The Problem with "All Lives Matter."

There’s a Problem with “All Lives Matter”

            Luke 15:3-7 (Parable of the Lost Sheep)

            Matthew 5:1-11 (The Beatitudes)

            I’m scrolling through my Facebook feed, and I keep seeing a number of people posting “All Lives Matter” as a response to the Black Lives Matter narrative. Now, let me be clear: this is true. All lives do, indeed, matter. I am not arguing that at all, and you will be hard-pressed to find a passage in the Bible that negates this fact. John 3:16 states, “God so loved THE WORLD that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life” (CEB, emphasis mine). It’s not “God so loved only this particular people group” – the author of John’s Gospel clearly states that God so loved the world, which, last I checked, has a lot of people groups. We also find Jesus’ missional target for his disciples in Matthew 28’s Great Commission, where we read in verse 19, “Therefore, go and make disciples OF ALL NATIONS, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” (Matthew 28:19, CEB, emphasis mine). Again, we are seeing that the targeted recipients of God’s love are meant to be everybody because everybody is loved – we are not called to exclude. Now that we have that cleared up…

            The problem with “All Lives Matter” isn’t the truth held within this statement; instead, it is how it is being used. The problem is that it’s being used as a response to a particular message in an attempt to drown out said particular message. I say “particular” because I haven’t seen an All Lives Matter response to Blue Lives Matter… those who use this phrase appear to be fine with sympathizing with law enforcement by their lack of generalizing which lives matter in those instances; Yet when it comes to the voices of black men and women who have undergone countless atrocities for 400 years in our country, and are today still being treated as being less than by many facets of our society, this cry of All Lives Matter seems to be trying to drown out the immediate concern for safety and well-being of our black brothers and sisters in Christ. (This also presents us with the problem of making it “Black Lives Matter” vs. “Blue Lives Matter” when it shouldn’t be an us vs. them / this or that issue – it is a false dichotomy. You can and should value and respect both, but that’s a whole other topic).

I recently wrapped up a sermon series called “Open Our Eyes” – much of the material and preaching notes coming from UMCdiscipleship.org. In this series, we explored how to make disciples, but it might be surprising to many that the work of making disciples starts with working on yourself. We talked about following Jesus’ example of seeing all the people around us – seeing them for the children of God that they are, including their hurts and hang-ups. We find in Matthew 9:36 that Jesus had compassion on the crowds around him. What precipitated this compassion? Jesus saw the crowds. This isn’t saying that Jesus had a bean counter and saw that a lot of people were around him… Jesus saw the people within the crowd, and because he saw that the people around him were troubled and helpless, he had compassion on them.

We also spoke about the importance of hearing all the people around us. Oftentimes, we only listen to ourselves or to those that simply confirm our biases. Beyond what we explored in that sermon, we find that when we shut our ears off from hearing the cries for help from others, we are doing a number of things. First, we are not respecting the image of God in our fellow man. By dictating our own set of what and who is to be respected and loved, we place ourselves above God’s command to love our neighbor. This leads us to the second point: we are shutting our ears from hearing how God may be calling us to action in the very mission field that we were sent to. This leads us directly to #3: by refusing to hear those cries, we are not validating the experiences of, or seeking relationships with, those in pain. The very act of refusing to hear the voice of others is antithetical to the Good News that Jesus came to deliver. This last point also makes discipling impossible, for if one cannot or will not establish a relationship with someone else, then this discipling that we are called to do as followers of Christ is not possible.

I understand that hearing the stories and experiences of those who are different than you can be scary. Many of the stories that have been shared in conversations, books, social media, the radio, etc… shake our status quo by challenging the notion that everything in our society is fine. But when we hear stories from interracial couples about how the wife drives when they leave town because black men are much more likely to be pulled over for no valid reason, how black men have to consciously act overly nice to everybody in a social setting to try to alleviate the racial stereotype that “black men are dangerous,” and even purposefully avoiding stores and gas stations that have a truck with a confederate flag on it for fear of being caught up in something that they themselves did not start, we are forced to deal with the dichotomy of us believing that everything in our society already works for everyone against the reality that not all men (and women) are treated as equals after all.

I remember being pulled to the side of a Purdue football game when I came to visit friends for a weekend because I “matched the description of a suspect.” Not for one second was I in fear of this officer – I actually thought it was cool because he had pulled me just to the inside of the entrance to the field! Does my experience as a white man nullify the experience of my black brothers and sisters who were terrified as they were pulled off to the side of an event or on the street simply because they “matched the description of a suspect?” Or does my experience that ended with no negative consequences sweep the experience of Elijah McClain’s under the rug, where all he was doing was walking home?

Jesus recognized that all lives matter, yet he also knew when to point out that there is a people group that is hurting and oppressed. In Luke 15: 3-7, Jesus shares a story with a crowd of people about a shepherd that was in charge of 100 sheep and one of them got lost. The shepherd took it upon himself to leave the other 99 sheep in search of the one that was lost. It’s not that the other 99 sheep weren’t important – it’s that they weren’t in danger. They were ok. For this moment in time, the shepherd recognized that this one sheep needed his attention in order to be safe again.

Then we notice The Beatitudes in Matthew 5:1-11. Jesus recognizes where people are hungering and thirsting for righteousness, that there are those who are mourning, those who are being persecuted, those who are downtrodden… but instead of simply stating “Blessed are all the people,” Jesus calls out to them with the assurance that they, too, matter; that they, too, are loved. 

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.” (Matthew 5:3-11, NRSV)

If Jesus is willing to acknowledge the hurts of people groups who are in pain and reassure them that they, too, are loved – that they, too, matter – what is stopping us from doing the same? Is it because we are afraid that the hate and vitriol will be pointed toward us, then? Is it because we see our friends and family constantly trying to discredit the stories and experiences of the other (whoever that “other” might be) and we were taught to follow suit? Is it because we were told, “Those are bad people who had it coming!” and are having a difficult time removing that lens of implicit bias from our vision of the other?

            I have had to ask myself these types of questions; and if I’m going to be honest, I need to continue asking myself those questions. Seeing others where they are is part of being a disciple. Learning what implicit biases we were raised with and working to dismantle them is part of our spiritual growth process that we are called to do. It is holy work to identify the demons of racism and division in our society and in ourselves. I know I’m not completely there, and that I have learning, listening, and a whole lot of praying to do – but that is the work of a disciple. To recognize that all lives matter, but in this instance, to identify that our brothers and sisters of color are hurting and, in many cases, in real danger.

Using “All Lives Matter” as a response to “Black Lives Matter” is an attempt to mitigate our discomfort at confronting a heart and soul issue within ourselves and our society through defensiveness (adding to the division that is already too prevalent in our world) and reassuring ourselves that we are good people because we claim to support lives of multiple people groups. There have been countless other defensive mechanisms for racism to remain rooted in our national discourse – some of which were very briefly touched in this post – but using this term seems to be the loudest and most vocal… and sadly, even misses the very truth that it holds at face value.

As Christians, we must seek to be more than simply not-racist (for that infers an attitude of “I’ll leave you alone if you leave me alone” and allows one to be quiet while others are suffering because, “Hey, it’s not me!”), we need to seek the footsteps that Jesus has left for us and work towards becoming antiracist. This work, which falls in line with discipleship, calls us to see our brothers and sisters, acknowledge their experience, and seek to transform our communities so that racist actions, words, and policies are no longer a reality for anybody. In this moment in time, not because society is demanding it, but because God has been calling us as the church to do so, we need to respond to the cries of People of Color and respond to them with the appropriate words and actions of affirmation, acknowledging that Black Lives Matter.

And Now: Lent

And Now: Lent

At Anderson First United Methodist Church, there is a wall of glass panels and glass doors that lead into the sanctuary from the narthex area. I remember on a few occasions sitting in a pew in that gathering area, looking into the sanctuary through those design-etched glass panels feeling that even though I could see everything happening and hearing everything through the speakers in the ceiling, somehow still feeling separate. I felt like I didn't need to (maybe even shouldn't have) sung out in the narthex because I wasn't a part of worship by not being physically in the sanctuary.

Granted, I recognize now that that seems silly. I realize now that I allowed that physical glass barrier to be my excuse to not fully engage in worship. But that barrier was still there psychologically. There would be times where I would want to go into the sanctuary, but the doors would be locked. Right there, this glass wall was a physical representation of a barrier between me and where I perceived God to be in those moments.

I guess it's no wonder why then that, in Matthew 17:1-9, Peter wanted to make a shrine for Jesus, Elijah, and Moses and stick around that mountain top. He was in a place where there were no perceived barriers between him and the divine. Here was a literal mountain top experience for his spirit with Jesus literally all aglow and the big-time prophets, Elijah and Moses, were not just standing there but having a conversation with Jesus! Peter was in the midst of the divine without any human limitations or barriers between him and this holy experience - why would you want to leave that?

In "the world," seeing the divine is not always easy. Visions like the one that Peter, James, and John shared on that mountain don't happen but rarely if at all. We have these barriers that both distract and keep us from fully engaging with God. We can blame the usuals for this: the love of money, all the injustice we see happening around the world, selfish people, etc... but sometimes these barriers aren't one of the fill-in-the-blank sins that we love to label - sometimes they're just the struggles of everyday life. It's hard to have a loving moment with God when you are struggling to pay the rent, trying desperately to connect with a child who continues to push you away, or even that frustrating pile of never-ending laundry that refuses to fold itself. Even if it's not someone or something that intentionally gets in the way of your fellowship with the Almighty, we can use everything from family tragedies to the mundane house-hold chores as an excuse or barrier that keeps us from knowing and experiencing the divine in our midst. While we're caught up in life, we can begin to get frustrated and ask ourselves the question, "Why can't all of this just get out of my way so I actually feel God's presence!"

That is one of the things that I really appreciate about church camp. I've come to see church camp - whether it be for elementary, high school, or retreat settings for adults - to be an intentional short-term discipleship community. It's a time where an environment with as little distractions from "the world" as possible is provided with the intent of helping the participants engage with God on a deeper level. (Looking at you, Facebook...) My youth group would refer to Sr. High Camp as a "mountain top experience," and one of the challenges for youth ministry was how to try to keep that momentum that many of the youth felt moving forward once they were back in a world with jobs, peer pressure, sometimes unstable home lives, etc... For this small amount of time, however, they could let down those walls and open themselves up for an encounter with the divine. It was at Sr. High Institute (church camp) that I first felt my calling into ministry. In so many ways, that felt like such a pure moment for me spiritually speaking.

As we work through the liturgical church calendar, moving from Advent and through the church season following epiphany is great as we get to learn and hear more about Jesus Christ and, if we really go for the gold star, pick up a thing or two that we can do to draw closer to Christ. Speaking from a liturgical standpoint, it culminates in the Son of God showing his Divinity directly to us human beings in this passage. But now we are moving into this season of Lent - and how do we move from this spiritually pure moment of engaging Christ so clearly to then confront ourselves and how we allow the world to give us all the excuses to NOT engage with God?

If we are to take Lent seriously, it will require us to be honest with ourselves concerning how and why we choose to run away from God. It requires us to be honest about the type of person that we really are in our present. Only when we have been honest about our actual condition can we then move on towards becoming the person that God made us to be in the first place. That kind of building doesn't happen without first gauging where our starting position actually is.

It wasn't until I read Rev. Derek Weber's preaching notes at umcdiscipleship.org that I had thought about Transfiguration Sunday as being a threshold between the season after Epiphany and Lent. Yet, in this gospel story, we see the transition happen within Peter from this desire to stay in the midst of a spiritual mountain top experience to realizing that it's not about staying up in the light all the time - it's about following (even carrying) that light even into the darkness. God tells Peter, "Listen to him [Jesus]!" with Jesus reassuring Peter, James, and John that they don't need to be afraid.

So yes, Lent can be scary for us if we practice the full honesty that is intended. But we don't need to be afraid. For one thing, God already knows, and somehow still wants to be in relationship with you! For another thing, we already have a guide to follow and listen to.

So this Lenten season, be willing to confront those barriers that stand between you and God. Some may be like a brick wall and obvious, while others might be more difficult to discern until you run into it like that glass wall into the sanctuary of my childhood church. Whatever they may be, may we learn what it is to carry that light we experience in Christ into the world and all its situations.

Pastoral Letter to Otterbein UMC following the public release of "The Protocol"

This is the letter that was sent out in email, posted on the church's Facebook page, and will be made available on paper for the congregation at Otterbein UMC, where I am currently serving at. Seeing as how this news effects more than just my congregation, and how the message pertains to more than just my congregation, I am posting it here.

Brothers and sisters in Christ,

Like I imagine many of you were, last Friday I found myself stunned when I realized that multiple news outlets had dropped a headline concerning the United Methodist Church. Many of the articles and headlines read as though the UMC had just decided to split along with some other misinformation. My purpose in writing this is to inform you of how our denomination’s governing structure works and, hopefully, answer some of your questions as well as some possible implications.

First: Did the UMC agree to split? 

Simply put: No! I can understand how some news outlets got this wrong – our governing structure is different from most governing structures in that we do not have a standing administration that can make changes to our Book of Discipline (our “law and rule book”). The Book of Discipline also includes how the church structure is set up. For a massive thing like a denominational split to occur, is has to go through the decision-making body at a General Conference. General Conference is a meeting where representatives from every Annual Conference worldwide gathers every 4 years. Rarely is there a special called General Conference that meets in between these 4 year periods, and we experienced one of these special called General Conferences in February of 2019. The next regularly scheduled General Conference is happening this coming May 5-15 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Second: What actually happened?

There was a group of 16 individuals, well respected individuals within their various “camps,” that met with a professional mediator to put together a proposal for the UMC to move forward. This proposal that was put together by this diverse group was called “The Protocol.” The Protocol is simply that – a proposal.

The Protocol suggests that the UMC proceed as two or more denominations. Simply put: a conservative denomination would form outside of the United Methodist Church, allowed to take their church property with them, along with $25 million. Whoever chooses not to leave with this newly formed conservative denomination would remain in a more progressive (comparatively) or moderate United Methodist Church. The denomination that keeps the name would also retain the various boards and agencies (Such as the United Methodist Committee on Relief, Board of Higher Education, etc…)

This proposal will have to be voted through at General Conference before it can be enacted.

Third: Who was a part of this group?

This group of 16 was comprised of clergy, bishops, and lay people. They were representatives of conservative, moderate, and progressive groups. Was every viewpoint covered? With only 16 people, this would have been an impossibility. There are some people who criticize this fact, as well – but the truth is, if you get too many “cooks in the kitchen” then things would not be able to be accomplished. This group chose to form themselves in this manner. It was not a formally appointed group, but it was certainly a group of leaders from the various “camps” they represented.

Fourth: Are conservatives being kicked out / paid off? Why are they the ones leaving in The Protocol? Why should they get $25 million?

This series of questions certainly reads as personal and possibly offensive to some… if that’s how you read them, that is not the intent. Let me reassure you, however, that nobody is being “kicked out.” This proposal was written with leading conservative voices in agreement.

The Protocol is an attempt at an amicable separation. Ultimately, progressives have proven unwilling to leave the UMC, whereas the conservatives, primarily through the Wesleyan Covenant Association, has already been in process for multiple years of planning their exit if they deemed necessary.

The idea behind splitting in this manner instead of staying and fighting further is to avoid as a denomination the lawsuits that we witnessed in other denominations that have split primarily over the debate of how inclusive should they be of the LGBTQ+ community. I believe that we can all agree that these were messy and did nothing good for the overall witness of the church in bringing forth the Kingdom of God.

Concerning the $25 million, it’s relatively 1/24^th of the budget that General Conference passed in 2016 – so, not nothing, but certainly not everything. Regardless of which side you may feel more in alignment with, it’s really not about the money and more about moving forward in peace so that we might get down to the business of discipleship.

Fifth: What is going to happen at the May 2020 General Conference?

Honestly, who knows. You could do all the polling you want, collect all of the thoughts and opinions you can gather, and you can still find yourself surprised by the outcome. Honestly, General Conference rarely votes something in without making changes to the proposal.

With that thought in mind, The Protocol is not the first proposal that has been written calling for some kind of amicable separation to be presented at General Conference (It might be the one that has garnered the most media attention, however). General Conference will have several options to choose from before it, assuming they even vote to move towards separation. Until May 5-15 comes, we will not know how our church as a denomination has voted to move forward.

Sixth: What now?

The best course of action that I have seen and heard suggested is to pray. Pray for those involved in the decision-making process coming up in May in Minneapolis. Pray for those who are wondering what is going to happen to their local church. Pray for those who are hurting, worrying, and heartbroken over this long and drawn-out fight in our denomination.

None of this is easy – I recognize this. I wish I had all the answers. I am open to talking with you if you have any questions concerning process or The Protocol, but please don’t be surprised when I say, “I don’t know” because, well… none of us have all the answers. In some ways, it may feel like a bull-ride and you begin to wonder when you’ll be bucked off; but let me encourage you to hang on! I can’t promise that any person’s preferred outcome will happen, but I do know that as long as we stick together and remain in faithful fellowship with one another – even in spite some of our differences – we can continue doing what we were tasked with and supersedes this conflict: Making Disciples of Jesus Christ.

My mother once shared with me this thought: that there is beauty in the tension. Tension isn’t comfortable, but when we’re willing to put our differences aside for the sake of the mission of the church – when we are willing to embrace and be in relationship with one another even though we don’t think alike – that’s where the Kingdom is at work and Heaven breaks forth here on Earth. Conflict (tension), dealt with in a healthy way, allows us to grow and sharpen one another. I know that there are people of both persuasions here at OUMC. May we learn to navigate our differences so that we can grow in love together instead of allowing our differences tear us apart and tearing one another down.

Let us put into practice the greatest commandment, to love God and love one another, as we do what Christ commissioned us to do and the mission of the church: To make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

God Bless—

 

Rev. Benjamin Cassiday

Here are links that can help better inform you of what is happening around this conversation at the denominational level. If the links are not highlighted on your screen, then copy and paste the web address into your web browser.

A link to an article at umnews.org about what is happening as well as various groups’ reactions: https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.umnews.org%2Fen%2Fnews%2Freaction-aplenty-to-separation-plan%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR1uiMsr5DEBwydjMerSj9t-Dyhqxc6groBCeUCBP5eBm8XuFAXZ9fA9xUQ&h=AT2UbckFU5dN22YRgG_1hTe-iuQ00WmDKhQ17fZjaoWfIFEU11sK_Zs5h1TDTI1oR3qL0OuCQdXVLfK92b8DUe8Ct28ShHOH1_EOWTWBJdtY3XLuB3qt1qLBydH7PmH04z3gwGzTvIlQ-OKuSq-SsYEhN5bKn54

A link to the summary of The Protocol: https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.umnews.org%2Fen%2Fnews%2Fdiverse-leaders-group-offers-separation-plan%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR0bwmCluwu_3WmrThJNSRYVakI7Lr7SnqAlhzzKZtuVtXOImZwsDilTt4A&h=AT1KSnkN--VTaWfUnllVQz4giJ0d2BHZAOHJmK25BKO-92k5qade3uJzdQRrHlQLXyToS2xTyzHbgkVAtyLtGaHr840S4zzqqRwFtGyJld4AkWS-vc1_dv5wlXnavKzg_o1OhwYJsY2oDm3UXXTSIXQ2NcU4KSo

A link to The Protocol’s actual document:

https://www.unitedmethodistbishops.org/files/websites/www/pdfs/signed+umc+mediation+protocoal+statement+-2020.pdf

Thank you to Rev. Melissa Englehart for allowing me to use her format and her questions to put this letter together.