Anthem Kneeling

I have seen a lot of upset posts about the protests and some standing up for the protesters, and it feels like an issue ripe for discussion. Here is my take.

It's interesting how such a thing as how you act during the national anthem is construed as a huge deal by some people. It's hard when the people kneeling in response to the anthem are millionaires who play a game for a living. As a white person living just a little above the poverty line and who has never been discriminated against because of his skin color, it's hard to connect to African-American millionaires who play a sport for money, protesting during the national anthem. However, this is an issue with multiple sides, and if I practice empathy, I realize that these men in their protest are reminding us that there is grave injustice going on on a daily basis all around us. That grown men are getting shot by the police, and then when that policeman is arrested he often gets off without a conviction- that's a big deal. If I take a moment and step into another man's shoes, I see that this injustice going on is a big deal- how can you draw attention to it? To be fair, these anthem protests are pretty effective. Without destroying property or making a street impassible by filling it with people, these athletes are drawing attention to an issue that is being somewhat ignored by White-America.

I don't know what to say- I'm conflicted. On the one hand, I'm grateful for what America has done for me. I'm painfully aware that there are many worse situations I could be in than the one I'm in. I think America is a great country. It has its faults, true, but overall I'm glad I live here. God has blessed me mightily in my life in this country. I have the freedom to make this blog and say largely whatever I want. It's a land of great opportunity, and I appreciate that. I also appreciate the fact that people died so that I could have this freedom, particularly in World War II. I have running water and food to eat. I have shelter and a place to sleep. I have a car I drive to go where I want to go, and in general I get treated well by the people I come across. I DO NOT want to come off as an ingrate to the people who populate this great country. On the other hand, grave injustice is going on in this country. African-Americans are afraid they will be shot when they come home from work by police who jumped to conclusions about their behavior. When an African-American walks around a store, sometimes it's assumed they're there to shoplift and are treated accordingly. Basically... I mean, I don't want to exaggerate what I imagine it is like for a person of color, but I have had conversations, and I know that it isn't as rosy for them as it seems to generally be for me. As a man who loves God, I'm called to care about the problems of my neighbor. How should I respond?

I'm at a loss. I'm really wrestling with how I should feel about all this. There doesn't seem to be a clear right answer as to what to say. Jesus cared a lot about strangers and about race-related issues. His story about the good Samaritan highlights that. He picked a foreigner for the hero of that story- that says something about Jesus. Here's what I can say- we as a nation would do well to consider another person's perspective. God doesn't want us divided as a nation over issues we should agree on- like whether it's okay for police to shoot African-Americans and get away with it. We should all be able to agree that that is bad. Can we agree that Colin Kaepernick has generally good reasons for protesting? Possibly, but I'm not even sure that we can all agree on that. I PERSONALLY feel that the issues being protested are far more significant than the importance of standing during the national anthem- maybe because I'm grieved over the injustice African-Americans experience on a day to day basis? Possibly. In my heart of hearts though, I wish there was a better way for these very wealthy athletes to protest what they are protesting. I think football should be football, not a forum for expressing grievances about injustice in our country.

Life on Earth- Training Ground For Eternal Life?

Years ago I read "The Great Divorce." In my rereading of "lies we believe about GOD," I'm finding the truth within "The Great Divorce" to be quite helpful. Let me elaborate.

In "The Great Divorce," a bus of people are taken from hell into Heaven. These people discover that everything in Heaven is far more... real... than anything in hell, so much so they can't even really walk on the grass there or do anything. This is because the way these people lived their lives on Earth did not prepare them for life in Heaven. Now to be fair, there is at least one passage in scripture that seems to contradict this possible interpretation of Heaven and hell- when Jesus was on the cross, he told one of the thieves that "today you will be with me in paradise." Perhaps God extends some grace to certain people? Or maybe this analogy isn't entirely fitting? I don't know. But it seems just to me. If you live your whole life in relationship with God, building your faith muscles and becoming strong in the Lord, it makes sense that that is training for eternal life. If you live your whole life cowering in fear or based on selfishness and greed, your faith muscles are bound to atrophy, and you will not at all be prepared for the rigors of Heaven. Here's the real question: what if living in relationship with God is preparation for Heaven, and what if choosing pride, self-righteousness, fear, and other nonfaith emotions just prepares you for perdition? What if the people of hell aren't just "not welcome" in Heaven, but actually can't survive the very "realness" of Heaven itself?

I like this thinking a lot. For one, it takes the blame away from God as being some sort of dictator punishing bad behavior and rewording good behavior. I'm sure God judges people on a more meaningful scale than just measuring our good decisions and our mistakes, but see... with this thinking it turns the judgment into a problem of our own making, AND it also turns having a right heart attitude, more than having the best actions, as key. See, with the right heart attitude, you mature as a believer and grow in faith, which is what you want. If all that matters is your behavior, you can get puffed up thinking that you did some things right. If it's the heart though instead of the actions, your motives for doing what you did come into play, which reveals the depth or the dearth of your faith. And it's that same depth of faith that makes it easier or more difficult to live in the realness of Heaven, depending on whether your faith muscles grew or shrank while on Earth. I think that is just.

If you look at scripture, it is clear that God values faith in a way that is hard for us to really grasp. Now I'm pondering the possibility that the reason faith is so prized by God is because he made his kingdom based on it, and that those that live and die by faith are the ones who will be the rulers and the rich in his kingdom- faith being the key element that makes us fit for Heaven. Maybe that thief's faith-filled-exclaim was enough for him to survive the rigors of Heaven? Maybe! And maybe the reason Jesus said that the rich have so much trouble getting into Heaven is simply because they've never lived on faith a day in their lives, so they aren't at all ready for the rigors of Heaven? I'm beginning to see the beauty of this explanation. When Jesus told the rich young ruler to sell all he had and come follow him, perhaps he said these things because he was looking out for the best interests of the young man?

"The just shall live by faith." Yeah. And those that live by faith will be ready for Heaven when they get there...