“What are you willing to do anyway?”

By Steve Matthews, FaithX Senior Missional Consultant

A few years ago, I was sitting with a group of area clergy after a long day of conference workshops. They were all from the same region and knew each other well. We sat outside on the lodge porch with candles glowing. The conversation was warm and inviting – a mix of jokes, stories, and general good will. After a while the conversation turned to racial justice issues in their churches and communities. They expressed frustration with their regional church leadership. In the face of both national and local events, they had asked for a more prophetic stance against the racism they were witnessing. There was resistance from the top hierarchy to do anything substantive, and many found the churches where they served also resistant. In short, many of these clergy felt caught in the web of structural racism and weak leadership. There was a sense of disempowerment, defeat, and loneliness.

Then the question emerged, “What are you willing to do anyway?” In short, if the church you serve doesn’t want to address racism and your governing body is resistant, AND you feel this is so important to you, what steps of faithfulness are you willing to take anyway? In short, are you willing to take a stand even if those you most closely identify with don’t have your back and won’t join you?

It was an empowering and a scary thought. As the conversation continued, they seemed to sense greater freedom… and risk.

Our writings in February have introduced our blog readers to stories of communities who have taken risks – risks like daring to honestly reflect their values in resistant neighborhoods, risks in opening their doors as sanctuary spaces, providing emergency funds for families facing deportation, and standing publicly with vulnerable populations, and risks of taking profound and brave steps when they realize their church is dying.

But what happens when your community does not share your convictions? What happens when your institutions want to play it safe? Whether you are paid to lead a church or are a church member in leadership, we all want to feel that we are on the same page as our faith communities about things that matter most, and when this does not happen, it can feel like a lonely place and downright depressing.

What are you going to do anyway?

When there is structural resistance to faithful action, what will you and I do? What risk are we willing to take? Brené Brown reminds us:

“We are not here to fit in, be well balanced, or provide examples for others.
We are here to be eccentric, different, perhaps strange, perhaps merely to add our small piece,
our little clunky, chunky selves, to the great mosaic of being.
As the gods intended, we are here to become more and more ourselves.”
― Brené Brown, Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.

Your colleagues at FaithX want to accompany you with tools, and resources, and connections that empower you on your journey toward courageous presence, faithful action, and deeper belonging. We can be found at info@faithx.net.