Ten Major Issues Facing the American Nation Today:
1. Lack of civility, integrity, and transparency in the highest governmental offices.
2. Lack of moral decency and purity among church ministers/clergy, and lack of compassion and empathy for the poor and the needy in contemporary American churches.
3. A crisis in gender identity and unfounded alternative sexual preferences and choices.
4. The abandonment of moral absolutes, ethical norms, and intellectual truths.
5. The physical distance and emotional alienation technology and social media have created among people.
6. The problem of historical amnesia and the erasure of historical truths in the nation’s (collective) memory.
7.The rape culture and prevalence of toxic masculinity that we refuse to acknowledge as a national crisis.
8. The corporate silence of Evangelical Churches and Christian ministers concerning social justice issues, race relations in churches, and their inaction towards public policies disenfranchising the nation’s working class people, and the economically-disavantaged black and brown people, as well as poor whites–resulting the legal systematic killing and incarceration of America’s most vulnerable population.
9. The false equation of American prosperity and American supremacy with divine blessings and favoritism, and Biblical Christianity and piety.
10. The tension between obsessive individualism and relational community, leading to inhospitable attitude or treatment toward strangers, the unknown, even family members.
To my fellow pastors and ministers of the Gospel of God:
The ultimate goal of pastoral ministry and preacging is spelled out by Paul in this verse:
“My little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!”– Galatians 4:19
That Christ may be fully developed, nurtured, exalted, and honored in the lives of the people of God in your congregation.
Let the followers of Christ in your congregation know that this is your single and unnegotiable passion for them and toward their full spiritual maturity and full human flourishing in Christ Jesus.
Prosperity in the so-called First World or developed nations is not a sign of God’s grace or blessing.
In the same way, poverty in the so-called Third World or developing nations is not an indication of divine abandonment or God’s curse upon those nations.
God’s presence is not measured by material blessings nor technological advances in those advanced societies.
If you had the power and influence to make changes, mame three things you would like to change in your city/state/our society?
Do provide specific responses!
The three things I would like to change are:
1. Free College Tuition to families whose annual income is under $ 100, 000 and half College tuition to families whose income ranges from $ 100, 000 to $ 150, 000, annually (this is at the state level, folks; I live in Florida.)
2. Give degree-seeking students more options to pursue different degree programs by adding more degrees and majors to our four year state colleges; for example, a student should be able to earn a B.A. in English, Sociology, Philosophy, History, Psychology, etc. (this option is for every state college in the country.)
3. Make it mandatory for every high school student to learn a trade while pursuing simultaneously the high school diploma; the student will graduate both with the high school diploma and the chosen trade (this option is for every high school in the country.)
If you had the power and influence to make changes, mame three things you would like to change in your city/state/our society?
Do provide specific responses!
The three things I would like to change are:
1. Free College Tuition to families whose annual income is under $ 100, 000 and half College tuition to families whose income ranges from $ 100, 000 to $ 150, 000, annually (this is at the state level, folks; I live in Florida.)
2. Give degree-seeking students more options to pursue different degree programs by adding more degrees and majors to our four year state colleges; for example, a student should be able to earn a B.A. in English, Sociology, Philosophy, History, Psychology, etc. (this option is for every state college in the country.)
3. Make it mandatory for every high school student to learn a trade while pursuing simultaneously the high school diploma; the student will graduate both with the high school diploma and the chosen trade (this option is for every high school in the country.)
“George Mason, senior pastor of Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas, addresses the killing of Botham Jean and the problem of white churches not speaking up alongside black churches for justice.
“What is God calling you to risk — of your own life, of your own relationships — for the gospel of Jesus Christ?”
“If we want to call ourselves by the name of Jesus, we have to stop defending things he would condemn.”
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I wrote this post two years ago (September 23, 2016) at the height of Police brutality, black deaths in our streets, and white supremacist protests in this wounded nation:
What puzzles me the most is the “intentional silence” of most White Christians and White Evangelical Churches!
1. In the time of slavery and slave trades, most white churches and white Christians in America were silent.
2. In the era of black lynching, most white churches and white Christians in America were silent.
3. In the period of racial segregation, most white churches and white Christians in America were again silent.
4. In contemporary times of Police brutality and black death, American Evangelical White Christians and White Churches still maintain their silence.
When will White Evangelical Churches and White Christians call evil evil?
When will White Evangelical Churches and White Christians call injustice injustice?
When will White Evangelical Churches and White Christians call wrong wrong?
What good are White Evangelical Christianity and White churches in America in this time of national crisis and black death!
“Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood,
who draw sin as with cart ropes,
who say: “Let him be quick,
let him speed his work
that we may see it;
…Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who put darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter!
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
and shrewd in their own sight!
Woe to those who acquit the guilty for a bribe,
and deprive the innocent of his right!”—Isaiah 5:18-23
I reacted to a question in this manner:
Moreover, this pivotal issue has a lot to do with faith; religion is an important human phenomenon in shaping people’s ethical choices and decisions, worldviews, and social interactions in the world. In particular, I’m addressing “White Evangelical Churches and White Christians” because Christians in general are supposed to be “the light and salt of the world,” according to the Bible. In addition, the greatest commandment besides loving God is to love one’s neighbor, and the call to practice justice, to do good, and walk in solidarity with the weak, the poor, the oppressed, and the disheartened and defend their rights is a central message of the Bible. Finally, I’m speaking both as a human being and christian to my white christian brothers and sisters. Christians are called to live to a higher ethic and an alternative lifestyle in this world.
What do black and brown Christians want from their white (Evangelical) Christians:
We want our white christian brothers and sisters to
1. Fight for social justice–on our behalf;
2. As your brothers and sisters in Christ, we want you to be concerned about our welfare and happiness in this country;
3. Do not ignore us when we’re trying to get your attention about issues that bring suffering, pain, oppression, and death in our lives;
4. Be empathetic and sympathetic toward our pain and suffering;
5. Let the Gospel of grace and love of God be the compass to guide your moral choices and ethical choices, and not your political ideologies and cultural preferences;
6. Do not be in solidarity with white people on the basis of the shared skin color; christian solidarity is grounded on our common faith as Christians and common confession that Jesus is our Lord and Savior.
If the Gospel is not good news to radically transform the social, economic, and political order of the day, then it is not a complete Gospel.
God’s vision for the world is not simply his moving action toward the radical transformation of the human heart and the renewing of the mind; his idea of the new creation encompasses everything, including all the wrong doings and oppressive systems and structures free (human) agents have created in this world, through the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ. God’s redemptive plan does not simply disrupt spiritual darkness; it interrupts all spheres of life–especially the material world.
The Gospel is a holistic effective story for the global world, for the global people, and for the global order of things. This is what makes the Gospel the good news!
Which one of the worlds below would you prefer to live in?
1. one that is guided and controlled by one single God, who is love (loving), compassionate, powerful, relational, and omniscient.
2. one that is guided and controlled by multiple deities, who work together to balance the universe, but are not equal in power, authority, and essence.
3. a world in which God (or the gods are distant) is distant from creation and not a relational Being, and that the deities do not interfere in human affairs; human beings have total freedom over their own lives and sole masters of their future.
4. a world in which there is no God or a world in which no deities exist (a godless cosmos, that is, an atheistic universe) in which human begins are totally sovereign and have total control over their lives.
“Benjamin Mays on the Christian Response to Social Justice and Race Relations”
“Inequality is inherent in segregation. To expect equality in segregation is to expect too much of unregenerated human nature…What is the Christian’s responsibility?
If we say we believe in democracy and deny it to Jews, Mexicans, Japanese, Roman Catholics, labor or management, Negroes, or any others, we do not really believe in democracy.
If we say we believe that the life of each individual is of intrinsic value and is sacred unti God and if at the same time seek to exploit the individual and to take advantage of him, we do not believe in his intrinsic worth.
If we say that we believe in justice for all people, irrespective of race, and proceed to segregate, deny the ballot to, deny jobs to, and discriminate educationally against certain groups in the population on the grounds of race, we do not really believe in justice.
If we say we believe that evert American should have equality of opportunity to develop his mind and character and do not work toward that end, we do not believe what we say.
The great pronouncements of the Christian religion on race and the great findings od modern science about race must somehow be acted upon by individuals who believe them before they can mistake any difference in real life…
A Christian never would debate the question, ‘What will happen to my job?, He would obey God and trust him for results. If the Christian will act in those areas where he has complete control, his power to act will grow and he will be able to act on his beliefs in more dangerous zones. Even in areas where thr Christian does not have complete control, he can act on his beliefs. The man who owns a business can do a great deal by setting up policy of hiring and promoting people on the basis of character and competence, never on the basis of race. Throughout the centuries, men devoted to a higher loyalty to transform it. Man does not have to be a slave to his environment…
The basic issue of life are not polical nor economic. They are religious–God, man, ethics, and spiritual values…If we could ever get the proper attitude toward God and man, we could more easily settle our political, economic, and social questions. I am talking about a belief in God that expresses itself in action. The true Christian not only has faith that leads to action, but he has faith that ultimately the results of his action will be good. ”
— Benjamin E. Mays, “Seeking to be Christian in Race Relations” (1957)
Benjamin E. Mays on the Origin and Claims of the Christian Church:
“We turn to the Church first because the Christian Church is a unique institution. It claims for itself what no other institution in America claims. It claims, both Catholic and Protestant, that its origin is not of this world and that God is its author. It asserts that its ultimate allegiance is not to the State, not to the economic order, not to the prejudice of men, not even to the mores and folkways of society; but that its ultimate loyalty is to God.The State makes no such assertion. Colleges and Universities make no such assertion. Our capitalistic society makes no such assertion. The Church is the only institution in America that insists that its origin is from God. It stubbornly proclaimed, centuries before modern science established it as fact, that man has a common origin–and the Church calls that origin God. It stubbornly proclaimed, centuries before modern science discovered the four universal types of blood, that all men are brothers under the skin; and that from one blood God created “all nations of men for to dwell on all the faces of the earth.” The Church also asserts that human life is sacred and that each individual is of intrinsic worth and value. Any institution that has the nerve to make such claims is obligated—if for no other reason than to maintain integrity of soul, to strive with might and main to make good on its pronouncements.”
Moreover, in a Commencement Address delivered at Howard University in June 9, 1945, Prominent Public Theologian and Civil Rights Activist Benjamin E. Mays told his audience that the Christian Church should “christianize” America and be a “prophetic church.” What a powerful claim! What did he mean by this concept? Interestingly, Mays saw a close connection and important parallel between “Christianity” and “American democracy,” as both ideas pertained (pertain) to the American experience and the public function of the Christian Church in the American society. As he explained with precision and clarity:
“The first stand, therefore, that the Church should take, in its effort to Christianize America in this generation, is on the question of Christian fellowship. The Church should be the one spot in America where all men are free and equal. It should be the one spot in America where artificial barriers, whether of group, class, or race , do not count. There should never by any doubt in the mind of any man that the Church is open to him; whether it be located in the bottom of Mississippi or in the upper right hand corner of Maine; and this applies to the Negro Church as well as to the White Church. On the point of segregation, the Church should not be subservient to the State nor to society. But as it stands today the Church is subservient both to the State and to Society. Instead of setting the standard for the secular order, it stands in awe of the secular order and is led by it.
The Church is one of the most segregated institution in the United States. On the question of democracy and Christianity, the Church should go further than night clubs, hotels, theaters, and restaurants. If the Christian forces of this country really wanted to do so, and if they really believed what they preach, they would make the Church Christian within a single decade. Then it would earn the right to speak to the secular order–not only in the area of race but in the area of social and economic affairs. It would be not only a priestly church but a prophetic church.
If the disadvantaged people of America cannot look to the Church and to the Federal Government for protection–their’s is a hopeless case. Not only that but both Democracy and Christianity in America will ultimately perish unless we can trust the Federal Government to be democratic and the Church to be Christian…If we can not do this, we do not believe it. We are what we do and not what we say. We are as democratic as we live and we are as Christian as we act. If we talk brotherhood and segregate human beings, we do not believe in brotherhood. If we talk democracy and deny it to certain groups, we do not believe in democracy. If we preach justice and exploit the weak, we do not believe in justice. If we preach truth and tell lies, we do not believe in truth. We are what we do.”
—Benjamin E. Mays, “Democraticizing and Christianizing America in This Generation” (1945)
Mission is about the global glory, majesty, and fame of God among the nations and the peoples of the earth. God, in his pursuit of people and commitment to cosmic transformation, is not bound by any nation, race, ethnicity, or geographical location. He is a global God with a global mission for the whole world.
drcelucienjoseph, "Thinking and Meditating" 