beat #7 - jasmine (Wednesday, March 7, 2012 / 8:00 AM)
This week the KONY2012 video has gone viral, and it seems that it will continue to do so for a while.
The call to action on April 20th is building up, and call me cynical, but it saddens me to think there is a huge possibility that this will all just die down eventually.
Don't get me wrong, a social justice issue going viral is a dream come true for any activism group.
It means thousands of people hearing the message that is your mandate.
It is wonderful, that an issue is capturing the attention it deserves, and is pushing for action that it needs.
It is absolutely inspiring, to see the way creative activism can change the game, to see that there are many different ways to contribute to this issue.
But.
Having been working in a social justice campus group for the last two years, i have had to face the ugly truth: attentions spans are unbelievably short.
I am as guilty of it as much as everyone else. Issues rise and fade - monthly, weekly, daily...
Perhaps people are not indifferent intentionally...
Perhaps they are just indifferent because of the many other things calling for their attention.
KONY2012 is effective, because it presents what people want, as a solution to its cause:
the excitement of making change, the revolutionary style of bringing that change, and the idea that it is the "we" that bring all the change.
i beg to differ... on some things.
If we are called, as Christians, to be salt and light to the world, and to bring the gospel to everyone...that is commission, not option.
If it is commission, and we acknowledge the authority of He who commissioned,
then we have to obey.
It is not about what we can do. It is about what He has done, is doing and will do.
That, is the why.
That is the only unchanging, unswerving, constant why to fight for social justice.
And the lack of this why,
is the root of all the problems that come up when talking about social justice.
it is the reason why people sit around and criticize each other's actions, all talk and no do.
it is the reason why a Facebook event rallies hundreds of people and only a few will show up.
it is the reason why social justice often becomes all about us and not about them, because if its not about us, if it doesn't offer anything for us, there is no reason to join.
Let me ask you this: if you did not feel the satisfaction of having done a good work, or if you did not see the success of your endeavors, would you still obey?
The truth is,
- passion will not get you through the hardest times.
- that feel-good feeling of doing something will fade, when everything you do seems to be the same as doing nothing.
- the battle cry will die out when the army you are trying to fight is hidden amidst the tangles of bureaucratic jargon, policy and law.
i challenge you to think about your why.
my why, i hope, is obedience to my God, whose unending grace is what enables me to join Him in his restorative plan for change.
what is yours?
