Do you remember that too?
I had no idea what it meant at the time, but I clicked around until I learned about #WeAreN.
In short, the symbol is the Arabic letter "N," and the letter here represents the word "Nasrani" which means Christian.
#WeAreN was (is) a campaign to show solidarity with Iraqi Christians who were forced by members of ISIS to convert, pay a significant fine, or die.
I learned about the campaign on August 10, and from that day until now, my Facebook profile picture has been that single letter. I cared, and I wanted to care deeply. I wanted a consistent reminder in my life of the suffering of the Iraqi believers. I wanted to remind others as well.
That was over two months ago. People have slowly been changing their profile pictures to actual photos. I've been silently wondering for weeks whether (when) I should change mine. Obviously, I haven't figured that one out yet.
The other day, I was reading in Hebrews, and a verse completely caught me off-guard:
"Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies." (Hebrews 13:3)
I just stared at the page. I reread it. And I asked, "What would my life look like if I actually did this?"
I didn't know the answer then, and I still don't know it. But I've been continuing to ask myself that question for the past five days.
I at least know why I can't answer that question. It's because I have never remembered the Christians in prisons as if I was there myself; I have never remembered those being mistreated as if I felt their pain in my own body.
I just haven't. Those ideas seem so foreign. I have never personally known someone in prison because of Jesus. I have never personally known someone who has been severely mistreated because of Jesus.
Yet I am convinced that although those previous two sentences are a blessing, they are not an adequate excuse.
The persecuted church matters. Jesus cares about the persecuted church deeply, and I should too. Because although I'm not (currently) experiencing the sufferings of the persecuted church, I am still a member of the universal Church, the bride of Jesus. And the Bible makes it clear that the universal Church is one single body.
"The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.... If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad. All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it." (1 Corinthians 12:12-13, 26-27)
(I know we typically look at those verses when it comes to remembering not to compare our different gifts, but those truths go beyond those gifts.) The universal Church is Christ's body. All of the believers from every nation contribute to it. And we cannot ignore the suffering of our body. We are meant to be united. We need to care. We need to remember those who are being mistreated, as if we felt their pain in our own bodies because the pain is in our Body.
But I still don't know what that looks like. I just have a deep conviction that this needs to change in my life. (That's a good place to at least start, right?)
There's no nicely packaged ending to this post -- no pretty yellow bow. There's just a question: how do we do this? How do we remember those well?
I need suggestions. I am writing this in order to receive suggestions, so if you have them, please share. Let's walk through this little journey together.
Some resources I've come across include:
If you're reading this thinking something like "I want to know more about Jesus and how he cares for his people and what that would look like in my life," ask someone. Ask me. I would love to tell you more about Jesus. He's worth knowing.
No comments:
Post a Comment