was. God's idea for this peculiar people was that there be ‘no poor people among you’ (Deut. 15:4), which was a very different way of life for these former slaves...For the sake of a watching world, God systematically interrupted the human systems that created poverty-releasing debt, setting slaves free, prohibiting usury, and redistributing property. Sounds like a pretty good kingdom, especially compared with the one from which they came and the surrounding Canaanite powers. Sounds like a platform even we could vote for” (Claiborne & Haw, 2008, pp.59-60).

“It's extraordinary that when the Devil said all political power in the world belongs to him and he can give it to whomever he wishes, Jesus didn't dispute the claim; he just flat out refused the offer. He knew well the bitter fruits of this world's power” (Claiborne & Haw, 2008, p.85).

“In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus urged his people to remember the Sabbath laws and their little alternative economic system of sharing, debt cancellation, and land redistribution. Jesus knew that the way out of Rome's grip lay not in appealing to Rome or in trying to overthrow Rome but in resurrecting Yahweh's alternative economy right under Caesar's nose. After the exodus, Israel had practiced God's anti-imperial economy out in the desert, but now Jesus was calling them to practice it right in the middle of Pharaoh's turf” (Claiborne & Haw, 2008, p.90).

“Hitlers don't come from nowhere. Some of the most brutal figures in history have come to power on the back of a silent, apathetic, and often supportive Church” (Claiborne & Haw, 2008, p.203).

“Then Sister Margaret blew the ram's horn (like our Jewish ancestors used to) and we announced ‘Let the celebration begin!’ The people stationed on balconies above the crowd threw hundreds of dollars in paper money, filling the air. Then they dropped banners which read, ‘Stop terrorism,’ ‘Share,’ 'Love,’ and ‘There is enough for everyone's need but not enough for everyone's greed-Gandhi.’ The streets turned silver. Our ‘pedestrians,’ ‘tourists,’ ‘homeless,’ and ‘business people’ began pouring out their change. We decorated the place with sidewalk chalk and filled the air with bubbles. Joy was contagious. Someone bought bagels and started giving them out. People started sharing their winter clothes. One of the street sweepers winked at us as he flashed a dustpan full of money. Another guy hugged someone and said, ‘Now I can get my prescription filled.’ It worked. We had no idea what would happen. We knew it was dangerous, intentionally bringing God and mammon face to face. But this is precisely what we have committed our lives to. It's risky, and yet we are people of faith, believing that giving is more contagious than hoarding, that love can convert hatred, light can overcome darkness, grass can pierce concrete...even on Wall Street” (Claiborne & Haw, 2008, p.312).

Have you read this book? I would love to hear your thoughts.

#pastread #jesusforpresident #bookrecommendation #bookrec #shaneclaiborne #chrishaw #jesusforpresidentbook #reading #learning #reflection #action #seekjustice #socialjustice #economicjustice #lovemercy #walkhumbly #faith #evolvingfaith #faithshift #spritiualmisfit #deconstruction #faithdeconstruction #reconstruction #yourkingdomcome #challengethenarrative #broadeningthenarrative