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You Are Not an Activist

Right now, it seems like it’s a very cool thing to be involved in “social justice” and it seems like the more facebook pages we like, and causes we claim to support, the cooler we look. Today a few of my facebook friends are posting this video on their facebook pages that addresses this trend.  Check it out…I want to hear what you think.

Facebook is full of causes to like, and injustices to fight. With the click of a mouse, we can spread the word that children in Africa need clean water, or human trafficking is epidemic, or unfair laws exist in Central Asia. I have several causes on my own page that I “like.”

But is that enough?

Is there a place for educating our friends? For raising awareness? For nodding are heads in agreement that something is terrible? Or are we called to something more?

The Bible speaks to the role of those who follow Christ when we are presented with an injustice. Isaiah 1:17 says this: 

“Learn to do right; seek justice.

Defend the oppressed.

Take up the cause of the fatherless;

plead the case of the widow.”

It’s clear that we are called by God to move into action, and I think that looks different for every one of us. The thing is to be right-doers, and seekers of justice, and defenders and pleaders costs us something. It always does. To “bear the weight” as the video put it, takes sacrfice and time and money. It can take our very lives. It’s easier to agree that something is wrong than to sacrifice something of ourselves to make it right.

I’m not saying that everyone needs to make a drastic move to a foreign country, or sell all of their possessions to build wells in Africa. What I am saying is that maybe we need lives that are less about “liking” something, and more about doing it. I think that’s what God is talking about.

I fall short in this area. I get so focused on growing our ministry with the right programs, and researching approaches that sometimes I lose sight of the “why” that brought me to El Salvador in the first place.

It’s easy to get so overwhelmed with the big injustices in the world that we forget about the injustices in our own hometown. What about the fatherless boys in our cities who need mentors? Or the single mom raising three kids? I think she could use a little defending and pleading for.

Could God really use us to fight injustices every day? Can we really be part of bringing His Kingdom into every cul-de-sac, and school, and neighborhood, and slum, and brothel, and dark corner of the world? Yes, I think we can.

So what do you think? Are Americans guilty of “liking” too much and not doing?

3 Responses to You Are Not an Activist

  1. Great thoughts Danielle. I think that we as people can get so focused on the immediate and miss the big picture. My picture is so small that I miss the people that live right next to me. I can be so narrow-minded. This video and your blog have reminded me again of Christ’s call to look outside of myself. Thanks to God that he did!

  2. It is far too easy to just “like” a cause or soemthing but the difficult part is to take action, whatever form it may be, the taking action is what is needed more!

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