It was in the aftermath of the Capitol riots on January 6th that a dear friend asked me to offer some of my thoughts on how Christian activists can stay invested over the long haul. I admit, the term “Christian activist” gave me pause, although I knew what she meant and why that is a term exists within the contemporary conversation. The unfortunate-yet-possibly-accurate implication is that a majority of church-goers are passive and inert, while a few choose to get involved in the struggles for justice. It is my conviction, however, that all Christians should be “activists”, because our allegiance to Jesus requires of us a readiness to enter into the darkest places in this world and offer tangible expressions of hope and healing.
I have compiled a few observations I have made over the years that I have found especially helpful in considering my own involvement in justice issues. My hope is that you will be able to reframe the work ahead so that you can find a sustainable way to keep going.
The most fruitful work will be the most difficult and will take a long time. The era of social media has given rise to a phenomenon rather cynically called “slacktivism”, in which posting and reposting ideas becomes the central way of standing up for justice. Unfortunately for many, it becomes the gold standard by which we measure others’ involvement, or it is the summation of our action rather than the starting point. The fact that we project so much of our lives onto social media has led me to observe what’s often going on behind our posts:
It feels good to speak out to those who a) we agree with and b) we are close to.
It feels good to speak against those who a) we don’t agree with and b) we are not close to.
It feels scary to speak to those who a) we don’t agree with and b) we are close to.
It may be difficult to admit, but the most powerful transformation will happen because of courage in that last category. The first offers us affirmation from our people, the second is easy because the opposition is a de-personalized concept. There is nothing wrong with either of these categories, but too often our investment in justice only extends that far because it’s quick and safe. To stand for truth in relationship with people we disagree with requires a tremendous amount of endurance and discernment to prove effective. But Jesus admonished his disciples as he first sent them out into the big scary world to be “as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves” (Matt. 10:16).
It is good to engage with big ideas in the abstract, but we also have to look for tangible, local opportunities to make a difference. Every question of justice will have some sort of manifestation in our local community, if we look for it. We can also use our wealth to support the work of those who are dedicating their lives to education and action. Don’t let the energy go to waste in only posting online.
Contemplation and Action go hand-in-hand. Too often, the pursuit of justice is treated as a reactionary endeavor - we’re trying to catch up with the latest breaking news or issue bubbling to the surface on social media. This is the quickest way to activist burnout, because we’re guided by what’s happening outside ourselves without regard for our souls. Not only that, but we are at a disadvantage because we find ourselves emotionally ill-prepared to show up when tragedy inevitably strikes. What we need is to exercise the muscles of virtue so we can respond well when the time comes - emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Soul-training produces resilience.
A richer interior life will provide sustainability for a rich exterior one. The revolutions of the 1960’s are an example and warning to us today, that the protests against the Vietnam War and for civil rights led many young people to burn themselves out and slip into becoming part of the statues quo by the mid-70’s and 1980’s. They were exhausted and spiritually bankrupted. When we slow down and intentionally carve out space for rhythms of contemplation, we will found we are grounded in something more eternal that cannot be shaken by the travesty of the day. We have a starting point for knowing what to do and how to be fully present without dashing ourselves upon the rocks of temporary rage.
You will know prayer is working when it prompts you to right action, and vice-versa. As Pope Francis once offered us, “You pray for the hungry. Then you feed them. This is how prayer works.” The long-term journey of contemplation and action is less about “balance” as it is knowing what is needed in the moment to keep yourself grounded and awake.
Don’t confuse the political counter-narratives for the gospel. Our modern society is plagued by two-party system thinking. Figuring out which political affiliation is “more Christian” is a fool’s errand, and lowers our expectations of the Kingdom. The reality is, naturally, that both dominant political parties have at least some overlap with the politics of Jesus, but neither can realistically claim to be on God’s side through-and-through; Christian nationalism is prevalent on both sides of the aisle.
Yet what often happens for young Christians is that they become so disillusioned by one conflation of faith and politics (in the current moment it is conservatism, but I suspect the pendulum is about to swing again) that it is falsely believe the “other side” is more faithful to the tenants of Jesus. Before long they have switched one unreflective party allegiance for another, rather than transcending either category and learning how to think like Christians first. When theologian Stanley Hauerwas comments, “there is so little good religious discourse in this country, because most American Christians don’t know how to read the Bible well. And they don’t know how to read the Bible well, because they are Americans before they are Christians”, it can apply just as easily to the Left as to the Right. We see a parallel in the ways Pharisees (religious conservatives) and Sadduccees (religious liberals) tried to pin Jesus into their way of thinking, yet he left both stumbling over their assumptions. Allegiance to a binary party system and claiming one is in line with the gospel while the other is not robs us of the creative work of discovering the Kingdom way, one which often requires us to unmoor ourselves from conventional wisdom and lay hold of prophetic imagination.
The peaceable life Jesus calls us to means the most when it’s really hard to do.
Americans are obsessed with utilitarian ethics, which means that we make decisions based on desired outcomes, and emotivism, which means we make decisions based on how we feel in the moment. Too often we see the radical lifestyle Jesus calls us to live and think to ourselves, “Jesus had some nice ideas, but this is the real world. That’s just not practical in so-and-so situation”. It is too easy to forget that first century Judea, by most measurements, had it far worse than twenty-first century America! Jews were living in an occupied territory with foreign soldiers bandying about, all with a 90% poverty rate due to excessive taxation. Paul, as he travels the known world proclaiming the good news of King Jesus, was beaten, imprisoned, chased, and almost killed numerous times. This should give credence to the lifestyle they are calling us to live, especially when it comes to having a difficult family member or trying to find time to stay involved in what’s going on in the world.
As little christs, we love and pray for our enemies, because love is only love if it is evidential. Like Paul, we remind ourselves that “our struggle is not with flesh and blood” (Eph. 6:12), that "we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world” (2 Cor. 20:3-5). We make decisions on how we fight for justice not based on what we think is most practical, but because of our commitment to being faithful to Jesus and his way. We can’t imagine being in the world any other way. This means our resolve to love as he did will be stretched and tested by confronting evil and telling the truth through word and deed, but it is the only way the resolve is strengthened.
I will say this: the moment we dehumanize other people we have lost our claim to the grace of God. This applies to presidents and parents. Once again, it is necessary for us to do the interior work to see all people as God does. Only then will we know how to advocate for justice for all.
This is a lifetime of work, but you have to believe it’s worth it. Resolve that we will not solve anything by the weekend, and that’s okay. You may never see the monumental evils of poverty, white supremacy and racism, prison reform, and so on resolved in your lifetime. Is it still worth using the time you have to move society in the right direction? I lean on the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., here: "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice”.
It is helpful to look for the “happy warriors” who keep churning away when the fickle news and social media move onto the next thing. They demonstrate the inner resolve we all need to keep chipping away at justice regardless of what is in fashion. For yourself, develop long-term plans for staying awake and active. Use your calendar to schedule times to learn and times to get out there and do something. Ask friends to come alongside of you; this will make you feel less alone.