I’ve been thinking a lot about the impact of social justice on my life. Before NYCUP, I knew nothing except for those problems existing a world away: child soldiers, hunger, poverty, AIDS, and everything that happens over in the East. I was encouraged to spend a dollar here or there to help give a starving child that I’d never meet a meal to just forget about it almost immediately. 

The social injustice about social injustice is that it isn’t just a world away. The dark shadows where we push these issues are still very much in need of our help, and to be honest, it’s just around the corner and in our backyards. Take a look at racism in the United States. With a nation with Civil Rights, I wonder how there’s still an achievement gap between white kids and Hispanic/Asian kids. Trafficking doesn’t just happen in the slums of Calcutta and African nations, but in our own neighborhoods. Since I’ve been here, I’ve heard more than enough stories of women getting enticed into the sex trade and mothers selling their children to these people to make money. Humans are desperate—not everyone can afford to live in safe communities with privilege and security. For those who barely have any options, they get taken advantage of even more by those who want to prey on their weakness to continue their sick trades. There are also millions of people homeless today, and how many of us blame it on their lack of ambition and hard work? How many of us take a stand and sit down with the poorest of these and talk with them? 

I find that my experience with churches is that we constantly worry about building the community of the people already within the walls. Yes, the elderly, the poor, and the broken of our community should be taken care of, but for so long I was part of a community that never looked outside its congregation. It was so easy to find a small group of people to be friends with and to spend the remainder of my time investing on these people and nothing else. I grew up in a 95% white community in a small Michigan farm town. Yet, how many of us wanted to address the issues existing outside our church walls? When parishioner’s tires would get slashed while they were attending service, they sought revenge and punishment for these people instead of addressing the fact that this violence was a symptom of the rebellious adolescent community arising in our town. When drunk driving took the life of a beloved friend, daughter, and sister, the town cried in outrage against the man and spewed hatred at his foolishness, but no one sought to address the problem of under-age drinking and the reasons that cause high school kids to do so. When young women are found pregnant in our schools, we would look with scorn at their life choices and oust them from our respectable community. Yet, no one went to them in love and compassion and told them that there was someone who loved them unconditionally and who would always be a support for them. 

The social injustice of social injustice is that I’ve started to notice that it’s our responsibility as Christians to not only come to church on Sundays, but to live the Gospel. How do we do that? By investing in the lives of the people around us. It’s easy to throw a few dollars here or there to a non-profit or two and clear the conscience. However, in an increasingly financial strain on the economy, people don’t have that much money to give away. On the other hand, what if people started investing in the lives of the people around them? Jonathan Walton proposed this question to us interns the other night: Who told you that you didn’t have the time to invest in someone’s life for two or three hours a week? I reflect that question to us—writer and reader—to consider: Who told you that you didn’t have the ability to impact someone’s life for the better because of time, because of commitments, because of whatever else? 

What is the answer to social injustice? Community. God didn’t create us to be self-serving and to follow the American Dream and once we achieved it would then find success in God’s eyes. God creates us to be in union with each other. Jesus says in Matthew 22:37-40 that the great commandments are to love the Lord God with all our hearts and to love our neighbors as ourselves. He says, “The whole Law of Moses and the teachings of the prophets depend on these two commandments.” God meant for us to live in community and to care about our brother as much as ourselves. If we were to actually invest in the lives of the people around us with the knowledge that we are all broken creatures in need of God’s grace, then a lot of good could come out of this world.  

I think one of the greatest parts about living in this parsonage for NYCUP with 12 people is the fact that we’ve had to strive to work together and keep the house running. In order to make our time healthy, we’ve opened the lines of communication to address conflict and issues that come up. Furthermore, there’s always a spirit of grace, humility and forgiveness. I think this is a little glimpse of how God intended his people to be. After all, we have been made in the image of God and therefore reflect His character. I once read an awesome quote by John of the Cross: “Each person of the Trinity is completely impoverished by his own choice because he gives everything he has and is for the joy of the other two. And at the same time each is overwhelmingly rich because he receives everything from the other two without anything held back.” I think there is wisdom in that quote—that through our service to others we are made rich ourselves by the gifts that God gives to us. 

What I challenge myself and you, the reader, to do is to think about how we can engage our whole community—not just the Christians around us. How can we take the time to open our eyes to the issues flourishing in our areas? How can we take a stand and love our neighbors and through that time invested show the love of Christ? I know it isn’t going to be easy, but it’s our right to die daily to ourselves, and to share the Good News in word and deed. I’m going to stand; I pray that you come and join me.