Four Lost Reflections of God

As a college student in the late 90s, I was not passionate about learning.

Sports, friends, girls and fun filled up my schedule, leaving little time for acquiring knowledge. I earned my degree, but did not learn nearly as much as I could have.

In the last several years, however, my curiosity and desire to learn have been sparked by the people around me. I’ve been involved in cross-cultural ministry since the fall of 2014, first in a different country and now in a different city. It has been a journey of having my eyes opened to the beauty of other cultures and realizing how God is already at work among people who are different than me.

Recently I was chosen to participate in a Civil Rights Pilgrimage. I joined two of my co-workers and 16 strangers on a journey to the Alabama cities of Birmingham, Selma, Montgomery and Tuskegee.

The facts

At the corner of 6th Avenue and 16th Street in Birmingham, we found ourselves nearly surrounded by historical sites. On the Southeast is Kelly Ingram Park which is filled with statues commemorating aspects of the Civil Rights movement. The Southwest quadrant is the Civil Rights Institute. On the Northwest corner is the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church.

Our first stop was the Civil Rights Institute. I discovered many names, faces and events that were new to me. I remember feeling a bit ashamed at my ignorance but felt inspired to study and learn as much as I could.

Eventually I came to the exhibit dedicated to the terrorist attack on the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. This exhibit is strategically placed near windows that allow you to see the actual church across the street. I had heard about this bombing before and how it had killed four young girls. However, several facts surrounding the attack were new to me.

I learned the names and ages of the girls - Addie Mae Collins (top left) was 14; Carole Robertson (bottom right) was 14, Denise McNair (bottom left) was 11 and Cynthia Wesley (top right) was 14.

I also learned the date of the attack - September 15, 1963.

I stared at the date for some time - probably not minutes, but long enough to realize I was staring. My heartbeat and my breathing became noticeable and my mind was reeling.

I was born on September 15, 1976 - a difference of exactly 13 years.

Only 13 years.

While walking through the Civil Rights Institute and seeing black and white photos, I was transported back in time. Even though I knew better, I felt as though the events of the Civil Rights Movement had happened at least 50-75 years before I was born. The years separating me from those four little girls were stretched to twice, three or four times their actual length.

Being hit with the relative proximity of this tragedy shook me.

The Realization

Questions overtook my mind as I stared at the date of the bombing. How did I not know the date of this attack? Was it really just 13 years before I was born? What would Addie Mae, Carole, Denise and Cynthia be doing today if they had not been murdered? How many others were killed during the Civil Rights movement?

I pictured the day of my birth, but not what was happening where I was born. I imagined the homes of the girls’ families. I saw the parents of Addie Mae, Carole, Denise and Cynthia waking up and not wanting to get out of bed. They didn’t want to face another anniversary, another flood of emotions, more questions from reporters and others wanting to memorialize their daughters. They were still devastated because their little girls were gone, and even though more than a decade had passed, the pain was still fresh.

I thought of my own children, my 15-year-old daughter and 13-year-old son. The 13 years that have passed since my son was born have gone by in a flash. But for the parents of Addie Mae, Carole, Denise and Cynthia, 13 years probably felt like a crushing lifetime and each new day another year added on top of that.

Why didn’t I know? Why didn’t anyone tell me? How is it possible that I have celebrated 41 birthdays on September 15 and never learned the significance of that date?

There are two answers to these questions and each is equally disturbing.

America doesn’t think the deaths of Addie Mae, Carole, Denise and Cynthia at the hands of white supremacists merited mention.

Either that, or my own importance and privilege have made me apathetic to history and blind to the pain of others.

Or maybe it is both.

The Resolution

Addie Mae Collins

Carole Robertson

Denise McNair

Cynthia Wesley

Their names and lives are significant, not just because of how they died but because of how they were created. The Creator of the Universe, the one we call God, created each of them in His image. Those little girls with dark skin were a perfect reflection of our Heavenly Father. God made Addie Mae, Carole, Denise and Cynthia exactly as He intended them to be. He had a purpose in mind for each of those girls. He wanted the rest of the world to know Him better when they met Addie Mae, Carole, Denise and Cynthia.

That’s why their deaths are significant enough to be included in every single historical account. Significant enough to remember September 15, 1963, the same way we remember September 11, 2001.

My birthdays will be different from now on. I’ll still celebrate another year of life because I think that’s what God would want. After all, each day is a gift from Him and it’s a good practice to celebrate regularly. However, my birthday will also include a time of remembrance, mourning and lament as I acknowledge the image of God in Addie Mae, Carole, Denise and Cynthia that was taken away from us by hatred.

The Questions

This pilgrimage has left me with more questions than answers.

What happened to the image of God in those who killed Addie Mae, Carole, Denise and Cynthia? Those men were also created as a reflection of our Heavenly Father. How did hatred and white supremacy so fill them that they couldn’t see God’s image in black people?

Do we see the image of God in people of color? In immigrants and refugees? In anyone who is different from us?

Has hatred, pride, greed or comfort so filled us that we can no longer see the image of God in ourselves?

We are all created in the image of God. We all display unique parts of our Heavenly Father and without those unique parts we can’t possibly know God. We were intended to complement each other in order to reflect who God is. It’s not enough to see each other as valuable; we must start to see each other as necessary.

Today Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley would be 68, and Denise McNair would be 66. I wish I could have known them because through them, I would better know God.

Will you accept the gift? [2017:7/52]

If you've grown up in church like I did, the title of this post, "Will you accept the gift?" is not unfamiliar. It usually refers to salvation - a free gift given by God.

But this isn't about that.

The gift I'm talking about could be any gift, any act of kindness or form of service that one person can give to another.

Almost all people like to get gifts, but have you ever thought about the circumstances under which we will happily accept a gift?

- Birthdays
- Anniversaries
- Christmas
- Graduations
- Weddings
- Baby Showers

It seems like there must be some special occasion in order to willingly accept a gift.

What about a gift that is given, "just because?" And what about a gift that is given to meet a perceived need - something we can't provide for ourselves? That's the kind of gift I'm talking about, and it is often difficult to accept.

I've got some friends who were in a serious car accident. The didn't suffer any major injuries but needed a few days of rest to let the bumps and bruises heal. I wanted to bring them a meal one night just so they didn't have to cook or go out for food.

When I offered the gift I was prepared for the reaction I'm accustomed to hearing: "Oh that's OK. We can manage. Don't worry about us. We're fine."

I was prepared to offer a little more forcefully until they relented.

However, my friends surprised me with their response. "Thank you. We accept your love offering."

At first the response seemed odd to me, but I quickly realized what a beautiful response it was.

Where I come from, people are used to being the giver and not the receiver. Self-sufficiency is a virtue right up there with honesty, hard work, strong moral character and patriotism. Receiving help is not a regular activity. And if the time ever comes when help is needed, it is customary to put on a self-sufficient show, making a big production of how you can manage and others shouldn't inconvenience themselves for your sake. Then, after a sufficient amount of resistance, it is allowable to accept the gift ... begrudgingly.

It was common for me growing up to see two grown men arguing over who would pay for the meal at a restaurant. I never understood it.

Having spent time with people from different cultures and different walks of life, I'm starting to see that not everyone puts such high value on being self-sufficient. And not everyone makes such a big show of being able to fend for themselves.

Some people happily accept gifts given "just because" or gifts given to help meet needs.

Jesus gives us an example of being willing to accept a gift. Remember, in John 12, when Mary poured perfume on His feet and wiped them with her hair? One of the disciples objected, but Jesus defended her actions and embraced the act of kindness.

Mary's was an uncommon act of kindness intended to bless the receiver. But many times we forget about the blessing received by the giver ... unless the giver is us!

Acts 20:35 quotes Jesus: "It is more blessed to give than to receive." This is a well-known phrase. We teach it to our children so they will be generous as they grow up. Most of us try to live out this truth by being generous ourselves - especially when those around us need help.

But, if giving is the MORE BLESSED position, why are we so hesitant to allow others to give to us?

Think about the feeling you get when you give a good gift to someone. It's way better than receiving the gift. After all, being the receiver can often imply need. So, to meet someone else's need feels great. But it also puts the giver in a position of power, self-sufficiency and greater blessing.

What if we allowed others - maybe even those we consider needy - to occupy the position of giver once in a while? What if they could hold the power, the feeling of self-sufficiency and the greater blessing.

Being generous isn't always about giving, sometimes we must receive as well.

What if ... [2017:6/52]

What if we are on the verge of the next Great Awakening?

What if we are blind to the injustices we are guilty of?

What if I acknowledge my many privileges and wield them to enact justice?

What if we’re missing out on part of the Gospel because we avoid discomfort?

What if we’re missing out on part of the Gospel because we avoid suffering?

What if we’re missing out on part of the Gospel because we avoid people who are different from us?

What if we’re spending the majority of our time and effort on things that won’t matter in eternity?

What if we defend and fight for refugees just as strongly as we defend and fight for the unborn?

What if we were more concerned about criminals’ eternal souls than we are about them getting the punishment they deserve?

What if we are just the slightest bit racist?

What if our stereotypes, prejudices and biases are keeping us from loving our neighbors as we do ourselves?

What if inner cities are places of beauty?

What if the next generation looks back on us with disgust for the problems we’ve tried to ignore?

What if our comfort is keeping us from learning all that God wants to teach us?

What if the poor are not just people we should help but people we should learn from?

What if we’ve been doing church wrong?

What if Jesus had really dark skin and hair?

What if money didn’t have such a hold on our priorities?

What if small groups are not the way to build community?

What if community isn’t the answer to our sin issues?

What if our sin issues never go away?

What if safety is an impossible thing to achieve?

What if financial peace is an impossible thing to achieve?

What if God asks us to do something really dangerous and costly?

What if we say no to God when He asks us to do hard things?

What are your “What if” questions?

The Image of God [2017:5/52]

Then God said, "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

- Genesis 1:26-27

Lest we forget, here is a very small sampling of those who were created in the image of God:

Confession [2017:4/52]

"Shout it aloud, do not hold back.

Raise your voice like a trumpet.

Declare to my people their rebellion

and to the house of Jacob their sins.

For day after day they seek me out;

they seem eager to know my ways,

as if they were a nation that does what is right

and has not forsaken the commands of its God.

They ask me for just decisions

and seem eager for God to come near them.

'Why have we fasted,' they say,

'and you have not seen it?

Why have we humbled ourselves,

and you have not noticed?'

"Yet on the day of your fasting you do as you please

and exploit all your workers.

Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,

and in striking each other with wicked fists.

You cannot fast as you do today

and expect your voice to be heard on high.

Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,

only a day for a man to humble himself?

Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed

and for lying on sackcloth and ashes?

Is that what you call a fast,

a day acceptable to the Lord?

"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:

to loose the chains of injustice

and untie the cords of the yoke,

to set the oppressed free

and break every yoke?

Is it not to share your food with the hungry

and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-

when you see the naked, to clothe him,

and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

Then your light will break forth like the dawn,

and your healing will quickly appear;

then your righteousness will go before you,

and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.

Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;

you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

"If you do away with the yoke of oppression,

with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry

and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,

then your light will rise in the darkness,

and your night will become like the noonday.

The Lord will guide you always;

he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land

and will strengthen your frame.

You will be like a well-watered garden,

like a spring whose waters never fail.

Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins

and will raise up the age-old foundations;

you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,

Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

"If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath

and from doing as you please on my holy day,

if you call the Sabbath a delight

and the Lord's holy day honorable,

and if you honor it by not going your own way

and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,

then you will find your joy in the Lord,

and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land

and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob."

The mouth of the Lord has spoken. 

- Isaiah 58 (emphases added)

This is my confession: I am no better than Israel when these words were spoken by God through the prophet Isaiah.

For a long time I have been talking about justice, about walking alongside the oppressed, about serving others. This past week, however, I was forced to face up to the reality that talk is a lot easier than action.

With all the reaction to President Trump's executive order to ban refugees from entering the United States, I've had to question where I stand on this issue and what my reaction will be.

First of all, I vehemently disagree with turning away people who are seeking refuge. I believe anyone who reads the Bible and takes it seriously cannot dismiss the Lord's desire for us to welcome foreigners and those desperate for help. So the president's ban is disappointing and shameful.

However, when I consider what my reaction will be, things are not so clear. I am not afraid of refugees or muslims or terrorists - the worst any of these people could do is hurt me or my loved ones physically. As a Christian and a disciple of Jesus, I should live expecting such treatment (John 15:18-19). So it is not fear that gives me trouble when considering my reaction - it is comfort.

If I boil this issue down to a very personal level and consider how I may practically help those refugees who are no longer welcome in the United States, my instincts to preserve comfort and convenience kick in. 

Would I welcome a refugee family into my home?I want to say yes, but the truth is that it would be very inconvenient and uncomfortable for me and my family.
Will I write a letter to my congressman and/or other elected officials?I want to say yes, but how would I find the time? What would I say?
Will I donate money to organizations who are helping refugees?I want to say yes, but I've got so many other people and organizations who need my support as well.
Will I pray for refugees?I want to say yes, but my prayer life is a joke. I can't even remember to pray for my own family much of the time, so how can I realistically commit to praying for people who I don't know.

All of these are confessions. I'm not proud of myself. I'm humiliated.

A few years ago I read a book called Overrated by Eugene Cho, pastor and founder of One Day's Wages. The thesis of this book is that our generation is very aware of issues of justice. We are very concerned and quick to respond to injustices in the world. The problem is that we are not quick to act in meaningful ways. Therefore, we risk becoming the most overrated generation in history - one with incredible potential to do good, but without the willingness to enact justice.

I am overrated. I have big ideas and feel strongly about issues of justice - systemic racism, poverty, mass incarceration, immigration, the death penalty, human trafficking, war - and yet, what do I do? I continue living my comfortable life, mostly concerned about myself and my family.

This post is not about where I stand on issues of justice. My stance doesn't matter if I'm not willing to do something about it. This is about my heart and my lack of willingness to do things that are difficult on behalf of the oppressed.

Some people actually believe that if our hearts are in the right place then it doesn't matter what we do. If you read Isaiah 58 above that is clearly not true. God told His chosen people that their religious disciplines were worthless if not accompanied by acts of mercy and justice. I have been so quick to give myself a pass because I've felt that my heart was in the right place - that I was taking the right stand on issues. Now I can see that Isaiah 58 could have been written about me:

For day after day Dan seeks me out;

he seems eager to know my ways,

as if he is a person that does what is right

and has not forsaken the commands of his God.

He asks me for just decisions

and seems eager for God to come near him. 

Comfort [2017:3/52]

"If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair." - C.S. Lewis

Comfort is a slippery thing. It's hard to grab onto. If you can get it in your grasp, it's hard to keep it there. Once you've had it and lost it, your desire to get it back can consume you. If you've got a firm grip on comfort, you are not likely to voluntarily let it go. You'd like to share it with others, but then, if you do there may not be enough of it for both parties.

There are many things in life like comfort - or maybe they are subcategories of comfort:

• Power
• Wealth
• Safety

Comfort also has some cousins:

• Status Quo
• Freedom
• Control

Comfort, along with its subcategories and cousins, has become the biggest idol that stops us from becoming true disciples of Jesus Christ.

This is true for me, and I'm sure it's true for many of you.

Stop and think about your life. If someone who doesn't know anything about you took a look at the way you live, what could they assume was the most important thing in your life? Take it a step further and imagine if someone who has grown up in a third world country examined your life. What would they conclude about your priorities? 

If we read about the life of Jesus, there were some clear indications of what was most important to Him. Even as a boy He chose the Temple of God over time with His own family. As an adult Jesus spent His days teaching, healing, comforting and confronting - all in an effort to show the world who God really is. He poured Himself into a group of young men so that they could do the same once He was gone. 

As you read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John you will not find Jesus seeking comfort. He did not put down roots in any one place, instead He said, "The Son of Man has no place to lay his head." He was homeless! As someone who was constantly on the move, we can safely assume He did not have a large wardrobe that He had to carry with Him. 

Jesus was shown great hospitality and did not turn down acts of kindness, sometimes in comfortable settings. However, He did not seek comfort and was not preoccupied with His own power, wealth or safety. He surely did not seek to maintain the status quo of the day. He willingly laid down His freedom and allowed others to take or maintain control in certain situations.

I wish I could say I was more like Jesus than I am. I do so many things to preserve or achieve comfort. Comfort has become an idol in my life.

Part of my problem is I've had a firm grip on comfort for so long that I'm afraid to let it go. I don't know how to live any other way. I've seen what life looks like without comfort and it scares me.

I grew up in the United States of America - a wealthy nation.
I grew up as a white male - a very powerful set of traits.
I grew up in the country - a safe place to live.
I grew up with a good education - something that allowed me to control my future.
I grew up in a stable, loving family - the status quo was rarely threatened.
I grew up as a Christian - a state of complete freedom.

All of those things above are incredible blessings. The problem is, I've grown so accustomed to them that they've become something I find myself fighting to protect.

Power

I have learned that the most powerful group of people in this country is one that I became a part of the moment I was born. I didn't earn my way into this group. I didn't ask to be in this group. I didn't even know I was in this group at first.

Being a white male equals power in the United States. I'm not saying every white male has authority over others. I am saying that being a white male has granted me privileges that no other group in this country has.

In general, people do not make negative assumptions about me because of my race or gender. In fact, most of the time people will assume positive things about me because of my race and gender.

When I get pulled over for a traffic violation - something that has happened too many times in my life - I don't spend much time thinking about my body language or tone of voice. I feel safe, even when the officer walks up to my window with his hand on his gun. 

If I'm uncomfortable in multicultural settings, especially settings in which I'm the only white guy, I can usually choose a different setting that makes me more comfortable (i.e. a room full of other white people). 

This is a power that not everyone has.

Wealth

We all know that the Bible says, "the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil." Very few of us would say that we love money, and therefore, don't worry about its evils. However, if we compare our thoughts and interactions with money to those of Jesus, we are not likely to see many similarities.

When Jesus tells the rich young man to sell all he has and give to the poor, then follow Jesus, I tend to start interpreting Scripture in a way that absolves me of Jesus' words, even though I am very much like that rich young man.

When Jesus tells a large crowd, "Do not store up treasures on earth ... store up treasures in heaven," I'm quick to think logically about the need to be prepared in case of an emergency. I'm not trying to store up a treasure, just to be wise and take care of my family. That's what a good husband and father does, right? But if I've got an emergency fund stored up and disaster hits, why would I need to rely on God for help.

I don't want to take care of myself or my family, I want all of us to be in God's care. I'm so unqualified to be the provider and He's the creator of everything and gives us everything we need if we just trust Him!

Safety

Every night I pray before going to bed and I ask God to keep my family safe. When we leave on a road trip we ask God to protect us. Any time my kids are away from home, or I'm away from them for the night, I pray for their safety.

Do you see the common thread?

In the moments when I don't feel like I'm in control - that's when I look to God for protection. Any other time I feel pretty confident that I can keep myself and my family safe.

It turns out, safety is harder to get ahold of than comfort! It's an illusion really. We've all known people who have suddenly and tragically died. Most of them probably felt quite safe moments before tragedy struck.

When we offer our lives to God as His disciples, we must also lay down our desire and need for safety. The Apostle Paul wrote, "For me to live is Christ, to die is gain." He knew safety wasn't going to always be with him as he served the Lord. Paul was beaten, imprisoned, stoned, shipwrecked and more. He longed for death to come so he could be in heaven, and yet he served God while he was alive.

How many of us live that way? How many of us really believe there's something better awaiting us when we die?

Status Quo, Freedom, Control

These three cousins of comfort have been on my mind a lot in the past year. The Presidential Election brought these three things to the forefront in many ways.

Status Quo is something both major parties fought for - their own versions of status quo. Although change is a buzzword during any election, the real goal is to get things back to the way they feel they should be. 

Freedom is another hot topic during campaigns. We all want the freedoms that matter to us - religious freedom, freedom of speech, freedom to vote, freedom to choose, freedom from tyranny.

Control is the ultimate goal in an election. Whether it's control of the Oval Office or control of the Senate, everybody is fighting for control of the government in one way or another. There are even issues around the idea of control - gun control, border control, etc.

The problem with pursuing any and all of these things is that they never live up to the expectations. Status quo inevitably changes. Freedom is limited. Control is temporary.

In the end, our American Dream really amounts to nothing. We end up with piles of money, guns, houses, laws and aspirations for a better future. None of it really makes us happy or gives us fulfillment, although they may make us slightly more comfortable.

Jesus asks us to give up everything - all we have - so that nothing will distract us from following Him. When we hold on to the pursuit of comfort, in any of its forms, we cannot possibly become all that He wants us to be. That only happens when we've got nothing.