Faith and action are often believed to be the same thing, but many times they can be completely separate in the fact that our faith stops at action and goes no further than just a feeling or intention. We have great examples of people of faith — like Dietrich Bonheoffer, Martin Luther King Jr., and Bishop Romero — who risked prestige, position, and power to move toward acting on their faith to provide equality, righteousness, and justice for those that were physically, socially, and spiritually oppressed within institutions of society. Walter Brueggeman, an Old Testament theologian, brings up a great statement on how we apply the gospel message in an interview published at Medium: “The Gospel is a very dangerous idea. We have to see how much of that dangerous idea we can perform in our own lives. There is nothing innocuous or safe about the Gospel. Jesus did not get crucified because he was a nice man.”
When we discuss the gospel of Jesus Christ, we realize that it is a revolutionary message asking us to love our enemies, to do good to those who curse us, and even harder, to turn the other cheek. The gospel is going beyond that. It is asking us to receive, stand, advocate for the poor, incarcerated, and those living in the margins who have been pushed out by the institutions of our society. Jesus took many risks at times during his ministry, and when he started turning over tables and exposing the priests’ racket of selling sacrifices, it did not work out so well for him.
I’m not asking people to go and get themselves killed, but just ask yourself, “How much of the gospel am I willing to perform?”
In the last election cycle, our organization, Faith In Action Kern County, embarked on an ambitious civic engagement campaign to reach out to 200,000+ voters. Clergy and faith leaders from diverse racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic denominations signed on to CA Prop 47 — which reclassified certain low level, non-violent and non-sexual crimes from felonies to misdemeanors — because we believed in redemption and second chances that will not criminalize our communities, but create more opportunity and dignity.
On Nov. 5, California began reclassifying these crimes, and immediately people began to be released to parole. It was very similar to when Jesus went into synagogue and read the words of the prophet Isaiah:
‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’ And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’ – Luke 4:18-21
Jesus states that he has come to bring the radical gospel message to the poor, bring sight to blind, release captives, and let oppressed go free — and that the fulfillment was happening before their very eyes. This fulfillment was happening on June 5 as well, as many of our children, siblings, and parents were set free from mass incarceration. It was the people of faith in California that made this happen, not the politicians and legislators.
People of faith organized and acted on systemic change to mass incarceration that affected the lives of members of our congregations. It is important now that we make sure the dollars saved from not having these individuals in prison get to drug programs, mental health services, and to schools, because the Bakersfield-Delano metro is fifth poorest region in the United States.
There are huge rifts in our nation concerning race, poverty, and mass incarceration. Faith In Action clergy, staff and leaders are taking steps to address accountability and transparency regarding deadly force by law enforcement. Our education work to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline and provide equitable funding for schools in minority areas is underway. Our campaign to protect and keep hardworking immigrant families together, provide health access, and stop deportation and detention is ongoing. Our final plea is to pay attention things going on around us, see how things are contrary to our faith values, and ask: How much discomfort, sacrifice, and work are we willing to do to perform the gospel?
Joey Williams is lead organizer at Faith in Action Kern County in California.
Image: modera761101 / Shutterstock.com
Got something to say about what you're reading? We value your feedback!