Justice Conference Reflection

A major idea that was uncovered for me was the concept of identity. Rick McKinley and Donald Miller seemed to touch on this subject the most. McKinley talked about how we are the beloved of God; not once we’re fully sanctified but right now, in the present. I really enjoyed his declaration that Christ loves you right now, not who you may become. I originally saw this dialogue in light of Christians who are trying to pursue justice. It was a reminder that God doesn’t necessarily love us because of what we do, but because of who we are, that we’ve been created in the image of God. McKinley could have taken this one step further and connected it to the people we’re trying to reach and restore. The same is true for them. God is the one who pulls them out of the injustice and loves them as they are right in this minute, not as what they may become later.

 Donald Miller tied into this idea as he discussed the lie of our culture that someone is not loveable or meaningful until they are winning or succeeding. Miller explains that there is a redemptive perspective on our suffering which should lead us to experience a deep sense of meaning. In experiencing meaning we should be asking the question, “What does the world expect from me today?” and “What can I create that will add beauty to my community today?” I found these questions helpful and a bit more straight-forward than what I had heard from the conference. It’s still extremely vague but Miller gives the audience a personal starting point which can lead many ways. I did enjoy his leaning toward rich, deep, and safe relationships, which for me seems to be a better jumping off point when trying to pursue justice. Whereas other jumping off points seemed to be dealing with systems and structures to justice, as Nicole Baker Fulgham introduced.

Fulgham’s presentation was solely based on education and statistics about the inequality of education in America. It was an informative presentation which also touched on a lack of purpose within students and schools. Fulgham explain that churches are needed most in the areas of awareness, action, and advocacy and that we should engage with humility, civility, and compassion. But I still wasn’t sure what I was supposed to be doing about this. I wished that she would have honed in more on the details for the next step in this process. Like previously mentioned, I feel like many of these student’s lives could be changed through rich, deep and safe relationships which I could only create with a handful of students through church outreach or another nonprofit organization. So I can see why Fulgham is pressing in on the systemic injustice of this situation but I’m still not sure what I am to be doing about this issue.

Finally, a few of the topics Ken Wytsma addressed hit me a bit more personally. He talked about education in American and how it has lost it's value here. He observed how we simply exchange conclusions or trade opinions through social media, yet without discoursing on how we arrived at those conclusions. This way of exchanging conclusions doesn't help to deepen the conversation because we don't have to argue with others or witness someone's train of thought. Although I felt that Wytsma's presentation was a bit disjointed, I resonated a lot with these opening ideas of education. I generally hate arguing with others, even in a spirit of joy and humility; I just hate rocking the boat. But seeing the end result of this as simply exchanging conclusions truly seems empty. This was encouraging for me to see the reason for arguing and for discussing how we come to our conclusions. It allows us to be more prepared to give a defense for what we believe and I think this could be applied to justice in the way of discussing life with those who live life differently than I do. I can begin to make connections easier and see why someone believes a certain as well as meaningfully explain how I came to my own conclusions. And so I'd like to re-create social media. At least my social media. Why don't we begin dialoguing more, instead of just exchanging conclusions?