Singing about Injustice

"God of the Bible, God in the Gospel,
hope seen in Jesus, hope yet to come,
you are our center, daylight or darkness,
freedom or prison, you are our home.

God in our struggles, God in our hunger,
suffering with us, taking our part,
still you empower us, mothering Spirit,
feeding, sustaining, from your own heart.

Those without status, those who are nothing,
you have made royal, gifted with rights,
chosen as partners, midwives of justice,
birthing new systems, lighting new lights.

Not by your finger, not by your anger
will our world order change in a day,
but by your people, fearless and faithful,
small paper lanterns, lighting the way.

Hope we must carry, shining and certain
through all our turmoil, terror, and loss,
bonding us gladly one to the other,
till our world changes facing the cross."

This is a song we sang in my church on Thanksgiving day. We meet for a short time to sing, read scripture, and reflect on what we are thankful for. I have to say that faced with all the injustice in our society - and in every society - I do think that the true Christian way offers an alternative perspective that values and validates those whom society looks down upon.

I remember reading a book titled The Upside Down Kingdom for a college class I took years ago; the premise of the book is that Jesus turns the standards of our society upside down. According to the teachings of Jesus, the first shall be last, and the last shall be first. Blessed are those who mourn, who hunger, who thirst, who are persecuted. The things that this world values least are ultimately of the most value.

This song speaks to God's actions in our world, and verse 2 and three (in italics) specifically speak about God changing the world order through his followers. I'm not saying you have to be a follower of Jesus to bring about social change - there are many who have made significant contributions to this world who aren't Christian (Ghandi, Greg Mortenson); I'm saying that the inverse SHOULD be true, that if you are a Christian you should be an advocate for social change. Unfortunately, it seems that this is not always - or even usually - the case. Most Christians in our society benefit from the current status quo and so they want to keep it that way to protect their own privileges.