I’m mad. I’m furious. I tucked the kids into bed and I sat in my living room and I wept. I thought of the single Mom barely holding it together and I wept. I thought of the kids whose only respite is school and I wept some more. I thought of the poor in our community and those dependent on dual incomes and I wept harder. And I yelled. Loudly. I was pissed. I still am. The kids woke up. Why did I weep for these? I don’t even know that many people in these situations, a telltale sign of my privilege. But these are the least. The ones Jesus came for. The ones he called. The ones he healed. The ones he brought hope and love to. And we are supposed to be the hands and feet of this Jesus, God incarnate who came to rescue the poor and the oppressed. These are the least and I see them being oppressed and I feel their oppression as a deep cry within. I can’t hold it in any longer. I’m speaking on their behalf. It is oppression, not at the hands of government, or their own doing, but an oppression by us, the very people who claim to be the hands and feet of the Creator of the Universe.
We, American Evangelicals, who are lockdown prideful and arrogant in our echo chamber of those who think like us and look like us and share our view of the world. We scorn the Israel of the Hebrew Scriptures for their ignorance in worshipping false gods, in following after the nations around them, in promoting oppressive kings over and over again. We would never do that. We ignorantly assume the prophets (have we even read them?) were just pointing to a coming Messiah and miss the majority of their message as a harsh accusation against Israel, a condemnation of their mistreatment and disregard for the poor and oppressed, their building up of their lives on the backs of the least of these, promoting their own well-being over the well-being of the other. This is what the prophets told them to repent of or judgment was coming. This is why they were led into exile. We accuse Israel, and yet we are guilty of the same injustice against the least of these.
That injustice has come roaring to light in the apocalypse (revealing, uncovering) of 2020. It is sadly a 2020 vision of the reality of the blindness and ignorance of many in the American Evangelical movement. I see it all around me. How you ask? It is most prominent and revealing in this moment in the mask debate. What?! You can’t go there! I can and I will go there.
But before I do, let me clear up the whole “masks don’t work” side of the debate. Here is the link to the latest data from the CDC. No, masks are not perfect but they GREATLY reduce the spread of the virus. And most important, even if they don’t protect you very well, they offer a huge layer of protection FOR OTHERS against you, especially since you can be contagious for at least 2 full days prior to symptoms showing up or if you’re asymptomatic. You might argue that you don’t trust the CDC – that it’s a conspiracy to take over the world. I think that’s foolish ignorance. The head of the National Institute of Health (Dr. Fauci’s boss) is Francis Collins. He was the first scientist to map the human genome and is a devout follower of Jesus. He’s a genius. My husband and I have read a good bit of his work and listened to multiple interviews with him on a huge variety of topics. I trust him. He’s not out to deceive me or you or anyone else. He says listen to Dr. Fauci and the CDC on this. They have the data and research to back up their claims on multiple fronts. So, I’m not gonna be a fool and dismiss the scientific data. Science is, after all, a revelation of HOW God ordered the universe. Let’s not dismiss God here! And if you want a case study, look at the airlines. They have not had an outbreak since they started mandating masks. Between that and their unmatched filtration systems, the virus is being contained despite millions of passengers every single week. FYI, the DOD did a study on the safety of flying during the pandemic.
Needless to say, I dismiss outright a claim that masks don’t work. They may not work as well alone (on you and no one else), but they work altogether for the benefit of others. And if you don’t want to follow the data, at least consider Pascal’s Wager. I think it’s a terrible argument for religious belief for a variety of reasons that I won’t get into here but I know many who adhere to it so I’m bringing it up. Pascal’s Wager is the argument that says that given the two choices of Christianity being true or false, one should believe because you’ve got nothing to lose if it’s false but if it’s true and you don’t believe, you’ve lost heaven and will now spend eternity in hell. Let’s apply that same logic to the mask debate. If you don’t believe masks work and they don’t, you lose nothing by wearing the mask but if you don’t believe masks work and they really do, you could easily infect countless people unnecessarily and the real world domino effect is that you could be a catalyst for the pain and suffering of others and even for someone’s death. Think about that. Is that a pro-life action? Or are we only concerned about the lives of unborn babies? The only thing you lose by wearing a mask is a little bit of pride. I think we all know what Jesus had to say about pride versus humility, about being willing to be the servant of all, especially to the lowest, the least, to consider them and their well-being more important than our own.
So how does this apply to the least that I’m lamenting over their “supposed” oppression? Take a walk with me… You’re a single Mom to 3 kids, all in elementary school. You live in a small apartment with a slumlord who just raised the rent again and you drive a run-down car and barely have enough to buy gas and groceries and pay the rent. Really put yourself in her shoes. Walk through her daily grind of getting the kids off to school on breakfast purchased from food stamps, the rush out the door for a grinding day of work. You forget your lunch at home. It wasn’t much anyway. You can’t lose an hour of work to go home to get it. You certainly can’t buy lunch from the restaurant next to work. You race home just in time to get the kids from after-care, you wouldn’t make it without those extra 2 hours of work, you feed the kids dinner and decide to eat your lunch that you missed so you’ll have more for tomorrow. You need to go grocery shopping but payday is not for 2 more days. You crawl into bed exhausted, just in time to get a phone call from the school that your kid has been exposed to COVID at school. You all have to quarantine. 14 days minimum. What will she do? She can’t miss work! She’ll be evicted. Nobody will let her rent with an eviction. How is she supposed to get her groceries? She lives in a rural community and the cheapest grocery store doesn’t offer pickup or delivery. She can’t afford Hannaford. She has no one to drop off groceries and she barely has enough for tomorrow, let alone 14 days. She doesn’t even have healthcare. Not that any doctor will see them anyway. If they need medicine, how will she pay for it? Will the kids be okay? If she gets sick will she be able to take care of them? Can you feel her anxiety? Can you feel her oppression yet?
Now, do your own exercise and walk through scenarios for the abused kid whose only reprieve is school, and the immune compromised and the elderly and the dual income families who can’t make it on one income and can’t work remotely. Really take your time and walk through the reality of COVID for the least of these, the ones Jesus came to save. The ones who we, as the hands and feet of Jesus Christ, the hands and feet of the living God, should also be diligently lifting up and serving. Think about that. Really think about that. Then think about the fact that the reason that schools are closing back up is a direct result of those in this community that refuse to wear those god-forsaken “face diapers” and are actively spreading the virus. The pain and suffering and oppression of countless people is sadly on the hands of many Christians in this community. That is a bitterly painful pill to swallow. Can we humbly come to grips with that reality? Or will we explain it away? Will we listen to someone else’s wisdom besides the wisdom of God and the prophets he sent? When Eve took that fruit, she took wisdom for herself and rejected God’s wisdom. So whose wisdom are we taking for ourselves? Or are we walking in God’s wisdom – His yoke is easy when we humbly submit to it. But it’s hard when we kick and fight against it.
And now decide for yourself whom you will serve. Yourself? American Freedom? American Nationalism? Trumpism? Conspiracy Theories? As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD…by serving the least of these and joyfully putting that god-forsaken “face diaper” on our faces and gladly smiling about it. It’s an easy yoke to bear. It requires minimal effort. One day, each of us will answer to God for our actions towards the oppressed and the least of these (Matt 25). If your actions have not been in consideration of these, I beg you to reconsider.
I’ll leave you with this quote from Rich Villodas: “American notions of freedom are usually at odds with Christian freedom. American freedom says, “my freedom is mine to enjoy.” Christian Freedom says, “my freedom is for the purpose of serving my neighbor.” (Gal 5:13)
Let’s walk in Christian Freedom and serve our neighbor.
Grit 'n Grace Life 