Inspiration for Change Agents | Conviction for the Body of Christ
“We need, in every community, a group of angelic troublemakers.”
Bayard Rustin
I was inspired by a quote from the late civil rights leader from West Chester, PA, Bayard Rustin. After returning home from a conference in India in 1948, he wrote, “We need, in every community, a group of angelic troublemakers.” Seventy years later, his words still ring true. We need them now more than ever.
In front of 170 W 130 St., March on Washington, Bayard Rustin, Deputy Director, and Cleveland Robinson, Chairman of Administrative Committee (left to right). World Telegram & Sun photo by O. Fernandez. (Library of Congress’s Prints and Photographs division)
The work of the Angelic Troublemaker is to eradicate injustice wherever it exists. It begins with leading your community through the process of hearing from God how his justice must be applied, then moving people forward to mobilization. Seeking God’s justice is the only cure for injustice. It is rooted in seeking the welfare of those who are unable to fend for themselves. We have a moral obligation to take action against unfair treatment, unequal access to resources, unlivable conditions, and inequitable limitations on opportunities.
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.
Isaiah 1:16-17
The work of the Angelic Troublemaker is not limited by racial, socioeconomic, or any other demographic boundaries; this work is to achieve God’s justice for all. As Dr. Eric Mason writes, “We have a gospel imperative that challenges us to care for the least among us.” That means speaking up for all of those that can’t speak up for themselves, not just the ones that look like us, and not just for the causes that impact us.
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
Micah 6:8
The work of eradicating injustice is a part of the work of the Gospel. Justice-seeking and disciple-making work together in God’s redemptive mission of humanity. As the body of Christ, and agents in this mission of redemption and reconciliation, we are called to stand in the gap for those that share commonalities with us and those outside of our cultural context as well. We are to defend and seek the welfare of those who are most vulnerable to suffer from injustice. Don’t be afraid to speak out against injustice, inequality, inequity, and inhumanity. Like the Honorable John Lewis once said, “when you see something that’s not right, not fair, not just, say something. Do something. Get in trouble. Good trouble. Necessary trouble.”
Photo by Life Matters from Pexels