earlier this week, i mentioned that last friday, i had a chance to chat some with gary haugen, the ceo/president of international justice mission.? my friend ben introduced me to my friend jeff who introduced me to my friend bethany who coordinated this entire phone call.
as a sidebar, i think it’s interesting we all have known each other for months online, but only recently met in person at catalyst back in october.
as most of you know, the trip i took to africa in february changed my world.? to experience poverty and hope and life and death and fear and courage in eight days didn’t just leave me reactive…it left me transformed.
and just when you think your eyes have been open as wide as they possibly can be, you’re shown something new.? that happened when i read gary’s book “just courage.”
from the jacket:
“There must be more to the Christian life than this–more than church each Sunday and waving to my neighbors and giving some clothes to Goodwill when I go through my closet each spring.”
These aren’t bad things, of course. But they’re safe and comfortable and easy. And there’s a reason they’re not satisfying your desire for something more significant and meaningful–we’re created by God for adventure.
International Justice Mission president Gary Haugen has found that engaging in the fight for justice is the most deeply satisfying way of life. This book shows how we too can be a part of God’s great expedition.
after reading his book, and our conversation on friday, i’ve been left with some nuggets and then haunted with a question i’ll ask at the end.? here’s a bullet point list of some things gary said:
*We know how to bring evangelism, food, water, and housing to the poor. These are beginning to become mainstream.? We can do these things, and do them comfortably.
*What do we do about the problem of violence and the brutal abuse of power in people who are tortured, murdered, raped, or manipulated in violent ways? We are not familiar with these things.? We don’t know what to do.? We don’t feel empowered.
*Why is violence so intimidating? It’s intentional.? Not the result of bad luck or viruses or bad weather.? It is the force of humans intending to hurt other humans.
*Violence is scary.? It fights back.
*If you feed someone, you’re not going to be attacked by hunger. But when you attack violence, usually it’s going to fight back.? There is a test of courage that is special when fighting violence.
*Violence is not as powerful as we think. It happens because we are letting people get away with it.
*The oppressors of the poor are not brave.? It’s a crime of opportunity.? As soon as they sense a threat, they begin to leave. Gary told a story of how he saw one of the worst areas he had ever seen in his life on a visit to Asia.? Years later, the brothels where hundreds of children were traded and sold into the sex tourism industry, had disappeared and his fifteen year old niece was helping lead a Vacation Bible School in the same spot.? The violence had been confronted and it left.
*Violent people depend on lies and deception. If the world saw the truth about violence, they wouldn’t let it continue.*We need to learn the truth about what’s happening and expose it.? We need to become hard-nosed truth tellers.
violence needs to be confronted with truth.? when you confront violence, it fights back.? millions of people are slaves to violent acts — slave and sex trafficking, murder, rape — and in order to end it, we have to acknowledge it, face it, and quite possibly, take a very large risk.
a risk that may cost some of us our lives.
and thus the black-and-white, extreme side of me asks…
would i die for someone’s freedom?
would you?
Comments
21 responses to “would you die for them?”
Sure, get down to the point and ask the tough question.
“Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.” Paul said a mouthful there – it’s the might possibly that’s the real kicker. Paul is saying that it is the rare case that someone would die for a person considered of importance; if that is rare, then how rare indeed giving one’s life for the poor, humble stranger? But that is the essence of Christ’s actions.
I would like to answer yes to your question. In the end, when it comes down to it, I fear the weakness of my own resolve to live, even die, for another.
The easy answer is of course I would. The reality is that I’m not sure. I would like to think that I would, but the temptation to stay around here and be with my wife and children is a strong pull. This is a question that has been on my mind a great deal lately.
I’m beginning to think that it’s a question on the minds of a great deal of younger Christians these days.
knock it off anne. every time i come here, i end up convicted (not condemned).
i think the fact that i’m still sitting in my comfortable chair at my plush office building with heat, food, water, clothing, and safety (oh, and a job) answers your question. i want to take the risk. i don’t know how to let go.
would i seek it? no.
would i treat the gift of life God has given me indiscriminately? no.
would i do it? yes.
I heard a missionary say “it’s easy to be willing to die for someone as a Christian but most times we are ask to live, live in a dungeon maybe a mud hut, without comforts we take for granted, and then we start to think dieing might be easier and better”. For me it comes down to kickin in the gates of hell no matter how that looks. Get it going, everyone, full throttle living or dieing, just tell HIM I will do whatever you ask of me, PERIOD.
Get out of here! That’s so cool. I’m reading Just Courage right now and have been posting about IJM for a while now.
Yeah, I think I’d die for someone’s freedom. That’s easy to say, but another thing altogether when you are thrown into that situation.
I went to Africa 2 summers ago. It definitely changed my worldview. I believe every American needs to see some 3rd world poverty country. It gives such a perspective.
Would I die for another? I would hope I would, since I know that I am going to spend eternity with my abba Father.
I probably would be more willing in the case of knowing the person…
But I would trust God to give me the grace to do it whenever he asked it of me.
Lindy
I’ve been struggling with this question with more freeqnency and intensity as of late. The more I learn about human trafficking and the sex trade, the answer is yes. I cannot imagine sitting here in my comfortable house, claiming I worship God but not being willing to be a part of a movement to free people from bondage. My family and friends shudder when I say this, but I am truly willing to lay down my life. It’s not mine anyway, is it, if I am a follower of Christ? He gave his life for me…who am I to hold onto my life?
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me
Because the Lord has anointed me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound
Isaiah 61:1
I applied for two jobs at IJM last year, but both of them were a bit out of my reach because of experience! I can’t imagine ever leaving from work at IJM and thinking, “Why do I do what I do? Is it even working?”
We don’t need guns and swords for this battle, we need some really good cops and lawyers!
have you ever been to tent city here in nashville? a friend and i are going tomorrow. wanna come?
to sit back and ponder that question leaves me uneasy and unsure. My 2 beautiful girls are watching Cartoons next to me, and I say could I just leave them like that? The answer is painfully No. I think that is due (ironically) to an inflated sense of self importance… I say Ironically because it is usually the opposite feeling of “who am I, what can I do” that keeps people from doing anything.
I know however that I want my children to live and Love boldly. And not weigh the costs of doing so.
I would love to say YES but I war with myself over this everyday.
gee -reminds me of my previous post about standing up to violence – funny how noone else would
the short answer is heck yes, i do it every day at the clinic
In my head, I would say yes. Practically, I’d have to wait for an opportunity to test it out :P
I want to say yes! I pray that if ever faced with that decision that I would.
I wonder how you prepare for such a moment?. Hard to imagine much would prepare you except massive doses of time with God.
Anne, this post has challenged me more than any of your previous posts. I’m done throwing money at the world’s problems. I want to take action now.
I lived in the eastern D.R. Congo, where rape is used as a weapon of war on a massive scale and the degree of human suffering makes poverty elsewhere in Africa look like luxury. The injustice there is so complex and so intertwined that it’s impossible to know where to start, and difficult to see how it could be fixed.
Haugen is absolutely right that violence almost always fights back, but that it festers because it’s allowed to do so. If we are really willing to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters, we have to be willing to give up everything. But that truth that sets us free does so to let us love without condition because it releases us from the fear. Paul Tillich had a sermon I love called “Love is Stronger than Death.” The people I know who serve without condition in the D.R. Congo are free in that radical love, and they are not scared of death. They cross the rebel and government lines every day, they yell at soldiers on every side of the conflict to stop their human rights abuses, they feed children whose parents are dead, they look into the eyes of women and girls whose bodies and spirits are so completely broken that they are dead inside and promise a future. Once you get past the fear, anything is possible.
FYI, Anne, I finally got my summary of the conversation posted on Inspired to Action yesterday.
Anne,
Thanks for this post. It has turned me on to IJM and the book Just Courage. I’ve added the book to my reading list. We are looking to partner with organizations like IJM as we endeavor to plant social justice churches.
I’m going to repost your blog post on facebook. I have many friends there that are taking a stand for social justice.
I thank God for you Anne and for how you are using your life to make a difference in our day. May God raise up more just like you.
Know that you are loved,
gaj
I hope so.
This photo looks familiar. Who took it, Anne?
.-= Jeff?s last blog ..Building Community, Jon Acuff Style (Slowly and Honestly) =-.
Google Images. :)
.-= Anne Jackson?s last blog ..Going Way Back: Celebrating Big Givers =-.