I Was Blind Buy Now I See...

Just this past night while Heather and I were putting Maya to bed Maya asked for a second pillow. So, Heather being the wonderful mother that she is ventured into the closet in the bathroom (that is where our linen closet is) and grabbed an Elmo pillow case - or so she thought. As she walked back into Maya's room she unfolded the pillow case only to discover that it was an Elmo blanket. Needless to say Maya and I broke out in laughter when I replied, "don't worry Maya we will tape the blanket and turn it into a pillow case." While we were laughing Heather found another pillow case and placed a second pillow on Maya's bed. I kissed Maya goodnight and walked out of the room so Heather could do the same. As Heather walked out Maya yelled at her to remind me not to tape her Elmo blanket.

Kids take things so literal don't they? Maya was actually concerned that her daddy was going to tape her blanket. She had no clue that I was merely joking. You see, she takes my words literally because she trusts me and knows that I have her best interest at heart. She feels safe in my arms under my care so she can't help but to believe me at my word. Somewhere along the line things won't be so literal to Maya. She will begin to see gray amongst the black and white. When will that moment occur I do not know. But there will be a POINT in time in which her perspective will change, and this is what I want to focus on:

We all have points in our lives in which our perspective changes. Of the utmost importance to me at this point in time in my life is the point of change to consumerism and the racial and class divisions that are found in the church today.

This past week in my theology class we discussed our blindness to consumerism attempting to figure out how one is no longer blind. One's experience goes along way in revealing ones sight to the racial and class divisions in our churches. John Newton in his famous song Amazing Grace says, "(I) was blind but now I see..." If you know the story or seen the movie then you know that Newton was once a slave ship captain. Through his own experiences as a captain viewing first hand the horrors of the slave trade Newton repented of his blindness and sought to serve his God.

I encourage you to read, Consuming Jesus. In the book Metzger humbly approaches this difficult topic. We have a tendency, whether we know it or not, to associate and gather in homogeneous units. We feel comfortable around people who look, smell, talk, and act just like we do. The message and the meaning of the Gospel stretches beyond any and all racial and class barriers. As Christ followers we should do the same, seeking to include and embrace people who are different then us. This requires initiated-purposeful-action on our part. In other words it requires us to LOVE.

My prayer for us all is that we experience God's love in new ways so that we can be used as catalysts to break down the walls of race and class divisions in our church and culture.

For further insight and reading on this topic check out Dan's recent post.