First Lines: Breaking the Silence

First Lines: Breaking the Silence

E-News August 16, 2017

by Griff Martin

I was recently asked by a church member why we keep talking about these hard issues like race and poverty. Why are we talking about social justice so much? Is this the church’s role?

I have given these questions great thought.

Let me answer with a few stories. Last weekend I went with a dear friend to see the musical Fun Home. It’s the story of a dysfunctional family that largely revolves around this truth: the only way to break dysfunctional cycles is with honesty. One of the characters in the musical is highly detailed in the cleaning of the house and the way things look – perfect all the time. Towards the end of the musical is one of the most revealing lines:

“Welcome to our house on Maple Avenue.
See how we polish and we shine.
We rearrange and realign.
Everything is balanced and serene.
Like chaos never happens if it's never seen.”

What a telling line. Maybe that is the answer to the question, “why are we talking about social justice so much these days?” Because for a long time we have rearranged and polished and hidden things away, and finally we are dealing with what needed to be dealt with long ago.

And that is why we must finally talk about it…. But the good news is that it is doing some good.

Let me share two personal examples from my own family. Blake and Jude both participated in and loved Vacation Bible School this year, during which they learned about homelessness. The lessons have stuck with them. The weekend after VBS Blake told me that when the children participated in serving the homeless a meal, she noticed how many more people of color were in the line. She asked me why. I took a deep breath and explained to her how being born white is like starting a race halfway through, and how history shows us that people of color in our country have it much harder than we do. This lead to a longer conversation about our history as a country, and her final question: “Dad, why would anyone – especially a Christian – ever think it was okay to own someone?”

I just sat there with tears in my eyes and silently prayed, “Let the children lead us.”

Or last week, when on the way to the dentist we passed a homeless man sitting on the curb with a cardboard sign, and then half a mile further we passed a fancy car with a flat tire and a businessman in a suit trying to change it. Blake was quiet, and then she said, “You know, I bet a lot of people stop to help the man with the flat tire and I bet very few stop to help the homeless man, right Dad?”

To which I once again say, let the children lead us.

In the light of the news this week of terror and racism, in the shadows of our buildings downtown where our homeless residents sleep…as a church, we are finally talking about what matters.

And our talking about it will surely lead us to a place where we will do something.

And then the church can truly shine.

Grace and peace.

Griff