Theology

Were you there when a Starbucks manager called the police on Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson less than two minutes after they arrived for a routine meeting with a business partner?

Created in God’s image, human beings were made with a unique capacity for developing structure and accentuating the beauty of God’s world. God’s intention was that we would be like his signet ring (see Haggai 2:23), representing and ushering in his justice and righteousness as the caretakers of this world, and of each other. We are meant to make his glory known.

This past weekend I had the chance to attend the Festival of Faith and Writing at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. And I was filled with questions. Deep, philosophical questions. I love to write. But what does it matter? Why do we write? What’s it for?

These are the kind of questions that are perfect for a festival on faith and writing. And here’s what I came away with: we write to sort out, to inspire, and to proclaim.

In my previous post about gentrification, I established a simple premise. Any development and revitalization of  a neighborhood that leads to the involuntary displacement of already existing people, history, and culture is inequitable, and antithetical to God’s desire for wholeness and flourishing for all of his creation.

One spring I participated in a two and a half day silent retreat where I picked up two books by Scot McKnight, The Blue Parakeet and The Jesus Creed. In my reading and reflection times, I learned some principles of applying the stories of the Bible to my story and I reflected on possible God moments in my life that I was missing. As the Bible tells stories about who God is and what he has done, it can also help us learn how he is present in our lives, every day and into the future.

"God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” (Genesis 1:27-28)

“Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because he first loved us.

It’s been quite the year! Thanks for reading and learning along with us, as we wrestled with faith with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other (Karl Barth).

Here are the top Do Justice articles (ranked by top pageviews) that got you thinking and acting in 2017: 

Rest can be an act of defiance against our culture of consumption, disconnection, and manufactured dissatisfaction. The idols of individualism, consumption, and achievement tell us: buy more! Be more! Do it all! They are unrelenting masters.

But the God who calls us to seek justice, the God who walks with us through the valley of the shadow of death, also makes us lie down in green pastures. The God who calls us is good.

This is the season of the “good news of great joy” in the church. We talk a lot about the good news for us. The good news that we get to live in. We talk about the good news of great joy for all people, announced in the words of the angels: “a child is born to you, in the town of Bethlehem, he is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11) It’s great news.

We really like good news, but I find we’re less good at the “to all people.” This Christmas season I’ve been wondering about whether or not this good news really is for us.