I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:11-13, NIV)
Where are the 999?
Who was Bonhoeffer? Who was Wilberforce? Who was Kirk? It’s astonishing how few people have no clue who these men were.
Bonhoeffer, maybe the greatest practical theologian ever. While fighting the worst fascist regime of all time, he found common ground across the world, faiths, and cultures. Calling the greatness in humanity to action.
Wilberforce, a man erased from, or never put into, our history books. All he did was nearly single-handedly dismantle the most evilly devised worldwide economic trading model ever devised: humans for spices for crops.
Kirk, until September 10th, was a man you likely never heard of. At best, thought was some alt-right political hack. Or at worst, a homophobic, sexist, racist.
Get out of your echo chamber. Pick up a book or take a class. Quit wasting your time reading these stupid blogs.
How do we not know these men? Because they’re men? Because they’re white? No, because of me. Because I don’t care enough about you to get you to take a look. Because of you. Who, like me, are wasteful and lazy. Feeding on information most readily available, most easily digested. Info that only comes from my circle and the poisonous exclusionary splinter of my social media feeds, giving me what it thinks I’ll stay glued to as a typical white man. You, who like me, fall into the easy path of hatred, disgust, and worst of all, a hubris of pitying others for their stupidity and ignorance. With no desire to listen and learn. No awareness of our own stupidity.
Give me a break. Take 10 minutes to read about Bonhoeffer and Wilberforce. Then try to understand what Kirk was trying to say in the video above. Then shut up and do something with your life. Something of value. Instead of trying to shock us with your hateful, murderous rhetoric, inciting the demented. Or possibly worse, complacency in allowing people to be idiots without consequences for their destruction.
Bonhoeffer fought the Nazis for their murderous genocide, while fighting to get us to stand up. Wilberforce destroyed the universally accepted open market slave trade while trying to get us to stand up. Kirk was simply expressing a message of love, peace, and truth. Murdered for his method, while trying to get a thousand of us to step up. Sadly, there’s not a thousand. Probably not a hundred.
Lord, let me be one of the thousand. Help me find the other 999. Grant me the faith, fortitude, and love to also help find common ground with my enemies. More importantly, an ear of grace. A willingness to sacrifice all, knowing that you will provide. Knowing I can do all things in your will and strength.
A Faith to Fight 