How To Get Outside of Yourself

I like introspection, but this blog post won't be on introspection.

A while ago, I was discussing with my husband that people don't do tough introspection like I thought Christians should be regularly doing. My fabulous husband brought up a point that I hadn't considered in this conversation before. He said that the lack of introspection isn't the first thing that should be addressed. The root issue is humans are inherently selfish. If a selfish person is taught how to do introspection, they won't get out of it what they should because their focus is skewed. He warned me that if vain or arrogant people try to practice introspection, they won't see their flaws. He told me that we first need to do "extrospection". We need to get outside of ourselves to connect with others who are different or struggling. Then our "first world problems" will seem to diminish and shrink as we see others and experience what they go through.

And that is what will hold the proverbial mirror up to ourselves. We see someone struggling with hunger and we realize that we have been complaining that we don't prefer this snack in our overflowing pantry.

Knowing others and participating in their struggles expands our world. It keeps us from focusing on just ourselves as we begin to focus on something greater than ourselves.

Statistics and facts don't change people. Stories and experiences change people. Stories & experiences make things personal and touch our God-given compassion.

Ways to Get Outside of Yourself

I challenge you to read a variety of books if your area isn't as ethnically diverse (and even if it is).
Read stories by people of other ethnicities and cultures.
Read stories that challenge us with a radical faith, love, forgiveness, and obedience.
Read stories that will encourage us to make these radical traits common in the Church.

Meet people from other cultures and ethnicities. Listen more than you talk. Ask them sincere questions and seek to learn. Go on mission trips and see how God is working in other cultures. Form friendships and open your homes.

Through my travels, I have directly been to Jamaica, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Chicago, California, Indiana, Florida, Texas, and Mexico.

I have had students and made friends from India, Taiwan, China, Sudan, Somalia, Mexico, Guatemala, Myanmar/Burma, Thailand, Chile, Brazil, Eritria, Cyprus, Iran, D.R. Congo, and more places. So when I read about world events, I know people from the places being written about. When a new law comes out that impacts refugees and immigrants, it's not a theoretical law that has no bearing on my life, even though I am a native born US citizen. I know some of their hopes, dreams, and fears. And so what effects them effects me too.

Join in places and events when you are the minority. Worship in another language or culture.

Get outside of yourself, because it's not about you.

Responding to the Border Crisis in a Christ-Like Way

I've been following the crisis at the border pretty closely. After all, Lucas and I spent four years working with refugees and immigrants in the panhandle of Texas.

The border crisis is incredibly complex, and it stirs up a lot of different emotions in people.

The first emotion that I feel in response to the border crisis is anger.
I am angered by how the asylum-seekers at our border are being treated. I am infuriated at the unloving and apathetic response of the Church. 

It's easier to walk around angry, but if I am honest and vulnerable, I am really, underneath the anger, deeply and profoundly saddened both by this crisis and the church's lack of compassion. I am saddened that our country has justified the inhumane treatment of people (men, women, boys, and girls) because of the breaking of a law. Breaking laws should have consequences, but humane ones. I am grieved that the Church is largely silent on this topic. Just like it was silent during the civil rights era in the 1960s. Just like it was silent during the internment of Japanese-Americans in the 1940s. Just like it was silent when persecuted Jews in Europe applied to get into the US and we turned them away because we valued our safety more than their lives in the1940s.

Earlier this week, I was reading an article on this topic and a sentence jumped out at me: "The children told the lawyers they were given the same meals every day — instant oats for breakfast, instant noodles for lunch, a frozen burrito for dinner, along with a few cookies and juice packets — which many said was not enough." You can read the full article here.

As I read this article, I had some tough questions run through my mind:
-Can you imagine your elementary, middle, or high school student being satisfied with this as their daily calories? -What will the lack of vegetables & milk do to their growing bodies? 
-Are the juice packets 100% juice or "juice drinks" that are just a flavored sugar-water "juice drink"?

-How would Jesus respond to this crisis at our border?
-What would Jesus expect for His Church to be doing?

I must do something in response to this poor treatment of children. I am compelled to act. And so I wanted to protest this unjust government policy, by joining these children in their meals, by eating similar things to them. But as I started to think through the logistics, I realized that A) I do need to eat fruits, veggies, & dairy in order to stay healthy and B) No one would care about one person changing their diet in protest.

My next thought was to do this for a day. And during that day, this would be my response:
*When I am hungry, I will pray for them.
*When my food budget goes unspent, I will donate to a Christian ministry reaching out to these children. 
*When I am done with these meager portions, I will spend my remaining mealtime in dropping a message to the elected officials who represent my area & my voice will be heard. 
*But most importantly, I will add my voice crying out to the King of Kings, who loves the people in overcrowded facilities, just as much as He loves the elected officials who should be making thoughtful and humane policies and as much as He loves those who serve Him as His Church.

And so, I will pray for the children, the aslyum-seekers, the workers, and the law-makers involved in this situation.
I will donate to Christian organizations to minister to those on the margins of multiple societies.
I will let my elected officials know that their political posturing is hurting children and that is unacceptable.
I will ask the Lord of Lords how He expects me to respond and I will obey.

Who Will You Obey?

I think it's safe to say that the world is a mess. It is divided, angry, hurting, and full of hate. We can easily tune into the world's message by listening to and reading the news, or even just getting on social media. We don't have to look far to encounter the undercurrent of fear that has become common in our daily lives.

We hear the world's message because we have access to technology, but God doesn't write a blog or send out tweets, so we haven't been paying His message and His teachings their due.

But amidst the white noise of the world's fear and hate, I can faintly hear my Savior speaking and we not only need to listen to Him, we need to start living out His teachings once more.

"I was a stranger and you welcomed me." (Matthew 25:35)
"I was hungry and you fed me." (Matthew 25:35)
"I was thirsty and you gave me water." (Matthew 25:35)
"I was sick and imprisoned, and you visited me." (Matthew 25:36)
"Let the little children come." (Matthew 19:14)
"Love the foreigners for you were foreigners." (Deuteronomy 10:19)
"You are Christ's ambassadors." (2 Corinthians 5:20)
"Our battle is not against flesh and blood." (Ephesians 6:12)
"Love your enemies." (Matthew 5:44)
"Pray for your persecutors." (Matthew 5:44)
"Our citizenship is in heaven." (Philippians 3:20)
"Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." (Joshua 1:9)

The world mocks, scoffs, and tries to drown out these teachings. It tries to convince us that trusting in "chariots and horses" is godly after all, but this is a lie.
The. World. Is. Wrong.
People are scared. That is understandable. The world seems to be a scary, strange, chaotic place.

We are not acting out of love for one another. We have been acting out of fear for far too long.
Leaders are making decisions out of fear. Historically, this leads to actions that our descendants are ashamed of.
People are scared, so they lash out. Other people are hurt and scared, so they lash out, and a cycle is born.

Can reaching out in love break this cycle? The Bible seems to think so. Yes, I'll admit that loving someone who hates us won't fix things overnight, but this is the path that we, as Christians, as called to walk. To the non-believing world, it doesn't make sense to lower our guard and reach out to others in love. It may not even make sense to us in the Church, but the thing is, God didn't invite us to edit the Bible to make it more palatable for our culture. He called us to obey, even when our culture is shouting that God's way will fail.

"For I was a stranger and you welcome me in." (Matthew 25:35) Jesus didn't promise safety and security when we welcomed the stranger. He didn't promise that it would be easy or convenient. But He did call for us to welcome the stranger in our midst. We can form friendships across cultures, even when our world says that it will fail.

The world is calling for us to react in fear.
Jesus is teaching us to love others in spite of our fears.
Who will you obey?