The Hardest Injustice to See

The first few months of 2019 do not give much hope for reconciliation in Canada.

In January, members of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation in BC were arrested for blocking the construction of a natural gas pipeline through their territory.

The first few months of 2019 do not give much hope for reconciliation in Canada.

February and March saw Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, also known by her Kwak’wala name Puglaas, demoted and interrogated because she refused to give in to pressure from Prime Minister Trudeau that would have allowed the SNC-Lavalin management company avoid criminal prosecution for bribery and corruption.    

Why is it that we can’t hear a “no” from the Wet’suwet’en First Nation or from Minister Wilson-Raybould? Why does the establishment rise up to undermine, discredit, minimize, or cite “erosion of trust” when people refuse to go along with the plan? Perhaps it’s because the foundations of power are being called into question by those “no’s.”

Recently, I was talking with theologian and scholar Sylvia Keesmaat, who said this: “The biblical story unfolds through people at the margins. And we learn who God is largely through the stories of people at the margins. And what faithful life looks like, too.”

Perhaps it’s because the foundations of power are being called into question by those “no’s.”

The problem I see happening today is too many white Christians like me think WE are the people on the margins, instead of the people at the centre of many forms of power. It’s easy to mask this power with the narrative that North American Christians are persecuted, or by envisioning ourselves as the last defenders of God’s own truth.

But what if we aren’t? What if we are ignoring the prophetic voices from the margins that are calling us to live in greater harmony with the earth and with our neighbours? What if those prophets and teachers are the people we least want to hear from, the ones we prefer to see as the recipients of our charity, the absolute last ones we would expect to be carriers of biblical truth?

Too many white Christians like me think WE are the people on the margins.

What it comes down to is this: we like our justice far away, not nearby. It’s that group, over there, who are messing things up, not us. It’s those liberals whose government is laced with corruption, or those conservatives who can’t respect a woman in power. It’s definitely them; it’s not us.

But the problem with far-away justice is that it leaves us in power, with our hearts unexamined, our idols untouched. And it does nothing for the work of reconciliation.  

We don’t like our justice nearby, when it creeps into places we have always held sway and demands that we listen to other voices, voices that want to say “no” to us and go against what we had planned. It’s hard to be pleased when justice holds up a mirror to our selfishness, our sexism, our racism, our desire to maintain our own positions of power and influence. When justice comes close, we realize that WE are the ones with the problem. Because the honest truth is we only want reconciliation if it doesn’t inconvenience us or demand something from us.

But the problem with far-away justice is that it leaves us in power.

Lent is a perfect time to reflect on the cost and demands of reconciliation. Through Christ’s work on the cross, God is reconciling all things (Col. 1:20). Whether or not we participate in it, the reconciling work of the Gospel continues; whether or not we listen to them, voices from the margins continue to speak.

Over and over Jesus warns his followers in the gospels: “You have ears but you cannot hear.” (See Mark 8:18 for one example.) Privilege and power for white Christians means we can choose NOT to listen to those whose words might cost us something.

Lent is a perfect time to reflect on the cost and demands of reconciliation.

And we think it won’t affect us much if we choose not to do these things. But it will. We won’t see the slow creep of selfishness and pride, we won’t recognize the ways our Christianity is weakened and our institutions are dying because we refuse to let in the Gospel story being upheld by those we are not listening to.

Through Christ, “you who were once far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Eph. 2:13). And that nearness demands that we let in the voices we don’t want to hear, that we also bring justice near and allow it to make plain the injustices of our own hearts.   

Through Christ, “you who were once far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”

Some questions to ask yourself as you consider this:

• Are you able to hear a “no” from someone you view as having less experience, less understanding of the way things work?
• Are you able to see the ways that you defend your own position of influence by discrediting the voices that point out sexism and bias in the way things are usually done?
• Are you able to see yourself not always as the defender of church doctrine and the dispenser of God’s discipline, but also the recipient of it, even if it comes from the voices of people you consider worse sinners than yourself?

This Lent, there may be no more urgent call to repentance than that you recognize this truth: the hardest injustice to see is the one you yourself are part of.

In the cross we find both conviction and hope. We recognize our own sin and failings, but we also receive forgiveness and hope of new life. How can we begin to participate in the ongoing ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18) entrusted to us?

In the cross we find both conviction and hope.

How can we begin to do this? Perhaps the most important starting point is to listen the way that Jesus listened, and to be willing to learn from people who we’d rather not hear, especially when they make us uncomfortable.

White Christians can educate themselves about the TRC Calls to Action in Canada and the history of race relations in North America.

Men can ask themselves what they can do to support women in positions of leadership, and what they might be doing to subtly undermine those women.

We can take ownership of reconciliation as being necessary work—our work, and our responsibility.

We can all ask more questions and listen humbly for the answers, even especially if they are uncomfortable for us. We can take ownership of reconciliation as being necessary work—our work, and our responsibility. We can pray to overcome the resistance in our hearts so that we can truly hear prophetic challenges to our comfort and our power in the word “no.” And next time we hear it, we can simply respond: “Tell me more.”

Resources

• Denise Posie,  Leadership Development, Women’s and Ethnic Ministry
• Office of Race Relations
• Centre for Public Dialogue - resources on Indigenous Justice
• Lent Resource: Praying Through the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

[Photo by Martin Kníže on Unsplash]