Well it’s 7am and I’m sitting in the San Francisco airport waiting to board a plane. My mind is brimming with all the insights and challenges from the past few days at the SBL Conference. God taught me a lot!

One of the best sessions that I attended was on the topic of Womanist Theology. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this term, it refers to a strand of theology that represents  the perspectives of African American women. It developed in response to the predominantly white feminist theology and the predominantly male black theology. In the session I attended, women of color shared stories of grappling with race and identity in a broken world, as well as insights on how these struggles intersect with faith.

The stories were moving, to say the least. At an academic conference where papers are typically read behind a podium, these women preached. It was the only session that brought me to tears because I was so gripped and inspired. As I sat there listening to their perspectives, I was both educated,  humbled, and broken.

The session that morning was the culmination of a lesson that God has been teaching me about racism and its cousins. Namely, God has been teaching me the importance of listening. More specifically, God has been teaching me about the importance of allowing marginalized voices to be heard.

One of the causes and consequences of racism is that one, single narrative dominates. One privileged voice narrates history and the experience of humanity from its own particular perspective. As a result, we are less likely to hear other perspectives, and we are therefore less likely to understand them. When one narrative is dominant, other cares and concerns are frequently silenced. They become all but invisible.

As our country continues to understand racism and the church repents of its sin, there is a tendency to continue dominating the narrative. There is a temptation to make the story of redemption about us, about our guilt, and about our need for forgiveness. Some of us might be able to tell stories of our own courage in the face of racism, or how we are different from the generation that preceded us, but the story continues to be about us nonetheless.

Now don’t get me wrong. Stories of repentance and personal redemption aren’t bad. In fact, they are important. But what is also important, I’m learning, is that we listen to those voices that have been silenced for so long. Rather than recall past interactions with minorities from my own perspective–whether the interaction was noble or shameful–I need to consider my sister or brother. I need to consider my neighbor’s perspective and experience. What was her story? Who was her family? What was her life like?

At the heart of racism is a terrible self-centeredness. It is an inability to see through the eyes of another. Deceptively, this mentality can persist in altruistic forms, but God is helping me to identify that pitfall. He is helping me to re-understand the words, “Be quick to listen and slow to speak.” (James 1:19) He is also teaching me a new dimension of the Incarnation of Christ. God was not content to stand afar and save us. He heard our cry. He came near to us. He became so intimately one with us that he could share in our experience, and we in his.

That willingness to step out of one’s comfort and come near to the stranger, to hear her and love her and be near to her, is a Christ-like impulse. It is a discipline that we as Christians must continue to embrace if we hope to overcome racism, sexism, and other forms of hate. And it begins with the second greatest commandment: to love your neighbor. I can love my neighbor best when I know how she needs to be loved. And I will know how she needs to be loved when I take the time to listen.

This month I’ve been wrapping up my summer schoolwork with an independent study of feminist theology, and I have really loved it! My research has been educational, thought-provoking, and personally challenging, which is exactly what I was hoping it would be.

As I have explored the history of feminism and its relationship to Christian theology, I’ve noticed a significant historical trend that includes, but is not limited to, feminism. To give you a little background on what I mean, one of the early criticisms of the feminist movement was its narrow scope. Although feminism sought to achieve equal rights and status for women, the movement was predominantly led by middle class, educated white women. Women of other ethnicities and nationalities consequently felt marginalized by the dominant ideologies of the movement. Although feminism set out to end this kind of social stratification, it unintentionally added to it.

Now before we villainize feminism for this hypocrisy, it is important to point out that feminism is not the first to make a mistake of this kind. Feminism is just one of many movements throughout history that initially marginalized others in its own quest for freedom.  Consider the United States’ own history. Our nation is founded on the pillars of freedom and equality,  and yet this newly liberated State was built on the backs of oppressed African slaves. White men achieved unprecedented freedom, only to withhold that freedom from women and minorities.

Examples such as these abound. When a group accesses freedom and empowerment, no matter how populist or democratic its initial intentions may be, it is likely to overlook others in need of liberation. In fact, some movements deliberately disadvantage others in order to ensure their own success.

As I studied feminism and reflected on this historical pattern, I began to wonder whether I succumb to the same kind of tunnel vision. Have I ever focused so unflinchingly on a personal cause or call that I forgot about the bigger picture and marginalized others in the process?

I am quite sure that I have. For example, I love teaching and discipling women in the church. I feel called to serve and equip Christian women, and I feel it is incumbent on the church to do the same. However, my passion can easily morph into tunnel vision, especially when Christian women are marginalized by the church. The urgency of this injustice, which is particularly close to my heart, narrows my gaze.

As a result of this tunnel vision, I lose perspective. My determination to advocate for women in the church can eclipse other aspects of the Christian call. I can become so focused on women in the church that I ignore women outside the church who need the love of Christ, or I forget about women around the world who need food, clean water, safety, and medical support.

Whether this tunnel vision is a manifestation of sin or simply the limited capacity of human nature, it is a common temptation that takes many forms. For people like me, ministries in the church draw our attention away from ministries to the world. For others, protecting their family can prevent them from protecting the poor and the weak outside their family. And still others can become so absorbed in evangelism or social justice that they neglect the friends and family closest to them.

To be fair, none of us is called to serve in every area of ministry out there. In fact, God does NOT call us to a degree of over-commitment in which we do everything, but we do it poorly. However, ministry is not a zero sum game in which commitments are mutually exclusive. There are ways that I can serve the women in my church AND serve women outside the church.

In fact, I know women who do just that. In His goodness, God has connected me with women who exemplify the full vision of the Christian life, and here are just a few of them:

• Author Helen Lee recently published the book The Missional Mom
• Activist Shayne Moore published Global Soccer Mom
• Tracey Bianchi equips women for everyday environmental stewardship in Green Mama
• And my friend Margot Starbuck just posted a challenging blog titled “Myopically Mothering My Own as Mission?“

Although each one of these Christian women writes from the particular perspective of motherhood, each sets an example for mothers and non-mothers alike. These women resist the tunnel vision that would monopolize their time and attention, opting instead for a life that reflects the fullness of Christ’s.

These women also remind us that the different spheres of Christian ministry are beautifully complementary: Global outreach gives me patience and perspective at home. As a mother one day, community outreach will model mission-mindedness for my children. And the reality of female oppression worldwide reminds me to be grateful for the equality women enjoy in America.

When understood this way, the multi-faceted Christian call seems less like a list of duties and more like a glimpse of God’s design for humanity. We are meant to be connected to one another, loving one another and serving one another. When we sequester ourselves in one part of ministry or service, we miss out on the fullness of God’s heart for the world. When tunnel vision limits our sight, I suspect it also limits our love.

Continuing my reflections on the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit, I’m going to do something today that I almost never do: talk about a politician.

I am rather jaded when it comes to politics, and I NEVER endorse candidates publicly. Not to sound overly simplistic or self-righteous, but I would much rather spend my time endorsing Jesus. However, one of the most powerful speakers at the Summit this year was a man named Cory Booker, who is the Mayor of Newark, New Jersey. He is a politician, but he preached it.

A self-described Christian, Mayor Booker shared a number of inspiring stories about his mission in Newark, but it was the perspective behind his vision that I found especially challenging, and Scriptural. At one point during his talk, Mayor Booker declared,

“Your attitude about the world says nothing about the world, but a lot about your character. What you see outside of you is a reflection of what is inside of you.”

These words are actually an echo of Jesus’ words in Luke 6:45:

“A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”

At a time when our economy is struggling, when Christians are pulling their kids out of public schools because the system is so broken, when millions of women are literally missing due to sex trafficking, when the American family becomes increasingly fragmented, and our nation slides further towards a spineless kind of moral relativism, Mayor Booker’s words were a real check on my spirit.

It is so easy to point to the world and blame, blame, blame. Christians should be doing this, or politicians should be doing that. The younger generations are lazy and entitled. The older generations are irrelevant to the culture. Etc., etc. But Jesus’ words, as recaptured by Mayor Booker, are an indictment of this mindset. When we place blame everywhere but ourselves, we betray ourselves spiritually. We reveal a hopelessness and despair that is out of sync with God’s ability to redeem. We uncover a vision that has been crippled by sin instead of enlarged by the resurrection. Rather than see what the world could be through the power of Christ, we see only what it is.

Vision is not outside ourselves. It is an overflow of the heart. So we need to be asking whether we process and engage the world according to sin, or according to Christ’s victory over sin. Thankfully for us, God was not content to sit back and judge humanity for our brokenness, but instead took that sin upon Himself, came near to us in the flesh, and became the redemptive means by which we are delivered from this mess. Rather than command us to change, God enacted the transformation personally. As the Church, our call is the same.

What does your engagement of the world say about your heart? Are you an active part in God’s redemption of humanity, or a passive spectator? Are you wasting time pointing fingers, or living into the example of Christ? Gandhi is famously quoted as saying, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” I could not agree more, but no one did it more perfectly than Jesus.

Have you ever looked back on the past year and noticed a few major themes or lessons that God was teaching you? This year, one of those themes has been stewardship. In particular, I have been challenged with how I spend the “other 90%”–that is, the money that I don’t tithe or give to charity. That money belongs to God too, and I have felt increasingly burdened by how I am spending it.

As we learn more and more about where our products come from–ie. how a company treats its employees, animals, or the environment–the above issue is one I find increasingly difficult to ignore. On the one hand, we are so disconnected from the production process that it’s easy to turn a blind eye, but the reality is that the dollars we spend can perpetuate injustices all over the world. As a Christian, that matters to me.

But there is a theological component in play as well. In particular, there is a striking parallel between buying things cheaply and the Christian response to God’s grace. I know that sounds like a weird comparison, but just hang with me a second!

Consider, for a moment, stores that sell products at bottom rung prices. When I buy those products I think I’m getting a good deal. Why buy organic food or fair trade clothes when I can get cheaper versions at a big chain grocery store or mega-mart?

Here’s the problem: That product is probably cheap for me because somebody already paid the price. The cute blouse I bought at a bargain price may have been produced in a factory in a China where employees work 15 hours a day for about $12 a week. I didn’t have to pay much because a factory worker already did. She worked long hours for low wages so that I could get a good deal.

A price tag is not always indicative of worth. Many times, a good deal is only good for me. And that is where I notice a troubling parallel with the Christian life.

In his book The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer famously decried the Christian notion of “cheap grace,” the idea that saving grace can be had without a cost. Because grace is free for Christ’s followers, many Christians live as if the price tag is indicative of its worth. Salvation came cheaply to us, so we treat it cheaply. We take advantage of God’s grace by trodding over the cross and making off with the goods. As Bonhoeffer summarized, “Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.”

Yet the grace we have in Christ is not cheap at all. It is an immeasurably valuable grace that cost Jesus his life. Even though the gift is free to us, it is perhaps the most costly gift ever to have been bought in all eternity.

So what does all of this have to do with bargain shopping? Several things. First, it is important to note the haunting parallel between Bonhoeffer’s description of cheap grace and our modern shopping practices. In both scenarios, someone else had to make a tremendous sacrifice so that the gift would be “affordable” for us. And in both scenarios, we are prone to assess the value of the gift solely by the price tag, not its actual worth.

Second, this parallel brings a whole new meaning to Jesus’ words, “Whatever you did for one the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” (Matt. 25:40) In a very broken way, many of the people who make our clothes are modeling the grace relationship we have in Christ. These poor and marginalized individuals are bearing the cost that should have been borne by us.

Third, this economic dynamic challenges Christians to question the entire order of our relationship to the poor. Are they to be making sacrifices for us, or are we to be making sacrifices for them? As a student who doesn’t have much money, that is a particularly difficult question. My husband and I don’t have a lot of extra money to buy fair trade goods, which means we have to cut corners elsewhere and make some sacrifices. But isn’t that what it means to be a Christian? Am I not called to model Christ’s sacrifice in this world, and thereby point back to the perfect sacrifice we have in Him? (Heb. 13:16)

Lastly, I want to shop in a way that is theologically consistent with the faith I profess. I shouldn’t cheapen the sacrifice of the poor anymore than I cheapen the sacrifice of Christ. In fact, Bonhoeffer might argue that when we cheapen the sacrifice of the poor we also cheapen the sacrifice of Christ. Cheap grace, after all, manifests itself in a life without change As Bonhoeffer put it:

Cheap grace “amounts to the justification of sin without the justification of the repentant sinner who departs from sin and from whom sin departs…Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession.”

When we take advantage of the poor we take advantage of God’s grace (Proverbs 14:31). So while I don’t pretend to be perfect in this area–it is an issue I am trying to think about more and more, step by step–I cannot ignore this injustice in good conscience. I hope you won’t either. While it is easy to think that stewardship is about bargain shopping, I am learning that it can sometimes be just the opposite. Stewardship is not about saving a buck, but using that buck to honor God and His creation.

I had planned to write something totally different today. Until I went to church yesterday morning.

In honor of Martin Luther King Day my church devoted its entire service to remembering the struggle for racial reconciliation in this country and to our role in that struggle as Christians. The service was quite powerful and moved me to tears a number of times. As I sat there I kept thinking, “What a great idea, celebrating racial reconciliation on Martin Luther King weekend!”…as if the majority of African American churches in this country hadn’t been doing the same for years.

You see, in all my years going to church, that was the first time I had ever attended a worship service that observed today’s holiday. In fact, I have trouble remembering a sermon that even mentioned it. But what is even more troubling is the fact that I never noticed that absence until now. It never occurred to me that this day is a big deal for the church, one that many Christians surely celebrate each year with praise and gratitude to God. After all, much of Dr. King’s work was a direct result of the church community that supported him. As a pastor whose speeches were saturated with Scriptural language and who called his followers to resist evil in the way of Christ, King would not have succeeded without the church community behind him. In that sense, Martin Luther King day also reminds us of the perseverance of the Christian community.

Or at least one part of it.

While our country has come a long way since his death, Dr. King’s dream has yet to be fully realized and I take my own obliviousness to the holiday as evidence of that fact. Each year when the calendar calls us to reflect on King’s life, I have not celebrated with my brothers and sisters the way they have celebrated for themselves. And that is to my shame.

I have much to learn about loving my neighbor in the way that God has called me. But I also have much to learn about the church. At the end of the day, my lack of concern (which is not so much displayed by my opinion as it is by my attention) betrays an ecclesiological deficiency. I don’t value ALL parts of the body equally….not really. As 1 Corinthians 12:26 teaches us, “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” I can’t remember the last time I really did either one of those.

Dr. King himself seized upon this analogy in his famous “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” In it he responded to local  pastors who criticized the protests of African Americans in their city, arguing that racial injustice should instead be worked out in the courts. The entire letter is both powerful and convicting, especially given that the pastors supposedly agreed with the cause–they just didn’t want to do anything about it. In response, King penned the following famous words:

I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.

That is an ecclesiological statement. As my pastor preached yesterday morning, when the Titanic was struck on one side, the passengers on the other side could not disregard it saying, “That side of the ship does not affect us.” No, whatever happens to one part of the ship affects all of the ship. And it is the same with the Body of Christ. The injustices still faced by minorities in this country are my concern because they are a part of me.

I hope that truth stirs your soul as much as it does mine. Oh how I am convicted of my  own hard-heartedness! As much as today is a time to celebrate, it is also a time to repent. My vision is too narrow and too selfish, which is why I pray that God would pierce my heart of stone and instead give me a heart of compassion and boldness. I pray that I would love others as much as God loves them, and that I would be more committed to the wholeness of His Bride. Until Christ returns, there is still much work to be done.

Five or six years ago I ran across an article that I will never forget. It detailed the plight of a pastor in China who had been imprisoned dozens of times for preaching the Gospel in house churches around his region. He had been captured so many times, in fact, that he always carried a duffle bag with a change of clothes in it wherever he went. However, what truly haunted me about this man’s story was his punishment in those Chinese prisons. Many times he was placed on a factory line where he was forced to make thousands of Christmas lights to be sold in the United States.

I was unable to find the original article, but christianity.com has posted the following information about Christians who continue to suffer the same persecution:

For many in the United States, Christmas lights are a nice way to decorate for the holidays and brighten the dreariness of winter. To some, they serve as a reminder of the light in the world as a result of our Savior’s birth.

WorldServe Ministries hopes that these decorations will also prompt believers to pray for more than 1,000 imprisoned Christians in China.

As we buy our Christmas lights, few of us notice the “made in China” tag that is attached. Even fewer know that to benefit China’s economy, the lights were probably made by persecuted prisoners, many of whom are Christian pastors.

According to WorldServe Ministries, pastors are subject to severe conditions and brutal beatings. Many are forced to work 16-20 hours each day assembling strands of Christmas lights. This is done without tools, causing their fingers and hands to bleed from threading the tiny wires through plastic holders and fitting in the plastic bulbs – with a quota of 5,000 bulbs per day.

If their work is not satisfactory, they are beaten and forced to re-do the work in addition to the next day’s quota.

This story is yet another good reason to shop fair trade so that we aren’t supporting these abuses, but it is also a powerful reminder. A popular verse at Christmas time is Isaiah 9:2 which reads,

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined.

During the Christmas season we love to celebrate the “light” of which this verse speaks, but the above story also compels us to remember the darkness. We live in a dark world where followers of Jesus continue to be persecuted and killed for their faith. And while we don’t like to think about such a somber topic during this season, the darkness is what makes the light so bright. And good.

So yes, celebrate and rejoice! It is good to remember the birth of Christ and to praise God with happy festivities and moments of quiet awe. But let’s also remember those who cannot celebrate so freely. Pray for your brothers and sisters this Christmas who are fighting the good fight in very dark places. When you see the lights on your tree, remember the light of Christ, but also remember the darkness that he came to conquer, as well as your own important role in that battle.

Over the years I’ve written a lot about the temptation to find comfort and release from shopping. When you’re having a bad day or feeling down on yourself, shopping can be an easy pick-me-up. In fact, it can be just as addictive as a drug. Shopping, clothes and outward appearance can all become idols upon which we depend for security and confidence. These indulgences can also prevent us from being generous with our money–you might want to give some money to that family at church whose house just burned down, unfortunately you just blew a ton of cash at the mall and now you don’t have any to spare. Shopping and materialism, though seemingly unrelated to the Christian faith, can have far-reaching consequences for our relationship with God.

What makes this idol so difficult to fight is that the mall is one of the last places I tend to think about God. When I walk into Target my brain immediately becomes absorbed in the plethora of goods before me, and the last thing on my mind is the state of my heart in relation to them. God gets pushed out of the thought process pretty quickly.

In light of this problem, I’ve continued to think about how to submit my spending habits to Christ. Of course one way to do this is to go cold-turkey. Just cut out going to stores altogether. But for me, the problem is not that I spend too much, or even all that often–the problem is my heart behind the spending. While there will be times when I have to buy things, how can I change my perspective on the whole process? How do I shop in a way that is Christian?

There are a number of possibilities, but one solution is to thoughtfully and prayerfully consider where your money is going when you spend it. What sorts of practices are you supporting? Is your money going to organizations that oppress their workers and the environment? If these questions matter at all to you, then it’s going to affect the way you shop.

As Ike and I have wrestled with these questions and the degree of our responsibility toward them, we’ve been considering buying more products that come from Fair Trade. You might have heard this term before but in case you’re unclear about what exactly it means, it is a system of trade that ensures the makers of a product are treated fairly, that they are paid adequately for their labor (rather than being exploited), that their working conditions are humane, that the rights of children are protected, and that the environment is well-stewarded. Put in Christian terms, Fair Trade is an extension of our call to respect the image of God in every human being and treat each person with dignity, protecting the weak from forces that might abuse and marginalize them. It is also an extension of our call to exercise good dominion over the earth.

Now before you accuse me of being a bleeding-heart tree hugger and immediately tune out, it’s important to remember that we live in a time unlike any other in history. Within the last century we have been completely disconnected from the makers of the products we buy. We don’t know who made our shirts or who grew our corn. Because of this disconnect, it’s easy to turn a blind eye to any injustices in the workplace, assuming that if we don’t know about it, our hands are clean.

I don’t think God will be so nonchalant. Consider these verses in Scripture about God’s views on trading fairly:

Proverbs 11:1–The LORD abhors dishonest scales, but accurate weights are his delight.

Proverbs 16:11–Honest scales and balances are from the LORD; all the weights in the bag are of his making.

Proverbs 20:10–Differing weights and differing measures— the LORD detests them both.

Proverbs 20:23–The LORD detests differing weights, and dishonest scales do not please him.

In case you’re wondering what’s up with God’s pre-occupation with weights and scales, they were an ancient means for determining the value of a product. The scales were meant to provide a uniform standard of value so that sellers would be paid fairly for their products, and buyers could trust they weren’t paying too much. However, a dishonest trader might fix the scale to his advantage, which is essentially stealing.

Notice how strong the language is in those verses. God isn’t simply displeased by economic injustice; He abhors it. From these verses we are reminded that God cares deeply about the way we shop. He cares about both the sellers and the buyers. He wants us to buy and sell in ways that reflect his character and treat others fairly. And that is the heart of Fair Trade. In a world that will pay Indian factory workers pennies for their labor, simply because we can, God has an opinion. And it is not a favorable one.

As Christians we need to consider where our money is going and whether it reflects the character of God. This reality adds a new dimension to how I think about shopping, and it challenges me to step outside that temptation and examine its larger implications. It’s not just about personal idolatry–it’s also about my responsibility toward other human beings and the world.

One family at our church tries to buy all their Christmas presents from Fair Trade sellers, and we’re thinking about trying that out ourselves this year! As I try to submit this area of my life to God, the values behind Fair Trade certainly give me some positive ways to fight the idol of shopping and conform my heart to Christ’s. I still have a lot to learn about Fair Trade (and I’m sure some of you reading this know a lot more than I do!) but Fair Trade certainly gives me some food for thought. It challenges me to be a good steward of my money, not only in what I buy and how much I spend, but where my money is going.

*In case you’re interested in your Fair Trade shopping options, just Google it. You’ll find lots of local retail stores, as well as on-line makers of clothing, accessories, home decor, etc.

This weekend Ike and I attended three (count em, THREE) different churches! It was crazy! We’re trying to check out as many churches as possible so that we can choose one and settle down quickly. It was pretty insane, but it was also really good. Every church we visited was really terrific! We met a lot of wonderful people and there’s a part of me that hates that we can’t go to all of their churches. It’ll be sad to turn some down. Gosh, it’s kind of like we’re on “The Bachelor” for churches!

One particular church that stood out to me was a campus of Willow Creek called North Shore. The worship was great and the sermon was incredible, but that’s not what I’ll remember most. As a part of their time for announcements, they had a Q&A time with a staff person from Shared Hope International who talked about fighting the practice of human trafficking. As their website explains, Shared Hope “exists to rescue and restore women and children in crisis. We are leaders in a worldwide effort to prevent and eradicate sex trafficking and slavery through education and public awareness.”

I don’t know about you, but it’s only in the last couple of years that I’ve been made aware of this problem. Before then, I assumed slavery was a relic of the past, an ugly artifact of our nation’s history. I didn’t think it was around anymore. And I especially didn’t think it existed here in the U.S. This morning I learned that between 100,000 and 300,000 American children are currently enslaved in the human trafficking industry. This statistic does not, by the way, account for all the children shipped into the U.S. from abroad. I also learned that 1 in 5 pornographic images are of minors. The industry is obviously alive and well in the States!

After being bowled over by these stats, I went home and did a little more research. According to the Polaris Project,

• It is estimated that there are around 27 million individuals currently enslaved by the human trafficking industry worldwide.
• Of those, 1 million children are exploited by this practice each year
• The average age for entering prostitution is 12 to 14

This last statistic is an important one. Our speaker made a point about the importance of our language in speaking about this issue. It is common to see an article that includes a description of a “12 year old prostitute” as if she somehow chose the profession. Clearly, 12 years olds do not choose prostitution–they are forced into it. So rather than hear a similar story and conclude from it, “Oh the kids are just getting wilder and wilder these days!” it’s important to see through that language–the child was probably kidnapped or sold off. Child prostitutes are victims, and our advocacy for them begins with using the appropriate language.

Human trafficking is an insidious sin. It’s hard to understand the mind of a man who would go to such dark and dirty lengths for sex, but it’s very much present in our culture. How, then, are we to respond?

Unfortunately there aren’t that many volunteer options for men. Given the sensitive nature of the situation, men can’t do a whole lot in the way of working with these women. However, they can advocate and raise money for the cause. And more importantly, they can challenge other men to stand up and fight this practice.   The demographic that is fueling this industry is men, so the ultimate solution should begin with men.

For women, it’s a little bit easier to find a way to get involved. I found one website, HumanTrafficking.org that lists various service opportunities and organizations, such as volunteering at a home for rescued girls. I’m looking into volunteering at one here in the Chicago area.

Slavery is literally happening in our backyards. It is right under our noses. We drive the same routes as human traffickers when we go to the beach or drive to another state. With such an evil industry flourishing so close by, it’s hard to sit still and do nothing. I pray God will raise up more and more Christians to fight this war and rescue the innocent victims from it.

In the last couple of weeks I have encountered two different Christian arguments against interracial marriage that have left me feeling extremely unsettled. One was a random website that I happened upon by accident, but the other was a story on national radio about a black man who wasn’t allowed to date a white woman because her father, a pastor, said the Bible forbade it. It may have been a coincidence that these two encounters happened within such a short period of time, but as a Christian with a voice I cannot stand by and say nothing. This isn’t simply about racism but the character of God and the nature of His Gospel. That said, in the event that you ever come across one of these bunk arguments yourself, here is a brief look at what the Bible REALLY says about this issue.

Objection #1: God Wants to Keep the Race Pure

One of the arguments against interracial marriage is based upon verses such as Deut. 7:1-4 or Genesis 28:1–”So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him and commanded him: “Do not marry a Canaanite woman.” Throughout the history of the church, Canaanites have been commonly associated with people of African descent, thus fueling the interpretations leveled against interracial marriage. I’ll explain more about this in my next point, but for this point’s purposes it is true that throughout the Old Testament, God’s people are not only warned against marrying Canaanites, but they are cautioned against marrying anyone outside the group.

Why? Is God trying to keep the race pure?

That is what some errant interpreters would have you think, but that is not the reason. The reason God warns against marrying Canaanites, or anyone people group that does not follow God, is that it always leads to idolatry. Inter-religious marriages always led to the diluting of the faith. Marriage meant religious compromise, and this happened all the time in the Old Testament. Whenever an Israelite king married outside the faith, his reign was inevitably marked by idol worship. Where your heart is, so your lifestyle will follow, and that was the spirit behind these commands. God wasn’t worried about racial purity but spiritual purity. Nowhere is this stated more clearly than 1 Kings 11:1-2:

King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites.  They were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.”

Unfortunately, Solomon did not heed this command, as we learn in the verses that follow:

Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been. He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the LORD; he did not follow the LORD completely, as David his father had done. (v. 2-6)

What does this mean today? It means that while many today are still concerned with outward appearance, “the LORD looks at the heart,” (1 Sam. 16:7) and so should we. God’s heart has always been for the nations, not just one particular race (Isa. 51:4), and His desire is that all nations know Him and love Him. So when it comes to marriage, the color of a person’s skin makes no difference at all–it is whether they love the Lord that counts.

Objection #2: The Curse of Ham

This brings us back to what I mentioned above concerning the Canaanites. One of the chief misinterpretations driving slavery and racism throughout the history of the church has been the story of Noah’s son, Ham. In Genesis 9, Noah and his family had survived the flood and all seemed to be well and good. Unfortunately, there was a strange incident involving Noah and Ham in which Noah got drunk on wine and passed out naked in his tent. Later that day, Ham wandered into the tent, saw his father’s nakedness, and went to tell his brothers. In response, the brothers found a garment to cover Noah, and then walked in backwards so as not to see him. Once Noah came to and realized what had happened, he cursed Ham and his son, Canaan, for his dishonorable actions.

There has been a lot of debate about why Noah’s response was so severe. It is not altogether clear what is meant by the phrase “saw his father’s nakedness,” and some have speculated that it may refer to a type of unspecified sexual offense. But whatever happened that day, Ham and his descendants would forever be adversaries of God’s people, and this curse has been used to justify a great deal of evil against the supposed descendants of Ham.

What does any of this have to do with interracial marriage? There are some who cite the curse on Ham as evidence that God opposes interracial marriage. Where does this conclusion come from? As far as I’m concerned, thin air. I’ve honestly struggled to understand where on earth this interpretation comes from because it is beyond clear that the curse was related to Ham’s transgression against Noah, and had nothing to do with his race or who he married. What’s more, Noah also cursed Canaan, but  it was Ham’s son, Cush, who settled in Africa, not Canaan. And finally, neither Noah, nor his sons, were even white! They all lived in the Middle East and probably looked more like Iraqis than Americans. There is not a shred of evidence in this story that God opposed interracial marriage. It may somehow be rooted in the racist belief that white people should not marry the descendants of Ham because of the curse, but the logic would have to be so convoluted as to reveal a clear agenda at work.

In summary, there is absolutely no grounding whatsoever in the Bible to oppose interracial marriage. Those who twist the Bible to interpret it that way are simply perverting Scripture to fit their pre-existing racist beliefs. As far as God is concerned, there are only two types of people–those who love God, and those who don’t. Skin color is irrelevant, and to place such an emphasis on race is to overshadow God’s plan of salvation for the world.

Indeed, it is very difficult to hear people take Scripture and abuse it for such evil agendas, but before we look down on these people in judgment, it’s important to remember that that is why Jesus had to die. We live in a world so hopelessly broken that even Christ’s message of love, peace, and redemption can be skewed to promote hate. When we hear the Bible hijacked in the name of evil, we must certainly speak up, but let us also be reminded that that is the exact reason we all need a Savior.

At the risk of receiving nasty comments, today I am posting John Piper’s response to the backlash against President Obama’s address to our nation’s students. This is an issue that has truly befuddled me (and no, I am not trying to start a debate here so please don’t start one), so amidst all the firestorm of shouting and mud-slinging, I was refreshed to hear a different kind of voice reminding us that we serve an all-powerful redeemer God who can use our President’s words for great good in this country.

I am also convicted by how little I actually pray for that to happen.

_________

John Piper: I Hope My Daughter Hears The President’s Speech

I am stunned at the outcry against the President of the United States  speaking to the youth of this nation about the importance of education.

I am embarrassed by the governor of my home state saying, that the president’s plan to address them is “disruptive . . . uninvited . . . and number three . . . I don’t think he needs to force it upon the nation’s school children.”

This speech seems, for me, to be an answer to a prayer that I have prayed for the president repeatedly.

Father, the condition of our schools and families is so broken that nothing seems to be working, especially for the poor in our urban centers. Help our president to have the courage to use his amazing place of influence to speak into this situation in such a way that boys and girls would take their studies seriously and put school above sport and homework above hiphop and graduation above gangs.

And as the President plans his speech, help him to feel as helpless as he really is to meet the greatest needs of the children, so that he turns to Jesus who alone has the answer for the ruin and the wrongs of our cities. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

I hope my daughter hears the speech.