Emergent Village
In 1969 The Who released the now famed rock opera album Tommy. Mostly written by Who guitarist Pete Townsend as a way of working through his abusive childhood, Tommy was a hit. As I think about the abusive relationship between to colonial Christian West and the indigenous peoples who have been degraded, exploited, and now forgotten I bring a challenge. Many of my friends have said, “okay, I agree, but what can I do?” So, I will try my best to come up with actionable points in each post that we can all engage in together.
In the next several post I will frame four questions to my Western Christian brothers and sisters,
1. See me: A Call to the Western Church to Invite Those Different Than Them to the Table.
2. Feel Me: A Challenge to the Western Church to Hear and Feel the Pain of Being Shut Out From the Conversation.
3. Touch Me: A Request to the Western Church to Enter into the Experience of the Other on a Grassroots Level.
4. Heal Me: An Invitation to Join in the Healing Process Together.
Of course, the problem with asking these questions are manifold.
- Will the posts get to the right people or will this just be more “preaching to the choir?”
- Will Western Christians minimize this as just another call for the same ‘multiculturalism” they are tired of hearing about?
- Will the importance of these questions escape most Westerners because it can be, and it’s just another “minority thing?”? In other words, they have nothing to lose by skipping this appeal.
The answer to these questions is probably “yes,” but I’m going to post them anyway. You can help by sharing, liking and emailing these to your friends, especially your Western friends. I’m hoping to hear back from some folks after they read these post-both positive and negative. If you care, please respond after each of the four post.
A question you can begin thinking about is: What is the cost to the whole community of faith when a particular part, in this case indigenous followers of Jesus, are shut out?
Thanks!
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