Okay, enough griping. Jim Wallis and Richard Rohr each spoke for what seemed like much longer than their 20 minute allotment, but in both cases were excellent. Coming from a reasonably charismatic faith background, I anticipated that this conference would be significantly more head-focused than spirit-touching. But after Wallis’ talk, I was pretty sure that if there were a ministry time after the service, I would have been in tears. So much for me putting God in a box. My spirit was definitely touched.
He started by talking about the premise of the conference - the connection between spirituality and social justice, and that connecting those two was what the world was waiting for. He discussed his own faith journey from a 6-year-old kid told his parents would be taken away and he’d be left all alone if Jesus came back that day; to a 14-year-old who started to see the inconsistencies between the gospel as preached and as lived out in racially and economically segregated Detroit. And finally his reconnection with God after time spent serving the civil rights movement.
He then discussed William Wilberforce, the protagonist in the movie we were about to see. His mentor, John Newton, was a former slave ship captain who after his conversion wrote Amazing Grace and worked toward abolition himself. <aside>Knowing this definitely makes the hymn that much more powerful.</aside>
Wilberforce’s attempts at getting the slave trade abolished were defeated 9 times in parliament before finally passing in 1807, and his attempts at full abolition of slavery in the British empire were defeated 30 times before finally passing in 1833, 3 days before Wilberforce’s death. <aside>This is actually encouraging - so much of the time the problems of the world seem impossible. Yet Wilberforce was able to see the institution of slavery destroyed within his lifetime.</aside>
Next, Wallis talked about the fact that he felt like a “19th century evangelical” - and that Charles Finney was one of his favorites. He mentioned that the alter call was Finney’s invention, and it was meant not only to save people’s souls but to enlist them to join the abolitionist cause. <aside>Have to fact-check this one.</aside> Wallis’ point here is that faith doesn’t mean much unless it is put into practice in the world.
Finally, he got to the crux of his talk, at least from my perspective. When we search for spirituality without a desire to serve the world, we enter into narcissism. In other words, it’s about what Jesus can do for me, not through me. And this leads to burnout, anger, cynicism, and even violence. <aside>I can definitely relate to the first three of those.</aside>
But it’s not all doom-and-gloom, he is convinced that another Great Awakening is about to happen in this country. What we have to do is get out of its way and let it happen to us and then to society.
Finally, he talked about the fact that politicians cannot address the big issues of our time. And the biggest, in his eyes, is poverty, which he calls the “new slavery.” In fact, poverty has led to the actual enslavement of more people now than 200 years ago at the height of the slave trade.
He ended by mentioning that Sojourners was going to start having “new altar calls” - justice revivals meant to sign people up to apply their faith in the pursuit of justice.
My thoughts: I was most convicted by his characterization of the American church as narcissitic in its faith. I think that’s right on. Too many times, it’s just about getting inner healing, having good prayer times, and enjoying our worship times. While none of those are bad things at all (they’re very good), if it ends there, is it really faith at all?
