Who is in Charge?
Can we talk for a minute about the statement:
“It’s ok because God is in charge”
Because, what if God isn’t?
What if we are the ones that are in charge?
The Christian Bible starts with the call to ‘fill the earth and subdue it. In other words, Genesis seems to indicate that God has entrusted all this to us.
What does “God is in Charge” mean in the face of all of the violence and injustice in the world - much of it collateral damage caused by us trying to be safe?
When I look at the world, I see humans in charge all over the place.
We are each in charge of how we will use our power and voice today. Our collective choices on how we use our voice and power are shaping the world around us.
We are in charge.
When we light up comment sections with our anger and rage; when we see only the “evil” and not the humanity of our enemies; when we try to force (political, passive aggressive, or physical) other people to comply with our vision of the world; when we forget that faith calls us to humility and love - not moral control; when we do all those and more, we are creating the world we live in. It is time that we take our “in-chargeness” more seriously.
When we forget we are in charge, we do just sit back munch popcorn looking for the next person to blame for the world we live in. But this strategy of passivity and blame is a blueprint for a world that nobody will enjoy living in. A better blueprint involved me taking an assessment of my power and my permission and reaching out with my hands and using my energy to build something that I love and want to be part of.
Maybe it is time to take a new look at our neighborhoods, communities, and the world and allow our power and control to sink in.
Why have *WE* built it this way?
How have my personal choices contributed to the ugly in the world?
What sort of world might I actually be excited to wake up in daily?
Maybe it’s time for faith + love to compel us to use our power and voice to live as if we truly were God’s hands and hearts sent to care for and shape the world around us, starting with the little patch of soil between our two feet.
