My Country Tis of Thee?

When we sing "My country tis of thee."  Who is "Thee?"  

It's God, right?

As a nation. As Christians. We believe that the United States of America exists because of God's blessing.

Why do we believe that God willed, sanctioned, even led 500 years of discovery, colonization, genocide, slavery, boarding schools, broken treaties, sexism, segregation and nuclear warfare? 

It's because of some Papal Bulls that were written in the 15th century known as the doctrine of discovery. At the most basic level, the Doctrine of Discovery is the Church in Europe saying to the nations of Europe, "Whatever lands you encounter that are not ruled by Christian rulers, those people are less than human and the land is yours for the taking." It was the Doctrine of Discovery that allowed Christopher Columbus to get lost at sea, land on a continent inhabited by millions, and claim to have discovered it.

Without Exception

The other day I observed a Twitter exchange between Pope Francis and Miroslav Volf.

Pope Francis (‏@Pontifex) Tweeted:
“God does not reveal himself in strength or power, but in the weakness and fragility of a newborn babe.”

To which Miroslav Volf (‏@MiroslavVolf) replied:
“@Pontifex How true! And yet the babe grew and taught with power and authority, and the crucified one was raised from the dead in glory.”

Nurturing a New Conversation

Last week I was on a conference call with some colleagues from a Christian organization that I partner with. We were discussing an educational project we are working on regarding the long history of injustice against Native Americans by the United States government and the Christian church. During the discussion it became clear that some conversations needed to be facilitated with some native leaders in the area where I live on the Navajo reservation and then a face to face meeting would be necessary with other members of our team. I offered both to facilitate these conversations as well as to fly to the city where our face to face meetings would be held. The organization offered to cover the cost of my airline ticket, but asked, with some trepidation, if they would also be responsible to compensate me for my time as a consultant. I quickly assured them that I normally do not charge for work on projects such as these.

A few months ago I accepted an invitation to speak at a conference for a nationally known evangelical organization. The wanted me to speak about the Doctrine of Discovery and the history of injustice by our nation and the church against Native Americans. They were willing to help cover some of the travel expenses to get to the conference, but we're not able to pay an honorarium for speaking.

Rethinking the Evangelical Fund Raising Model - Is CrowdFunding a more sustainable model for indigenous, minority and impoverished communities.

Yesterday I hosted a conversation in Portland with about 20 ministry partners titled "Rethinking the Evangelical Fundraising Model." Below is a direct link to a video I just posted to my Wirelesshogan YouTube page. In the video I discuss the model of Crowd Funding which is the current model I am using as I work to find a sustainable fundraising model both for my organization 5 Small Loaves as well as for other organizations and individuals from similar communities. This video is also part of a larger ongoing conversation titled "Rethinking the Evangelical Fund Raising Model."

I welcome your thoughts.

(I attempted to post this yesterday but the video did not embed correctly)

5 Small Loaves

In the Bible, there is a story of when Jesus was teaching a large crowd. At the conclusion of his teaching his disciples observed that it was late in the day, they were in a lonely place and the people were hungry with no food to eat. Jesus responded by telling them, "You feed them." The disciples immediately panicked and pointed out that doing so would be massively expensive, costing up to 8 months of a man’s wages. They also implied that they did not have enough money to make even a dent in that need. Undeterred, Jesus asked them what they did have. They went out and returned with a young boy who was willing to share his 5 small loaves and 2 little fish. Jesus took it, looked up to heaven, and GAVE THANKS! Then he just started passing out the food. And not only did more than 5,000 people eat to their heart's content, but afterwards the disciples picked up 12 baskets full of leftovers! (See Mark 6:30-44 and John 6:1-15)

Did you ever stop to wonder how the young boy who gave his lunch to Jesus felt? Can you imagine the exhilaration he must have had watching his 5 small loaves and 2 little fish feed a crowd of well over 5,000 people?  I bet he went home and told that story over and over and over again.  He probably felt like, as long as he was with Jesus, anything was possible.

One young boy who was willing to share his 5 small loaves (and 2 little fish) was all Jesus needed to meet the overwhelming needs of a very hungry crowd.

Dancing with the Navajo

There they were, the shivering and barefooted pastors of the Global Discipleship Network, dancing around the living room of the retreat center we were meeting at on the Navajo Reservation. They had come for a time of retreat, training and fellowship. They arrived into Albuquerque from Guatemala, Nicaragua, Orlando, FL, the Dominican Republic, and the state of Indiana and then drove with me for nearly 3 hours to the high desert of the beautiful Southwest. It was December and our land was sleeping, in the midst of its second winter storm. Several inches of snow were on the ground and the night time temperatures were hovering around ZERO degrees. I was blessed and honored to welcome them to the land of my tribe, my clans and my family: the Navajo reservation.

Reconciliation, Justice and Worship

In the books of Amos and Isaiah, God judges his people for not taking seriously his commands to live justly. He tells them that because they are not living justly he despises their feasts, he hates their festivals, and their music is like noise to him.  Also, in the book of Matthew, Jesus teaches his followers that if they are at the altar ready to give their gift to the LORD and remember that a brother has something against them, they are to leave their gift at the altar, go and first be reconciled. Then they may return and give their gift.

Throughout Scripture, God uses many gifts to call his people back to him including healing, truth, prophesy, exhortation, and preaching. But it does not appear that worship is one of those gifts. In these teachings, God seems to be telling his people that worship (specifically celebration, praise and adoration) are gifts to be enjoyed only when they are living justly and in a right relationship with each other.

The day after the Fourth of July

July 5th, the Declaration of Independence has been signed, the Revolutionary War has been won and the celebrations, complete with fireworks, have concluded. Now begins the hard work of being the United States of America. For on July 5th we must begin conducting ourselves in a manner which clearly demonstrates the truths we hold (and proclaim) to be self-evident. That ALL people truly are create equal.  And that they each been endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among them being Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.

Please join me in praying for our nation, our leaders and even ourselves. That we will not allow fear, arrogance, or a sense of entitlement to distract us from pursuing these principals.

I love our country, which is why I humbly pray, "May God have mercy on the United States of America."

Mark Charles
(Navajo, Dutch, American)

A Prayer for the Church

A few months ago a friend and colleague of mine asked me to help him with a prayer for a new hymnal he was editing. In this hymnal, titled "Lift Up Your Hearts," he wanted to include a prayer reflecting the theme of immigration as well as indigenous peoples. He was also hoping that this prayer would help those who prayed it to feel more fully a part of the all "from every nation, tribe, people and language" who are gathered around the throne of the lamb (Revelations 7:9).

The hymnal was published last week and included the prayer I worked on. I share it with you and ask you to pray that as the Bride of Christ we will learn to walk more fully in beauty with our fellow man and God.

A Prayer of Indigenous Peoples

Yesterday morning I sat in my home here on the Navajo Reservation and watched a live webcast of the "Evangelical Immigration Table". I felt impotent, tired, angry and frustrated. For on my screen Christians were rallying around and celebrating the introduction of a bi-partisan immigration reform bill that was being introduced by the "Gang of 8" Senators.  I felt this way because for nearly a decade I have been talking, writing, speaking and praying about the importance of intentionally including the voices of indigenous peoples in the process to "comprehensively and justly" reform immigration law. I have walked the halls of Congress and hand delivered letters to Senators and Representatives, I have spoken on the boards of churches and Christian organizations, I have built relationships with national Christian, academic and political leaders, I have written blogs, published articles, spoken at conferences and presented seminars, all asking, imploring, our nation to intentionally reach out to, and include the voices of Native peoples in the dialogue on immigration reform.

But to no avail.  Because on Wednesday, April 17, 2013, without ever consulting members of the Native community, the Gang of 8 introduced their plan to comprehensively reform our nation's immigration laws. And I watched on a live webcast, as my non-native friends, my partner organizations, the leaders of the church, even our politicians celebrated this milestone and congratulated themselves.