I was attending my church back home, Rochester, NY. The service usually does not get going until after the announcements have been made. To be honest, I zone out during this time but today was different. A few days ago, the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile tragically took place, and I was hoping to hear a statement from my church. Throughout the week, I am sure we all looked to our different denominations, role models, entertainers, and athletes to speak on what has happened. To possibly see if they care about what is going on and are willing to use their influence to create effective change. I sat up as the elder began reading a statement from the congregation. I don’t remember what he said exactly, but there was a sentence that caught my attention. “As a church, we should not take sides.”
Choosing to not take sides is something that we as Christians usually don't do. To me, this seems to be the attitude that was prevalent while growing up in the church. If something that is considered to be tied to politics comes up in society, the church suggests that we all stay neutral and don’t get involved. In some cases, I think this is definitely warranted. Preaching sermons and speaking on one’s preferred candidate at the pulpit is highly inappropriate. However, not all matters that affect our world and seen by our church are political. In an instance when lives are unlawfully lost and people are being oppressed, the politics of the situation pale in comparison to the call the gospel gives us to help heal our fellow man and fight for justice to those who are wronged.
Taking sides is something that we avoid, but our Savior did indeed take a side when he decided to fight injustice. There are always two sides, good and evil, and every day we choose which side we will live for. Jesus made that decision every day when he was here. In addition, He ministered to specific groups of people. The Samaritan women at the well (John 4: 1-42), and Zacchaeus, who was a tax collector hated by many, (Luke 19:1-10) are just a few examples. Jesus ministered to people that were marginalized and looked down upon in society. This is important to note, because we can confuse fighting for a specific group, as an act of alienating others. That is simply not the case, for working to solve societal issues is specificity is the best way of doing so.
It is well known that throughout Christ’s time on earth, He used parables, fed the hungry, and was social with people that He was ministering to. Through these methods, he was able to make meaningful change. By that logic, Jesus was truly a social activist. He did not sit on the sidelines, in fear of taking a side or being associated with a certain people for risk of bad publicity. Jesus was in the trenches, fulfilling the needs of the people, and then giving the gospel to them when they could receive it. The Gospel is social activism, and we should follow the lead of one of the greatest activists to walk on this earth.
