Posted on by intentional4christ

The Author of Unity

A bag over the head of a handcuffed black man until he suffocated to death… a knee on the neck of a black man until he suffocated to death… a black man shot in the back seven times in front of his kids and passersby… these and many more are the headlines that plaque the media. As my husband jokingly (or maybe not) says “the black race is going extinct!”

These past few days I have asked questions…well to no one in particular… if the rest of the world is not seeing the craziness happening to black folk! Where is the justification in treating a fellow human being with so much disdain and inhumanity! How can people justify the senseless profiling based on race when we are all from the same source, God Himself?

Many, in trying to justify such atrocities among many other unbelievable things that have happened in 2020, have made comments alluding to fact that perhaps God is no longer in charge of the earth. Sometimes it feels like God has just left mankind to their wiles whilst he sits and watches in complete silence. Perhaps this year it has made the most sense to ask “where was our God when (fill in the blank) happened?”

This week I came across a scripture that gave me reason to pause:

Also in Judah the hand of God was on the people to give them unity of mind to carry out what the king and his officials had ordered, following the word of the LORD.

2 Chronicles 30:12 NIV

The hand of God was on the people to give them unity of mind… that does not sound like a God that is passive about the affairs of his creation. God was the author of the unity the Israelites enjoyed.. He was the one who orchestrated their unity and this is what our world so desperately needs today… UNITY and particularly THE GOD WHO AUTHORS UNITY!

We need God more than ever! Its not too late! We need to pray for the unity among the human folk which can only come from God. We need to ask God to make good his promise from Zechariah 11:7 by infusing his creation with mercy (so we can be merciful) and unity (so we can truly love each other).

So I became a shepherd of those sheep doomed to be slaughtered by the sheep dealers. And I gave names to the two sticks I used for tending the sheep: One of them was named “Mercy” and the other “Unity.”

Zech 11:7 CEV

God please make good your promise to shepherd us with Mercy and Unity and let your hand be upon us to give us unity of mind. This we ask through your son Jesus Christ. Amen.

If you prayed this prayer with me don’t stop there… keep praying for unity and share this with others so together we can gather momentum to call upon God to unite us as one!

Yours Truly.

Posted on by intentional4christ

Privilege with a side of racism

This week I concluded the book of Romans and I believe the last few chapters particularly Chapters 12- 14 are essential to living purposefully as a Christian here on earth. If you are so inclined, I encourage you to read them when you have a moment. In those last chapters, I gleaned some wisdom to share about the current state of affairs in the world right now (no I am not talking about COVID-19… I am talking about racism towards black, indigenous, and people of colour).

The murder of George Floyd and its resultant global uproar has brought to the forefront issues of privilege.  Privilege is described as unearned access to resources that are readily available to some people because of their social group membership, an advantage, or immunity granted to or enjoyed by one societal group above and beyond the common advantage of all other groups. There are many types of privilege: financial (class), racial or ethic category, religious (christian), male, able-bodied, marital status, age, height, weight, housing, educational, IQ, etc. We all, regardless of race, are privileged in one way or another and to oversimplify, when privilege is not used appropriately, you end up with social constructs such as racism, tribalism, systemic oppression, discrimination, apartheid, hegemony, and colonization to mention a few. These social constructs stem from one thing: people thinking they are better than others.

The book of Romans guides us on how to use our privilege appropriately as christians:

Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment…Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves…Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited…If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Romans 12: 3, 10, 16, 18 NIV

As we get closer and closer to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, this world gets stranger and stranger; humanity is getting more selfish and people are chasing after power only to use it at the expense of others. Oppression in its many forms both overt and covert is on the rise and as Christians, we need to take a stand to be different and we do so with this action word: LOVE.

Give to everyone what you owe them…Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another Romans 13: 7-8 NIV

We owe everyone a debt of love that needs to be paid just as freely as Jesus paid our debt of sin. Let’s not be conceited,  but instead, think of the next person as worthy and deserving of honor and love and pay that debt them.

You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat…Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. Romans 14: 10, 13 NIV

Let us not sit in judgment over others because of the privilege we hold be it by the colour of our skin, by what tribe or family  we were born into,  or by  our educational or financial status. Do not be the reason why another person does not experience the  abundant love of God that has been released into world. Do not let privilege be an obstacle but rather an opportunity to show the love of God and reach out to the lost because

By this everyone will know that you are [God’s] disciples, if you love one another. John 13: 35 NIV

Yours Truly

Ps: don’t forget to like, share, and comment and together lets be intentional in living out our faith.