Until We Meet Again...In The Arena

There are multiple times, when life calls us to gather our courage and to risk our comfort. For each time, I have responded to that I call, I've never regretted doing so, despite loss. 

Music by Scott Holmes - A Wee Tipple 
Non Copyright Music

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:08

Recently, I came across something I wrote a few years ago after realizing some people were seeing a side of me they hadn't known and were making assumptions about my motives. I never sent it or posted it anywhere, but I think it still speaks to those uncomfortable times that happen in life when there is a need for people to gather their courage and to speak up. But so often, due to fear of many things, our avoidance is justified in some way. These uncomfortable situations occur in families, workplaces, relationships, and even spiritual communities, just to name a few. And because the concerns expressed and decisions to not show up were justified through a biblical lens. I drew from the same source when writing this. So here goes. Dear friend, lately I have been speaking truth to power, and it seems to have caught you off guard. I can only imagine how difficult it must be to watch someone you thought you knew live in a whole new way you haven't seen before. There's a part of me that can understand why you've been silent, withdrawn, and watched from afar. But there's another part that feels unexpectedly alone, talked about, and judged. So you believe I'm bitter. I wonder, did Jesus' friends also believe he was bitter? After all, he was prone to directly confront the arrogance of the religious leaders, quite openly, in fact. He called them names, hypocrites, offspring of vipers, fools, serpents, nothing more than whitewashed tombs, full of dead men's bones. I ask you, was he bitter? How about the whip he braided, then took through the temple while he destroyed property and caused a scene? Did he too have friends whose only framework for that type of direct engagement was bitterness? How about courage or speaking the truth? What many still do not know is there are some things worthy of passion, worthy of risking your reputation, like justice. How about standing by a friend who was betrayed, or speaking truth to power gone wrong? The trouble is that too many live their life never making something really matter, at least not enough to speak up about, not enough to leave their comfort zone, not enough to risk being perceived as bitter. I understand that bitterness is the only way you can frame this type of boldness and directness. After all, not many of us have had confrontation modeled well. And yet, I can most assuredly say, in all of the ways I have stood up in the last several months, not once have I felt bitter. What I have felt is astonishment, grief, and anger when watching the actions by a leadership who lost their way. What I have felt is grief and my heartbreak as I see injustice forced upon a man who loved his people. What I have felt is the pull to give in to fear, as I have stood face to face with arrogance, viciously threatening, and greed, devouring everything good. At first you were all in, declaring your heart and offering your hand, but fear set in, and doubt took hold. Doubt in your own intuition, doubt in who I was in my intentions, doubt in what was true. I get that. I know what all that feels like, but I've got to say, I wasn't expecting you to have conversations about me without me, especially conversations that concluded I was bitter. I do have to say, someone shouldn't have to be perfect to be fought for. They really don't. I certainly hope I don't have to be perfect either. And to those people that whispered to you, saying, Well, did you hear? I ask, if I applaud when injustice is served upon those I don't like, what does that say about my integrity? If I fail to stand up for what is right because people are getting what I think they deserve, what does that say about my intentions? I know this is unfamiliar territory for you, but my life has prepared me for this. This isn't the first time I've had to pay the price for speaking up, and it probably won't be the last. But there is also a high price not to, and that is a cost I truly cannot afford. I wish you well, so well, in fact, that sometime you will know what it feels like to have something deeply matter, so much so that you risk your own comfort, because looking in the mirror and seeing the strength and deep knowing that I carry in my heart now shining in my eyes makes all of it worth it. Hopefully we will meet again when you find your courage and join me in the arena.