{"id":25716,"date":"2020-08-05T07:31:27","date_gmt":"2020-08-05T11:31:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=25716"},"modified":"2020-08-05T07:31:27","modified_gmt":"2020-08-05T11:31:27","slug":"worship-wednesday-woke-what-it-means-to-this-believer-amazing-grace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=25716","title":{"rendered":"Worship Wednesday – #Woke – What It Means to This Believer – Amazing Grace"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/a>Photo Credit: Statement on Social Justice<\/a><\/p>\n

[Adapted from the Archives]<\/p>\n

\u201cTherefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore He exalts Himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice: blessed are all those who wait for Him.<\/strong>\u201d<\/em> \u2013 Isaiah 30:18<\/a><\/p>\n

Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.<\/em> \u2014 Job 1:22<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

When he [Jesus] saw the crowds, he felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd.<\/em><\/strong>
\n<\/span>\u00a0\u2013 Matthew 9:36<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cHe has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God<\/strong>?\u201d<\/em> \u2013 Micah 6:8<\/a><\/p>\n

In today’s context, “woke” is a word\u00a0 that I may never understand or fully embrace. However, it is concept that compelled me to research it and consider it.<\/p>\n

Being \u201cwoke\u201d has some strong, politically and sociologically polarizing applications, but<\/strong> the simplest definitions are captured below. It means \u201cbeing aware of what is going on in the community; being aware of the social and political environments regarding all socio-economic standings\u201d<\/em>.<\/strong>\"\"<\/a>Photo Credit: Slideshare, Mike Maccarone<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019d like to tell you a quick story. Then I will hop off anything political and onto the place I\u2019ve landed as a believer.<\/p>\n

Last summer, we traveled to a conference in Oklahoma. During the time there, I had the opportunity for a road trip across the Eastern part of the state. It was my first experience of the Native American nations in Oklahoma. Part of my \u201cwoke\u201d journey now has this experience folded in. Except for the links below on tribal history and The Indian Removal Act<\/a>, this topic will be for another day\u2026but it speaks to \u201cwokeness\u201d as well.<\/p>\n

We flew back to Richmond, with those experiences still very fresh in my mind.<\/p>\n

Walking to baggage claim from our gate, we were surrounded by other travelers from the Atlanta flight. Either visitors to our city or, like us, residents returning home. In front of me for much of the walk was a youngish Black man. He was sharply dressed in khaki pants and a dazzling white t-shirt, and he had all the paraphernalia of someone who travels a lot. A professional appearing man who could easily put on a sport-coat over his white t-shirt and show up for work in some executive suite.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Photo Credit: Augusta Native<\/a><\/p>\n

It is telling of this man\u2019s experience of his country, this society, and the politics of the day. The slogan first caught my eye (with its particular spelling of America), then the hangman\u2019s noose, and then the list of losses\u2026<\/p>\n

[Hard to read because I am grateful to be American. Its history, like so many countries, has dark terrible times in it. I don\u2019t want to forget that\u2026but how to respond to it\u2026]<\/p>\n

On his right forearm, this man had a large tattoo in bold capital letters: #BLM<\/strong> (Black Lives Matter).<\/p>\n

He was a walking billboard for \u201cwokeness\u201d as a Black person with a loud cry against the injustice he lays on his country.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think that fellow traveler and I would ever have a conversation. For sure, it felt unwanted that day \u2013 an intrusion from a stranger\u2026but I do want those conversations. For now, it begins with my response to him\u2026and others.<\/p>\n

In praying through these recent experiences, here are four points of action in this being \u201cwoke\u201d as a follower of Christ:<\/p>\n

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  1. Listen. <\/strong>I\u2019ve been learning to make it a practice to listen with intentionality to people who feel marginalized \u2013 for whatever reasons. To hear them, we have to come within hearing. It can be uncomfortable as you know. That\u2019s why we want to avoid it or rationalize or downplay it.<\/li>\n
  2. Consider. <\/strong>In nursing school, we learned that \u201cPain<\/b> is whatever<\/b> the experiencing person says it is<\/b>, existing whenever<\/b> he\/she says it does<\/b>\u201d (McCaffery<\/a>). The same can apply to what we hear of people\u2019s pain \u2013 whether in their present experience or a past horror either theirs or others (with whom they feel a kinship). Again, reacting in a way that rationalizes or shifts blame only pushes away. Consider humbly what they are saying.
    \n<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Separate political from spiritual<\/strong>. When injustice occurs, we are called by God, as believers, to respond. Even better, we are to stand alongside the marginalized, when possible, doing what we can to lessen injustice. Lots could be said about this, but for today, just a check in our thinking. Our government may or may not act in definitive ways. We as the church have a very different call\u2026and loving action is always a part of that call.<\/li>\n
  4. Act. <\/strong>Again, so much could be said here, but today a brief take on it. For sure, we know that the Lord doesn\u2019t require us to cover for the sins of others. Nor does He allow us to put our heads in the sand and ignore the suffering of those around us. To move forward we must leave the terrible wrongs of the past to the righteous justice of the Lord. He calls us to act today on behalf of the poor, the oppressed, the marginalized\u2026in front of us, all around us. Jesus acted on our behalf; we are to act on theirs.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    To be “woke” as a believer is to see the world with God’s eyes and His heart and to engage and respond, in the power of His Holy Spirit. Previously I wrote<\/a> the following about finishing strong in this life:<\/p>\n

    An imperative key to our finishing strong is humbling ourselves before God and in relationship to those He places in our lives.
    \n<\/em><\/p>\n

    An example of this humility worked out in relationship is the friendship between John Newton<\/a> and William Wilberforce<\/a>. Newton, a British slave ship captain until his conversion to Christ, would become a spiritual mentor to Wilberforce, who strongly influenced the abolition of slavery in Great Britain. Wilberforce was able to use his governmental authority to aid in abolishing slavery, but he was also a man of prayer and action in his personal life as well.<\/em> \"Blog<\/a>Photo Credit: Historical Movies<\/a><\/p>\n

    Jonathan Aitken<\/a>, author of the biography John Newton: From Disgrace to Amazing Grace<\/a>, writes about the relationship between Newton and Wilberforce:<\/em><\/p>\n

    \u201cHumanity will forever be in Newton\u2019s debt for mentoring Wilberforce\u2026their relationship was of pivotal importance for both historical and spiritual reasons.\u201d<\/strong>
    \n<\/em><\/p>\n