Michelle is the director of Faith for Justice in St. Louis. Late last year Michelle spoke at Urbana 2015, one of the largest student missions conferences in the world, her sermon was talked about online for months after the conference ended. Some found her words controversial and others found their hearts stirred.
Back in 2013 I had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing writer, blogger, and speaker Grace Sandra.
In the interview we talk about the concept of privilege and racial reconciliation in light of the Gospel. Look to hear more from Grace on Seminary Dropout soon!
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Kyle Canty is a married father of three. He works for Lifeway as the P2 Missions and World Changers City Representative for Philadelphia. He is also an assistant pastor at Great Commission Church located in Philadelphia. He holds a B.S. (Bible) and M.S. (Christian Counseling) Degrees from Cairn University and an MDiv (Urban Studies) from Biblical Theological Seminary (Hatfield, PA) and is currently working on an DMin degree in Urban Missiology at Biblical Theological Seminary (Hatfield, PA). As an aspiring blogger he looks forward to writing more around the intersection of Christian theology, African American History and the marginalized. His blog The Rooftop can be found at thecityrooftop.com or follow him on twitter at @kcanman.
Dear Woman who’s twitter bio states only that you are A Proverbs 31 wife & mother (or some variation of that),
As someone who is both a son and husband let me tell you; we’re not worth it.
I realize that a twitter bio is hardly a full picture one’s life, but I fear that what leads someone to feel that this sentence is sufficient in describing who they are is an indication of the scope of their aspirations. So again; we’re not worth it. As a son and husband I hope I bring immeasurable joy and delight to my mother and wife, but ultimately, I alone will be unfulfilling to them.
Let me be clear. I love Proverbs 31 as I do all of scripture. I believe it admirable that you honor and serve your husband and care for your children, as I find it admirable that he would do those things for you. I also believe that God calls many to a life of those things, but those things (as with all things) are only fulfilling in so far as they relate to the deeper service to Jesus.
This may be offensive to some, but, to point to such a specific place in scripture to describe the purpose of your life might be lacking. All same things could be said if someone describes themselves as a “Psalm 128:2 woman/man,” (You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours). It’s a fine scripture, God breathed in fact like the rest of it. But is it appropriate to describe the totality of one’s life? By itself it leaves out all context and any mention of Jesus and suffering that following him might bring?
If we’ve fallen into a belief that says the best we can do in life is to find the whole of our identity in our relation to someone else, instead of finding it in our relation to God himself, we have to ask ourselves if that’s ultimately honoring to God.
I chose this particular passage (Proverbs 31), because I really did read that twitter bio, because I see it routinely used poorly and because many in privileged positions have used it to keep women in positions they were not called to, but the reality is that there are a myriad of issues and scripture that we use to justify not seeking first the Kingdom of Heaven.
Have you encountered this or other idols in the church/Christian culture?
Welcome to the Martin Luther King Jr Day episode of Seminary Dropout.
To start off the show I say thank you to those who have given me feedback in the last weeks. It really does mean a lot to me.
My interview this week is with Grace Biskie. Grace is a blogger and speaker, and is working on her first memoir.
In the interview we talk about the concept of privilege and racial reconciliation in light of the Gospel.
The Epilogue:
After this interview, Grace and I were talking and she asked when this episode would be published. I told her I would publish one the next Monday and then publish hers two weeks after that. I didn’t realize when I said that, that it would be Martin Luther King Jr day. So I didn’t plan this, but I think it’s pretty cool that it panned out that way.
Two years ago when Kate and I had just moved to Austin, we were looking for a church home. On the Sunday before Martin Luther King Jr day we visited two different churches, one in the morning and one at night that would eventually become our church home. We caught two of the best sermons I’ve ever heard that day, they were both about the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr.
On that day I listened to the words of his “I Have a Dream” speech with new ears, and the word that kept coming to mind when I heard it was “Christ-like.” You see Jesus didn’t come and say “here are a set of rules you need to follow, I don’t care if you like them or if you like me, but you need to follow through with them.” No, he came for the hearts of men & women, not just demanding that we go through the motions of morality.
When I listened to the I have a dream speech that day, I noticed something. Although he rightly spoke about equality on a governmental level, he didn’t stop there. If he had he wouldn’t have said things like:
“I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.”
“…one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.”
When I heard those words again for the first time, I realized, he didn’t just want laws to force us to treat each other fairly, he wanted us to love each other.
