Chapter 1

“The Good News About Injustice” by Gary Haugen

I have decided that all further blogging by myself must include an aspect of how I can know God better as a result of whatever I'm talking about. Otherwise what's the point?

In the preface, Gary mentioned being enormously grateful for his childhood life in an American suburb. He was well cared for and far from most dangerous situations. This I can relate to very well. It's not as though I knew no pain whatsoever, but compared to many dangerous places in the world, I was incredibly protected, and I consider that a huge blessing in my life.

In chapter 1 however, Gary begins to describe one consequence of such a life. In 1994, news of the Rwandan genocide began to come out and was widely reported in the American media. I believe Gary's (and other's) reaction shows that there is a problem with all of this safety and security. Gary described his reception to the news in the following way:

“But like most of the great ugliness transmitted by TV across the world and into my living room, the terror in Rwanda just did not seem real. It seemed true, but not real – not to me. I did not dispute the accuracy of the reports, but they might as well have been pictures from Sojourner on Mars, or reports about people who lived in ancient Rome, or statistics about how many bazillion other solar systems are in the Milky Way – all true enough, but not real. Not real like my kids when they are sick, not real like my job when I am behind in my work, not real like my neighbors when one of them has been in a car accident, not even real like my Midwestern compatriots when they have been flooded out of their homes.”

The problem with safety is that it numbs us to the pain of those who do not live in this safety. There are very few in this world who would actively defend the actions of the Rwandan murderers. The problem is not that people were running to the defense of the murderers, but that as Gary puts it, the whole situation “just did not seem real.”

Gary's job pulled him out of this isolation. He was put on loan by the U.S. Dept. of Justice to the U.N. to help conduct the investigation. He spent several weeks in the fall of 1994 digging up mass graves, sifting through their contents, and interviewing survivors. There is no way that I could relay these stories in a meaningful way. You really should read it yourself. Suffice to say, the event suddenly became real for him.

Gary was especially struck by the strength and joy he found in the survivors. I don't think anyone would be surprised or would have blamed them for anything had these people come out of that kind of awful experience depressed and shell shocked. I don't know what kind of grit it must take to move on from witnessing such brutal violence, themselves being victims of it as well. I think perhaps there is a special kind of strength that can only develop when pressed into such extreme circumstances.

I know exactly what Gary means when he talks about how the events did not seem real to him when viewed on the news. I don't really know what it means when he describes his feelings as the events became real to him through his time in Rwanda with the survivors. How can I? I haven't been through that kind of experience, however I feel compelled that I must care for these kinds of things in some kind of meaningful way, regardless of my current lack of practical realization.

One problem I face though is that there are awful things happening in the news every day. I am only one person. None of us can focus on these terrible things all the time or exclusively, nor would that be healthy. This cannot excuse us from caring at all, however, as I am where I am, it is very tiring to care for even a few. It is not my job to fix all the problems in the world, nor am I able to, but I tend to get worn out just thinking about it because I have no personal relation to these events. No matter how hard I try, I cannot relate to people halfway around the world in the same way that I can relate to my friends and neighbors. I have a hard time caring deeply about these things because I don't know any of the victims personally. It sounds harsh but there it is. Out of sight, out of mind. In this safety and disconnectedness, there is something we miss. Thus, the danger of safety: If we stay isolated from awfulness and tragedies, and never experience anything like them, then I think we will never know that incredible strength and joy that can only come out of such terrible things either. I do not mean that we should seek out pain and suffering for ourselves or those we love, but from what little I know of things, when I share in the pain of someone else, I also share in the joy and strength that can come out of it.

Anyway, Gary no longer had any questions like “what does this have to do with me?”. And neither should we.

“The LORD tests, the righteous and the wicked, and the one who loves violence His soul hates...For the LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness. The upright will behold His face.” Psalm 11:5,7

And others like it:

Psalm 72:12-14

Psalm 45:6

Psalm 10:8-18

There are many more. I have been astonished at how many there are about our Lord loving justice and righteousness. But there is another side also:

“Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean. Remove the evil of your deeds from my sight. Cease to do evil. Learn to do good. Seek justice, reprove the ruthless, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.”

Isaiah 1:16-17

“Yes, truth is lacking. And he who turns aside from evil makes himself a prey. Now the LORD saw, and it was displeasing in His sight that there was no justice. And He saw that there was no man, and was astonished that there was no one to intercede. Then His own arm brought salvation to Him, and His righteousness upheld him.”

Isaiah 59:15-16

“There is a conspiracy of her prophets in her midst like a roaring lion tearing the prey. They have devoured lives. They have taken treasure and precious things. They have made many widows in the midst of her...Her princes within her are like wolves tearing the prey, by shedding blood and destroying lives in order to get dishonest gain...I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.”

Ezekiel 22:25,27, 30

There are also many other verses like them. These, and many others make it clear that our Lord hates injustice and violence, and He also is searching for any of His followers to stand up for the oppressed. Gary made an astonishing point to me: When our Lord left, He left behind only two things to accomplish His work: His Spirit, and His followers. He made no other provisions for His work to be done. When Jesus taught us how to pray, He included this statement: “Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” But He never made any statements like “There will be ultimate justice in the end, so don't bother.” He does tell us not to worry or be anxious, but this is different from apathy. The Bible is full of stories and statements showing the value of acting out to do His will on earth as it is in heaven:

Luke 10: The story of the good samaritan.

Isaiah 1:15-17: Seek justice.

1 John 3:16-18 states it about as bluntly as I can imagine: “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.”

The story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 is especially telling to me. In Matthew 14:17-18, the disciples and the crowd don't have much to offer. Just a little bread and fish, enough for one person, maybe a few. Jesus tells them to bring what they have to Him. Personally, I still feel as though I have very little to offer. What can I give to help a world that seems to be destroying itself. But that does not matter. Jesus asks me to bring what I have, and it's His job to do something meaningful with it. Our Lord is the master of using people who don't have much to offer. In fact, He seems to prefer doing so. In light of that, perhaps those of us that feel we have the least to offer just might be in the best position to be used by God in really powerfully ways.

Galatians 6:9 “Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.”

Isaiah 6:8 “Here I am send me.”

Thoughts, comments, concerns, questions, critiques, or silly dances? Please comment!!

Preface

Hello! Welcome to my first real blog ever.

I'm going to refer to authors heretoforafter on a first name basis as if they were my friend. Gary begins his book with a quote and story that hit me really hard. I cannot summarize it in a satisfactory or succinct way, so here's the quote:

"As C.S. Lewis wrote,

'Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means, at the point of highest reality. A chastity or honesty or mercy which yields to danger will be chaste or honest or merciful only on conditions. Pilate was merciful until it became risky.'

Courage however is an odd gift because it's one we rarely think we'll want or need. It's like trying to get my preschoolers to put on their winter coats when there's no hint of winter's bitter cold inside our toasty home. Squirming and objecting, they doubt it's as cold as all that outside, and more to the point they're not sure they even want to be going out. Similarly, as a North American Christian I am not all that eager to accept the gift of courage that my God extends to me. I'm not all that sure I want to go to the places where I'll need it -- to the places where virtues become risky. Sometimes staying indoors feels risky enough.

But then Jesus gently lets me know that I'm not living with a domesticated God. His prodding sounds much like the appeal that my wife and I give to our children to get them out the door: 'Mom and I are going outside. We'll help you with your coats if you want to come with us.' Likewise, I hear Jesus calling, 'I'm going outside to a world that needs me. I'll help you with the courage you'll need if you want to be with me.' "

There are already too many quotes about courage. It has been defined to death. I would say that I and most people have a high regard for courage and especially courageous people. The problem is not that we need another analogy to help us understand what courage is. The problem is that we live cowardly and/or selfish lives. I know I'm being harsh, and perhaps you are not included in that, but I'm including myself in that statement. I would presume to judge no one by it, but I feel that I have to state things the way they are. All I have to do to know that this is true is to look at the way Jesus and His apostles lived and compare that to my life.

But I feel I can apply this to more than just myself because Jesus was a revolutionary, and He completely changed the way that those who chose to follow Him lived. If Jesus is still a revolutionary character, then He must still be calling us to revolutionary things wherever we are. If we are not living our lives in that kind of a way, then we had better at least be asking why not. There is too much pain, suffering, and loneliness in the world for God to have a small calling on your life. I certainly cannot tell anyone what calling that might be, but I know that He has a big one for you. That may mean living in a bold (hehe) way in your suburban neighborhood, rescuing slaves in a third world country, or anything in between. But if you are a Christian, you must live in a way that is continually saying "Here I am, send me" (Isaiah 6:8), coupled with the willingness to go wherever that might mean. We must live lives that are worthy of our calling (II Thessalonians 1:11-12: To this end also, we pray for you always, that our God may count you worthy of your calling, and that by His power He may fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and our Lord Jesus Christ.). Anything less is cowardice or selfishness and we must not shy away from calling it that.

My potential future life scares the living heeby jeebies out of me. I am tempted to run from it all the time, but all that simply serves as an example of just how much I need my Lord to supply the courage to truly follow Him, wherever that might end up being. I cannot do it on my own, but I need not do it on my own either.

Gary continues with this quote:

"Moreover, we can be restored to the conviction that God is prepared to use us to 'seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.' (Isaiah 1:17)"

I am reminded of the story where this guy is praying and asking, pleading with God "How can you see all of the pain in the world and do NOTHING about it?" In the story God replies "Funny, I was about to ask you the same question." Truly God has much more power over these situations than I do, but if I am not doing what I can to help the hurting, lonely and oppressed, than to ask God such a question is nothing short of hypocrisy. Whatever His reasoning for doing it this way, God has given us the task of bringing justice and hope to world. A quote by Mark Batterson was recently brought to my attention: "The biggest mistake we can make is asking God to do for us, what He has asked us to do for Him." I don't like absolute statements like that (maybe it's not THE biggest mistake...whatever), but the point seems hugely needed. James 1 and 2 make it absolutely clear that if a faith does not lead to action, then it is a worthless faith. If we have faith in God, then He has not called us to believe that He will fix all of our problems if we just believe hard enough. He has called us to act in faith, and that He will reward those actions taken in faith. Gary has an entire chapter on this subject so I have left a lot unsaid that I will get into later.

Gary continues:

"To be honest, few people could have grown up farther from the realities of injustice and oppression in our world than I did. I was raised in a wonderfully happy home. My loving family lived in an affluent suburb in a civil society -- for which I am, frankly, enormously grateful. The realities of terror, oppression, abuse and injustice were kept far from my door. Not surprisingly, I came to understand God in ways that fit my experience. God seemed intensely interested in my life of personal piety and seemed most needed as a savior from the only negative eventuality which I could not control -- death."

He later states:

"In these contexts (apartheid, guerilla war in the Philippines, and genocide in Rwanda) I met followers of Jesus Christ who knew God more deeply, knew the Bible more thoroughly and lived life more courageously than I ever had. They didn't judge me or dismiss me for my limitations; they simply loved me and shared what they had learned, frequently the hard way, about the God of hope and power and joy."

There is a difficult (difficult for me anyway) conflict here between the blessing of a relatively carefree childhood, and knowing God more fully in the midst of a painful reality. Is it realistic to care for and protect a family AND not hide them from the often ugly realities that are in this world? Would it be irresponsible to provide only one or the other? These are just a couple of the questions that I am wrestling with and I don't feel as though I have a real solid practical answer. I would say that obviously it is good to care for, provide for, and protect a family, but it can be taken too far to an extreme. I just haven't found that balance yet. Not that it's terribly relevant to me at the moment, but I want to think this through preferably before it becomes relevant.

There is one thing that I feel is underemphasized in Gary's book. Or perhaps I just tend to skim over these kinds of things. I hope not, but maybe. God does call us to action, but the message of the Gospel is not do, do, do, produce, produce, produce. If we answer this call out of guilt or obligation then I think we miss the point and we miss God's heart in all of this, in the same way that the Pharisees did. I think that perhaps one reason that God has chosen to use us to meet the needs of the world is that we learn something about the God we are serving. We learn something about the Lord Himself, and can know Him better through this kind of service. I can think back to times where I was tangibly serving someone, and feel as a result a closeness to God. Jesus said that the two greatest commandments were to love the Lord your God with all you heart, mind, soul, and strength, and that the second one is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. I don't think the two are unrelated. I think that we grow in our love for the Father when we fulfill the second command as well. Any answer that we give to this call of God must be firmly rooted out of a desire to further know and love our Lord.

Gary describes his book as a simple introduction to three things: Injustice in our world, how the character of God can be known relative to those injustices, and the opportunity for God's people to make a difference. There is still a lot that I could say but I have yet to scratch chapter one yet and this blog is already super long, so I will leave with this thought. One of the biggest struggles that I have had with this whole idea, are the things which I may have to give up in order to truly live my entire life in a sacrificial way. Devoting my entire life for the sake of my Lord, and suffering people who I may or may not even know, is something that has far reaching effects on every facet of my life. Nothing can go on the way it has. There is a big part of me that mourns these losses and potential further losses. I am to some degree confounded by the words of the apostle Paul in regards to this fear. Paul was a man who knew loss. He was tortured, imprisoned, survived a stoning or two, and was eventually executed for the sake of Christ. Before his death (as if I really needed to specify THAT point) he had this to say.

"But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ -- the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith." (Philippians 3:7-9)

Thoughts, comments, concerns, questions, critiques, or silly dances? Please comment!!

Beginning

Here I am.

I got here because I read a book that, more than anything else I have ever read, made me want to write. I just finished "The Good News About Injustice" by Gary Haugen. I decided that I needed to finish the book before I commented on it, so I will be going through the book a second time and providing my own commentary. I don't suppose many people will read this, but that's not really the point. I need to write so here I am, and here you are as well, and if you find some benefit or encouragement or whatever, then praise God.

I'm not exactly sure how to define what I am going to be doing here. I used the word commentary earlier and I think that's somewhere close to what it will be. I imagine I'll have some musings and ramblings that will be included as well. If anyone does end up reading something I post here I would love to hear any encouragements, critiques, disagreements, or additional thoughts. I feel I am in the process of changing who I am, and where my life is going, and I would love for you to be a part of that, whoever "you" is. Please leave detailed comments.

This whole process has also made me want to continue reading books that make me think and want to write, so once I finish up with this book, look for more to follow. I hope to post at least once a week...we'll see :)

Blessings,

Noah