Bringin the Gospel to the Ghetto

"I'm afraid to die."

That came out of the mouth of a 10-year-old little girl named Kayla that I met doing Vacation Bible School in Washington, D.C. last week.

Kayla is about to be a fifth grader. Fifth graders should NOT be worrying about dying.

But in Kayla's neighborhood - a ghetto just outside of D.C. - dying is a reality.

My group of fifth graders for the week; Kayla is in the middle with the white bow

This place in DC was truly dangerous. And I was not just a frightened Southern Belle exaggerating the situation.

• One boy saw an old man killed: two teenagers had asked the old man for cigarettes but the man lied, saying he didn't have any so when he turned his back, they stabbed him... just for some smokes.
• A local lady who worked in the neighborhood told us the first day as we were handing out flyers that we should NOT walk around there, that it was too dangerous and even she ran to her car every day when she left work. (Despite this, many of these children walked home alone because their parents never came to pick them up.)
• A man who worked with the center where we held the VBS told us that statistics show most of the children in that neighborhood - most of the kids we met at our VBS - would NOT LIVE TO BE 18. 

And these kids know that.

Kayla knows that.

Death is a reality for them.

They grow up losing family members. They don't make many friends because they lose those too.

Most depressing: they don't have dreams because they probably figure they'll lose those as well. Most kids have the cliche dreams of growing up to be a firefighter, a ballerina, a singer, etc. These kids in D.C. did not know what they wanted to be. They had not let their minds wander that far down the road. They did not have anyone in their lives encouraging them to think that far into the future.

So I tried to.

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

                                                                                                       - Jeremiah 29:11

But they could not grasp the concept of hope.

They. Had. No. Hope.

They did, however, have HURT.

Every single one of my 10 year olds had been hit or hit someone within the previous month.

When I suggested they hug instead of hit they looked at me as though I were crazy. BUT, I understand why: I come from a different culture. I come from a place where neighborhoods are safe, where people don't die for a pack of cigarettes. I have never hit anyone (other than my brother.... but siblings are kinda a given, right?).

Still, I was hoping they could understand the concepts of mercy, forgiveness, and love:

"But you are a God of forgiveness, gracious and merciful, slow to become angry, and rich in unfailing love."

                                                                                        - Nehemiah 9:17

Ultimately, though, these children were angry. They were afraid.

They have lived a hard life and, according to statistics and stories, most of their lives will be cut short. So, like Kayla, they are afraid to die.

In a last ditch effort to give them some hope in a way they could grasp it, I told them

how NOT to be afraid to die: heaven.

I told them about heaven being a place full of love and laughter where they could be safe and surrounded by friends and family who believed in Jesus WHERE THERE WAS NO HURT. And that they could get there by asking Jesus into their heart.


That broke MY heart.

The best that I could offer them beyond the free meals and hugs for a week was a better view on death:

"He [God] will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever."

                                                                                 - Revelation 21:4

"There he will remove the cloud of gloom, the shadow of death that hangs over the earth. He will swallow up death forever! The Sovereign Lord will wipe away all tears."

                                                                                  - Isaiah 25:7-8

______________________________________________________

Through my heartbreak of bringin' the Gospel to the ghetto, I realized I am living in a bubble.

A bubble of comfort.
A bubble of blindness to others suffering.
A bubble of limitation on my Christianity. 

This mission trip BURST MY BUBBLE.

And I am sooooooo grateful for that because before this trip I was not doing this: 

"Give justice to the poor and the orphan; uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute. Rescue the poor and helpless; deliver them from the grasp of evil people."

                                                                                        - Psalm 82:3-4

"Jesus answered, If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

                                                                                       - Matthew 19:21

"If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth."

                                                                                           - 1 John 3:17-18

Those are only a few of many verses that call for Christians to care for the poor.

I hope reading them - and perhaps even this post - helped to burst your bubble of comfort and blindness and limitation.

"Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow." [whether it is in D.C., on the other side of the world or in your own neighborhood.]

                                                                                       - Isaiah 1:17 

Doubting Thomas Got a Bad Rap

Doubting Thomas got a bad rap: the one who didn't immediately believe; the one who questioned.

He had one weak moment: ²⁵So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it." (John 20:25).

Recently, I really related to Thomas. I was doubting.

Have you ever wanted proof? Evidence? A visible sign?

I know I was really craving it. I needed to see the nail marks.

Fortunately, they appeared.

Friend after friend shared with me precisely what I needed to hear. Devotions spoke directly to my situation. My pastor's sermon seemed as though it had to have been written specifically for me and my doubt. Mentors linked me to unbelievably appropriate sites or documents that answered my questions; One guy even sent me a document defending Paul written by a female Baptist preacher who is also a professor and a feminist!?!

Yes, I was seeing the nail marks. My doubts were fading. My faith was strengthening.


That is why I could connect with the story of Thomas.

Doubting Thomas got a bad rap.

It has been cemented into society's mind through the stereotype of a "doubting Thomas" and through art, even through music.

One of my favorite songs is called "Doubting Thomas" by Nickel Creek.

The lyrics are so great and, with my recent struggles in Women and Religion, one line especially resonated with me:

Can I be used to help others find truth, (particularly leading a Bible study!)
When I'm scared I'll find proof that its a lie

This was precisely my concern: I was afraid that I would learn my way out of my religion. 

But, the opposite has happened.

Just. Like. Thomas.

²⁶A week later his [Jesus'] disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" ²⁷Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."

 ²⁸Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:26-28)

 According to Dr. Ralph Wilson, "Thomas, 'Doubting Thomas,' as he is sometimes called, is the first disciple to put into words the truth that Jesus is both Lord and God. 

"'Doubting Thomas' utters the greatest confession of faith recorded anywhere in the Bible." 

How awesome and encouraging is that?

Again, Doubting Thomas got a bad rap.

Something else I find encouraging is NOT written in the Bible. Yep. It isn't written in there.

But society has written it in there - An extra verse that doesn't actually exist.

If you look at the art and talk to people (believers and nonbelievers) they will likely tell you that Thomas touched the nail marks.

That, however, is NOT written in the Bible.

The Bible goes straight from verse 27 where Jesus tells Thomas to "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe" into verse 28 where Thomas declares his belief: "My Lord and my God!"

No verse 27.5 exists saying that Thomas touched the nail marks.

Maybe he did, maybe he didn't.

Either way, we cannot. I cannot.

As a result, I choose to believe that Thomas did not. Then, just like him, we can sense the presence of Jesus moving among us and then proclaim our faith... even if we can't reach out and touch the nail marks.

Verse 29 further clarifies that faith is possible without having the exact proof or evidence or nail marks to touch: ²⁹Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."(John 20:29)

That is how Jesus ends it: he acknowledges that Thomas has believed.

Why don't we acknowledge that?

Doubting Thomas got a bad rap. 

We should look up to him - especially in our time of doubting and questioning - as the one who strengthened his faith and became Believing Thomas.

Jesus IS different: a feminist's take on Jesus and gender roles

Oil is to water as feminist is to church.

Or so many people assume, especially in the South.

That, however, is not true - at least in my case - because of JESUS.

Yes, churches may have a problem or at least a discomfort with feminists but, I don't think Jesus would have. Jesus was different. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if Jesus even identified as a feminist.

In a society where "a woman's social position was on the same level as that of children and slaves... [where] a woman's fortune was entirely tied to that of her husband [where] Boys went to school - girls didn't - which only perpetuated a system that limited women to hearth and home" (p 178), Jesus was different.  Back in Biblical times, Jesus approached women, spoke with them, taught them, traveled with them, loved and respected them.

"When women called [Jesus] 'Savior,' they may have been speaking of the temporal as well as the spiritual world" (p 175).

"Of course, each woman would have an individual response to Jesus, but judging from what we know of their surroundings, many women certainly had a positive one. Scattered throughout the Gospels are stories similar to that of the jug-bearing Samaritan woman [the woman at the well, John 4:4-42], where the female object of Jesus's attention is at first incredulous, then surprised, then excited to be addressed as an equal by such a compassionate and obviously learned man. Invariably, the stories end with the woman returning to her place of origin to share the message with her counterparts - as with the healing of Jarius's daughter in Matthew 9:18-26, when 'the report of this spread throughout the district.' In that healing as in so many others involving women, Jesus intentionally highlighted their plight" (p 174).

Jesus was different. 


"Besides the obvious benefits of physical healing, how much of the good news that the women seemed so anxious to share centered on their acceptance as disciples on a par with Jesus's male followers?... Maybe Jesus's women are, instead, reacting positively to a spiritual leader who is talking to them face-to-face and giving them access to knowledge that up to then they had not possessed" (p 175).

Jesus was different. 


"Here was a man who was preaching and teaching and living a life of equality in a world sharply defined by gender roles. Here was a man who insisted on conversation with people whom society had rendered invisible - the women, the sick, the poor. How much more powerful was his message when he spoke to a poor, sick woman?" (p 176).

Jesus was very different. 


"But Mosaic law [as in, the law of Moses... i.e. the 10 Commandments and such] contained some fairly restrictive rules in regard to women, in particular in regard to their menstruation. If the original law was devoted more to cleanliness and health - as were dietary laws - than to the cultural restriction of women, there is some thought that this law was reinforced by bodies of writing such the Mishnah, the first recording of the Oral Torah, in part to quell the growing equality fostered by early Christianity [my emphasis added]. In other words, the older law was in place in no small part to help ensure the physical safety of the Jews. As early Christianity and its message of oneness between the genders gained a toehold and then a foothold in ancient Mediterranean society, subsequent Jewish writings came down harder on restricting the movement and lives of females, which was hardly the laws' original intent" (p 178-79).

Hopefully you have caught on by now but, I shall say it again: Jesus was different. He did not get hung up on those older, tedious laws. He also did not repress women with their lineage - to Eve or otherwise.

"Never once is it recorded that Jesus reminded a woman - as Jewish law did - that she was the daughter of Eve, nor did he hint that women were responsible for any sin other than their own. It simply was not an issue for him, and that must have been a freeing thing for women of that time to hear" (p181).

The wonderful thing is that it STILL is a freeing thing for women of THIS time to hear.


Jesus IS different. 


Yes, some churches may cherry pick certain verses to maintain society's gender roles but, clearly, Jesus did not see a need for that separation: "There is no longer Jew nor Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus" - Galatians 3:28

Nonetheless, "writer after writer uses the Bible as the key tool against women's emancipation. With no thought to context, certain members of today's churches repeat the (misinterpreted) canard that women are to keep silent in the assembly, and that women are not to usurp authority over a man. Those same elect point to commonly held historical interpretations of the sacred text that wrongly insist there were no female apostles or early church leaders [um, hello, not only Mary Magdalene, Mary, Martha, but also Phoebe, Nympha, etc.] The role of women has been deleted or greatly discounted in subsequent retellings of the biblical stories... and far too much trust placed in the hands of unseen and unknown authors from long ago [likely influenced by that gender-role-requiring society]. The same rigorous scrutiny one would bring to, say, a new insurance policy is not practiced in regard to the Bible.

"Only by looking at the data as a whole can we come to understand Jesus and his honest and historical approach to gender. And then perhaps we, too, can respond as Martha did, with a resounding and matter-of-fact confession that Jesus is Christ, and his message applies equally to all of us" (p 183).

Thank God that Jesus was and IS different from society in how he treats women. 

"Yes, Lord," she told him, "I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who has come into the world."

                                                 - Martha, John 11:27


NOTE:

Excerpts in this blog were taken from Chapter 10: Water Jugs in the book Dating Jesus: a story of Fundamentalism, Feminism, and the American Girl by Susan Campbell. The author, pushed away from Christianity by a rigorous and extreme Fundamentalist upbringing, is no longer a regular church attendee, but she is still "dating Jesus." This was a childhood notion she had that has stuck with her well into adulthood and the inspiration for her book. She clearly knows her stuff and was full of facts and references as well as humor if you'd like to read the book.

Also, the somewhat odd title of her chapter (Water Jugs) is a reference to women: "Throughout history, says feminist theologian Elisabeth Moltman-Wendel, water jugs have been a symbol associated with women. Women of significance in the Bible are often portrayed either holding a water jug or container or in close proximity to one. Abraham straps a water container onto Hagar's shoulder before he sends her wandering with her son in Genesis 21:14. Rebekah lets Abraham's servant drink from her jar in Genesis 24, and opens up a whole can of worms with Isaac. You get the idea. You see a woman, and a water container is most likely somewhere nearby" (p 170-71).

Oops, my Bible Blunder - an awkward update

In keeping with my recent scripture theme, I have a bit of an awkward update.

It is much more light-hearted than my two previous posts and made me laugh so I thought I would share it.

I know it has already been established that I am single, but I don't believe I have yet mentioned that I am bad with numbers and also a Bible study leader. Those are key points to my story...

My Bible Blunder:

I have a new phone and a new phone plan that allows for mass-text messages. Since this upgrade, I have overindulged myself - and possibly annoyed friends and family - with these mass picture/text messages.

Sometimes these messages are practical, like alerting everyone in a group dinner date about what time to meet, etc.

More often than not, however, they are random messages like when I sent out a picture of a very large penis on the projector in my Human Sexuality class one day; I attached a message saying "Look what I walked into for class; just thought I would share the love ;)"

NOTE: I did not send that one to my Bible study girls!

My Bible blunder involved one of these random mass messages.

After reading a lovely devotional about God as love, I thought I would share the scripture with others, including girls that I lead in my Bible study and also my mother.

This is the verse I thought I texted to everyone:

"We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in him. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them."
- 1 John 4:16

Isn't that beautiful? As a hopeless romantic, I thought it was.

This would have been a very sweet, Southern Belle kind of message to send out.

Sadly, that is NOT what I sent out in my message. I am bad with numbers and often mix them up or even occasionally forget them altogether.

This time I forgot a number, a very key number.

I left off the number 1.

As a result, I sent a mass message saying "I love you and so does God. John 4:16."

That verse reads:

"'Go and get your husband,' Jesus told her."

Yes, indeed. It seems the Feminist in me might have made a bit of a Freudian slip on that one ;)

Jesus and Women - more thoughts on John 20

Back to that scripture from the previous post, I would like to point out a couple other things:

1) Mary was the first one at the tomb very early ("while it was still dark") the next morning; (verse 1).

2) After seeing the empty tomb, the disciples went home (verse 10) but she stayed (verse 11).

Clearly Mary Magdalene was devoted to Jesus. So were several other women.

Ann Spangler and Jean E. Syswerda's book Women of the Bible has a chapter on Mary Magdalene. In that chapter, p. 399 details "Women in Jesus' Life and Ministry."

This opened my eyes to something I, even as a feminist, had overlooked: women were invaluable in Jesus' ministry.

I have always heard of the 12 disciples and hoped I could be like them, dropping everything I had to go and follow Jesus, to help him. Well, they could not have done that without women.

As "Women in Jesus' Life and Ministry" pointed out:

"[S]everal women stepped outside the cultural expectations of their time to play a significant role in the ministry of Jesus. Only the twelve disciples are mentioned more often than certain women, Mary Magdalene being one of them. Mark tells us that a number of women 'followed him [Jesus] and cared for his needs ' (Mark 15:41).

"During the years of Jesus' ministry, when he and his disciples weren't earning an income, several women stepped in to care for them. They used their own financial resources to support Jesus and the disciples (Luke 8:3). While Jesus was teaching and healing, these women probably spent their time purchasing food, preparing it, and serving it. Perhaps they also found homes for Jesus and his disciples to stay in while on their travels...

"Two women in Bethany, Mary and Martha always generously opened their home to Jesus when he was in their town, providing meals and a place to rest (Luke 10:38). Jesus was close enough to these women... that he called them his friends (John 11:11)...

"Women watched Jesus suffer on the cross, remaining there until he had breathed his last and was buried. Women were the first to go to the tomb on Sunday morning and the first to witness the Resurrection. Luke's gospel in particular portrays Jesus as someone who both understood and respected women, conferring on them a stature that most of them had not previously enjoyed."

These women facilitated the works of Jesus and his disciples by caring for them. They did not even do anything radical to do it; they simply fulfilled their roles as women as fully and selflessly as possible. I have never seen or heard credit given to them for this service to Jesus and the early spread of Christianity but I think they deserve it.

So I point this out to you in hopes that it has opened your eyes and that you will share it with others. Open their eyes as well to the way women helped Jesus and how Jesus respected them.

And you say women shouldn't preach?

¹ Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. ² She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

³ Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. ⁴ They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵ He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, ⁷ while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings. ⁸ Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed—⁹ for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead. ¹⁰ Then they went home.

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

¹¹ Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. ¹² She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. ¹³ “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her.

“Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”

¹⁴ She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him. ¹⁵ “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?”

She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”

¹⁶ “Mary!” Jesus said.

She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”).

¹⁷ “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

¹⁸ Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his message.

John 20: 1-18

In this passage:

1) Jesus does not at first reveal his identity. Instead, he asks Mary Magdalene why she is crying and who she is looking for rather than bursting in and exclaiming his presence (verse 15).

2) Then Jesus announces his resurrection to Mary Magdalene, a woman (verse 17).

3) Mary not only shares the good news (verse 18) but Jesus specifically tells her to spread the news that he had risen (verse 17).

Is preaching not, in its most basic form, sharing the good news?

Mary Magdalene clearly did this. In fact, Jesus told her to.

Thus, I believe that society may have laid out the standard that only men should preach but I try to live by W.W.J.D. (what would Jesus do?). I think this passage pretty clearly points out that he would support women preaching.