Approach with Caution

My friend and co-worker lost his six year-old daughter a year ago yesterday. I hate to admit this but I didn't remember until Wednesday - too late to send a card. I wondered if I should call or email or send him a message. He was on iChat Wednesday and today with the message "a year Thursday - ping with caution". I thought about how appropriate and how honest that is. Relationships can be unpredictable and messy and sometimes it seems like they should come with warning signs.

As I slowly enter my new role as Community Manager I recognize that I have a lot of learning to do and experience to gain if I want to be an effective leader. I did an online search today for leadership skills and I came across this paragraph in an article written for people who move from a technical role to a managerial role:

Your role as a manager will also require that you become a strong conceptual thinker, with ability to analyze unstructured situations and to interpret information needed for effective decision making. Much of what you will be confronted with will be characterized by the ambiguity and complexity inherent in human interactions, compared to technical certainties.

When people would ask me what I liked about programming I would often say that I liked the certainty of an answer. If something goes wrong in a software program or on a website I always knew that I could fix it because an answer exists - I just had to find it. Moving into a role where many of the problems I will encounter will not have any certain right and wrong answers is a bit scary and also very exciting. It is exciting because people and relationships, while they are complex and messy, are what the very heart of God cares about.

Yesterday Mark held the second class about his new book, The Dangerous Act of Worship: Living God's Call to Justice. He talked about false and true dangers of worship. We often go to worship for reasons other than to encounter the living God. Just as encountering other people and building relationships with other people can be complex, unpredictable and make us vulnerable - encountering God can be all those things on a much greater scale. In Mark's book he quotes Annie Dillard who wrote:

It is madness to wear ladies' hats and straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For the sleeping god may wake someday and take offense, or the waking god may draw us out to where we can never return.

If I want to stay in a safe place where all the answers are readily available to me if I just search hard enough or work hard enough then my greatest fear may be encountering God. With fear and trembling I am ready to grow both in my career and in my relationship with God and the people he places in my life. I desire to meet the living God "who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us" and who grafts us, adopts us, makes all things new and gives us new life and a new way of living. Opening myself up to this kind of change does not come naturally and I resist it often. I am only able to want to want this change in my life because of the Holy Spirit working in me and the knowledge "that in all things God works for the good of those who love him" and that the God I put my trust in is trustworthy.

Peacemakers

An article in the San Francisco Chronicle caught my eye this morning: Peacemakers to walk most violent areas. State Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata has raised private funding to train East Oakland residents to be peacemakers on their own streets. Each of the people being trained has lost multiple family members or friends to violence in Oakland. The beginning of the article suggests the goal is to "talk criminals into changing their ways" and "help parolees adjust to life outside prison". Later on the article quotes Perata:

Perata said that too often outsiders -- be they foundations or politicians -- come into East Oakland and dictate what the community should be doing. With private funding, Perata believes the peacemakers will be freer to define their own ambitions and expectations.

"The key is to have indigenous peacekeepers -- guys from the community who know what it's like on the street to go out and try to resolve conflicts," he said. "You'd live a long life before you came up with a concept like this in Sacramento."

The theme I'm picking up on is a recognition that the people most likely to come up with creative solutions to issues of suffering and injustice within a community are the very people living and suffering in that community. They are the most invested and the most knowledgeable.

As I look for ways that I can work for justice and love my neighbors this is a reminder for me to be humble, to not assume I have the answer to someone's problem, but rather to walk beside people.

The final sentence in this article also caught my attention:

"I've got no Jesus complex," Perata said. "Hopefully, we'll change the lives of a few people who'll go on to change a few more. Otherwise, the problem is too overwhelming."

The problem is indeed overwhelming. I prefer to think of having a "Jesus complex" not as thinking that I could be Jesus but remembering that Jesus can provide me with the strength and hope I'll need to face problems and suffering and do something that is helpful.

28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.

29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.

30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;

31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

- Isaiah 40: 28-31

Modern Day Slavery

"As unimaginable as it seems, slavery and bondage still persist in the early 21st century. Millions of people around the world still suffer in silence in slave-like situations of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation from which they cannot free themselves. Trafficking in persons is one of the greatest human rights challenges of our time." These are the opening lines of the State Department's June 2003 Trafficking in Persons Report.

- From the US Department of State website

There is a new movie coming out this Friday, February 23rd called Amazing Grace about William Wilberforce's campaign for the abolition of slavery in the British Empire. John Newton, who wrote the famous song Amazing Grace, was a slave trader who later in his life became a follower of Jesus and joined Wilberforce in his work to abolish slavery. Inspired by the movie a new campaign The Amazing Change has been started to bring awareness about modern day slavery and to work for its end.

"It's estimated that 27 million people are in slavery around the world"

Sourced by the UN, New York Times, Amnesty International, The Christian Science Monitor, and Free The Slaves, among others.

David Batstone, author of Not for Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade--and How We Can Fight It will be speaking at First Pres Berkeley on Monday, March 5th. David is Professor of ethics at the University of San Francisco, founding editor of Business 2.0 and is the founder of social venture firm, Right Reality.

Stopping Mass Atrocities: An International Conference on the Responsibility to Protect

I wish I could attend this conference but unfortunately I will be attending another conference, Community 2.0, in Las Vegas on March 13 and 14. Hopefully they'll record the presentations.

From www.hrcberkeley.org:

How can state governments be encouraged to stop genocide and other mass atrocities? Join an international assembly of policymakers, legislators, philanthropists, religious leaders, scholars and activists to discuss the "responsibility to protect" and move the concept from principle to practice.

March 13, 2007, 7 PM to 8:30 PM
Lieutenant General Roméo Dallaire, "The Failure of Humanity in Preventing Genocides"
International House, Chevron Auditorium
Free admission, tickets required. Click here to order tickets.

General Dallaire led the United Nations peacekeeping mission to Rwanda during the 1994 genocide. He will open the conference with a discussion of the tragedy and its personal and professional aftermath.

March 14, 2007, 9 AM to 5 PM
Lipman Room, Barrows Hall
University of California, Berkeley
Free and open to the public, registration requested

Keynote address by Gareth Evans, President, International Crisis Group. Panelists include representatives of the World Federalist Movement, Human Rights Watch, the Council on Foreign Relations, and more.

For more information, email r2pconference@berkeley.edu or call 510-642-0965.

Hosted by Human Rights Center

In cooperation with Genocide Intervention Network, Human Rights Watch

Conference partners include: Amnesty International, Center for American Progress, International Crisis Group, World Affairs Council San Francisco, World Federalist Movement

UC Berkeley co-sponsors: Center for African Studies, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Ethnic Studies Department, Graduate School of Journalism, Institute of International Studies, International and Area Studies, International Human Rights Law Clinic, International Legal Studies Program, Peace and Conflict Studies, Religion, Politics, and Globalization Program

Supported by Humanity United

Justice = Righteousness

Last Sunday I learned something fascinating (to me at least). In the Bible, in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, in both Hebrew and Greek, the word for justice is the same word for righteousness. Justice = Righteousness. In Hebrew the word is tsedeq and in Greek the word is dikaios. The first time I heard it was the last day of David Gill's Ethics class at 9am, the second time I heard it was in Pastor Mark's sermon at First Pres at 5pm. I'm not sure if I've heard this before but if I did it certainly didn't sink in. This time, twice in one day - it woke me up.

I've always associated justice with the law and with standing up for other people's rights. Righteousness on the other hand is something personal, something individual, it involves how good of a person I am. These two things are the same? Or at least two sides of the same coin?

In the ethics class David Gill said justice involves what is "right", doing the "right thing", doing what we "ought" or "owe" and involves our debts and obligations. Doing what is right encompasses both an inward and an outward expression of following the will of God. I found this definition by Paul Marshall on Andrew Basden's website:

"Justice is: right relationships among all things in the created order of things."

This evening I attended the first class Pastor Mark is offering on his new book, The Dangerous Act of Worship: Living God's Call to Justice. Again, this connection between righteousness and justice was mentioned. Righteousness is being right with God (a vertical relationship) and justice is being right with our neighbor (a horizontal relationship).

The foremost is, 'Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' "The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'
-- Mark 12:28-31

The more I think about this the more I appreciate the connectedness of these two words and the more depth each of them holds for me.

Romans 12-13: Ethical Teaching

Notes from David Gill's Ethics class at First Pres Berkeley. This study focused on Romans 12-13 as a comprehensive outline of Christian ethics and values. The graphic below outlines these two chapters written by Paul.

This graphic shows the flow of the two chapters. Click for a larger view

The first and last sections instruct us that Christian ethics are shaped not by this world but by God's coming kingdom and that we are to be living "as in the day" (which those ethics in mind) even though it is still night. We are to be transformed "by the renewing of our minds" and not conformed to this age or culture.

The second and four sections concern both the church and the state. Christian ethics is always meant to be practiced in relationship and community. And when it comes to the state or government we are reminded that God works for good outside the church and works through institutions who have authority to punish evil and praise good.

The third and fifth sections teach us what Christian values look like in practice. This is the content and summary of the Christian ethic.

I have detailed notes from each of these sections that I will post soon.

Noisy Americans

This post is mostly notes from David Zac Niringiye's session at the Jesus and Evangelical Power Conference at First Pres Berkeley in Oct 2006. David Zac is from Uganda and his talk was titled "Releasing the Gospel from its Evangelical Captivity".

David Zac shared with us that he thinks it must be very difficult to be an American and a Christian. "The pressure is unbelievable" he said and he has begun to pray for us as Americans. He said that very often American Christians will offer prayer for Uganda but that he felt hesitant to suggest that he might pray for us. It was an impression that those in Uganda are the ones who are in need of prayer and not the other way around. How telling and how troubling.

David Zac spoke a lot about what he called the noise in our lives that we are surrounded by. He said this noise:

• clouds out reality
• distracts us from the truth
• blinds us
• is deceptive
• defines our stories
• defines our identity
• is the stories we tell ourselves
• is the story that is told to us by media, culture
• is the popular story
• is what power structures thrive on

He hoped that we would ask ourselves what is this noise in our own lives. And then he told us a story from the gospel of Luke, the story of the two men on the road to Emmaeus. Jesus had been crucified and the two men did not believe the women who had told them that Jesus had risen. When Jesus comes up beside them on the road and starts talking with them they do not recognize him. They are blinded by the noise of the story that had been told to them for so many generations - that the Messiah would come in power to deliver Israel. "We had hoped" that Jesus was the one we were waiting for - to rise to power and replace their oppressors. Who is dominating, who is in control - that is the way of the world. It was only when Jesus later broke bread with them that their eyes were opened. The first time Jesus broke bread with them was when he had just told them that one of them would betray him. It was a time of brokenness for them. In that same way, they are broken now and it is when Jesus breaks bread with them that they see him for who he is.

I have heard it said often that it is when we are broken, when we find ourselves with nothing else to hold onto, that we call out for Jesus. When everything is fine and we go about our daily lives and everything is rolling along the noise of our culture by default becomes our road map and our truth. I pray that I will recognize the noise in my life for what it is, that Jesus will challenge me and wake me up, that I will not be numb to the suffering of my brothers and sisters all around our world, that God will give me the strength to be a servant and the humility to give Him the glory.

Why I'm Writing

This blog was inspired mostly as a result of the teaching I have received attending First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley. Our pastor, Mark Labberton, has been communicating God's heart for justice to us for some time now. The first experience that really opened my eyes was the Jesus and Evangelical Power conference that was held in Oct 2006 at First Pres. There were four speakers, each from a different area of the world, and they spoke hard truths to us in love. More recently I've been taking a five-week class that was offered at the church (today was the last day) entitled "Ethics from Another World... For This World" taught by David Gill. In addition, I was very recently given the opportunity to move into the role of "Community Manager" at my company. All of these things combined have gotten me thinking and I need a place to write things down and organize these thoughts - hence this blog is born. I will be posting notes from the Jesus and Evangelical Power conference, notes from the ethics class and various sermons given at First Pres, along with my thoughts of how this can possibly tie into my new role at work and other ways that we can be living justice in our world.