What does it mean to live justly?

He has shown you, o mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:8

This past week we conducted a short survey with some members of Perch.Church. We asked them to respond with a short sentence in their own words, “What does it mean to live justly?” We were surprised to receive a wide array of answers. Jeanne said, “Treating others people the way you like to be treated.” Jenny said, “Living in accordance to the little voice of the Holy Spirit that guides us.” Brandon said, “Having a changed heart by understanding how sinful we are and by repenting for our unjust beliefs.” Zichun said, “Living justly is to have a sense of empathy and understanding for others.” Ben said, “Living with morals and acting on them.” It’s interesting how even within our own church community, we have such a variety of interpretations to justice. This reveals that while everyone wants justice, the way people understand and define justice is very different. Then how do we pursue justice collectively if everyone’s definition of justice is different?

Naming the Feeling

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
‭Proverbs‬ ‭4:23‬

The past three months have been the great revealer. If things were unhealthy in your home or heart, that’s been revealed. If the civil unrest has brought out some racist or ignorant sentiments, that’s been uncovered. If there has been any hypocrisy in your life, that’s been exposed. Even for people of faith, we’re realizing now more than ever that  spiritual healthy cannot exist without emotional health. We’ve been reminded of that this past Sunday at our Healthy Relationships Seminar. This season of lament has brought out some of the best in people and some of the worst in people. Having the ability, self-awareness, and tools to be able to process our emotions, coping mechanisms, truths, and actions is critical in not only surviving during this season, but thriving in it.

No Justice, No Peace

“Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!”
‭Amos‬ ‭5:15, 24

On Tuesday night, I had the opportunity to protest with over 1,000 people at Pasadena City Hall. It was organized by NAACP and several local Black churches. It was a beautiful and powerful display of people who are fed up with a broken system. Several council-people, church leaders, and even the mayor of Pasadena spoke to the crowds. You could feel the anger and restlessness in their voices, but there was also a glimmer of hope... hope that justice can actually be realized. But in order for a broken system to be reformed, it needs to start with individuals. Many people in the streets are chanting, “No justice! No peace!” While that is certainly true for a society, it’s also true for individuals. If we do not live justly, hate what is evil, and love what is good, we will never experience peace in our souls. This how God created us, to be carriers and practitioners of justice.

George Floyd Had A Past

Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression.
Isaiah 1:17a

George Floyd had a past… He was a person of peace. Floyd volunteered at his church in Houston, TX; Floyd was a mentor to teens and young men in his neighborhood; Floyd’s Instagram handle was “BigFloyd4God.” If you feel enraged, confused, or deeply troubled by what happened to George Floyd, that means you have a heart of flesh that is unsettled with injustice in the world. But we know that simply being upset at the situation is not enough, neither is responding to violence with more violence a productive response. The only way we can truly overcome evil is to do good, seek justice, and correct oppression. As MLK said “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

Season of Lament

“Do not pervert justice… but judge your neighbor fairly… Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life. I am the Lord.”
Leviticus 19:15-16

As an Asian-American growing up in Los Angeles and attending a school with very few Asian-American students, I experienced my fair share of marginalization, racism, and prejudice. However, even from a very young age, I knew that I still had it easier than my Black and Latino friends who were constantly misjudged, mischaracterized, and punished more severely. And even as we suffer through this season of Covid-19 together as a nation, we still grieve the losses of two young African-Americans due to mindless acts of killing. One woman who was a full-time EMT was shot and killed while sleeping in her own bed and a young man who was racially profiled and murdered while he was going on a jog on a Sunday afternoon. This is not okay and this will never be okay. Not only is it acceptable to lament, sometimes the most spiritual practice we can do is lament. Lamenting is grieving the things that are not right in this world, whether that’s expressed in sadness or anger. God laments over what is happening in our nation; may we allow the Holy Spirit to help us lament.

Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery. Let us remember their names.

Mother Spirit

Like a mother bear robbed of her cubs, I will attack them and rip them open; like a lion I will devour them— a wild animal will tear them apart.
Hosea‬ ‭13:8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

How does this verse sit with you? Does it disturb you or make you uncomfortable? The imagery of God being a protective Mother may be a foreign concept for some; but if you really think about it, why shouldn’t God be portrayed or understood as Mother? Mothers typically know their children better than fathers do, mothers tend to be more present in their children’s lives, and mothers are generally more affectionate. The more I think about it, the thought of God as Mother is very comforting.

Refuge At Home

For You have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe. I long to dwell in Your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of Your wings.
Psalm 61:3-4

What do you think of when you think of ‘home’? For me, having grown up in a dysfunctional family, my home was always a place of chaos and anxiety. I think this is why I’ve never been a homebody. But now that we’re all quarantined due to Covid-19 and spending all of our time at home, I’ve been forced to face this struggle with my understanding of home. In many ways, it has been a blessing in disguise because I sense that God is slowly changing the concept of home from a place of chaos to a shelter of refuge. Fortunately, the physical home that my wife and built together for our family is a place of stability and safety. But more importantly, God is teaching me that He is my spiritual home of peace, trust, and love.

Women & the Resurrection

So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell Jesus’ disciples.
Matthew 28:8

I grew up in a church that was mostly helpful to my faith, but I was taught some bad theology from time to time. One example is that my former church taught me that women should not teach/preach the Bible. I never questioned what I was taught, until I went to seminary and was confronted by crystal clear examples that blatantly defied that teaching, like the passage above. The first people to share about Jesus’ resurrection (or preach the freakin’ Gospel!) were women! It wasn’t men or even Jesus’ own disciples; they were next. But first, women.

21st Century Passover

The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.”
Exodus 12:13

Happy Passover, Good Friday, and Easter! The weeklong celebration of the Jewish holiday Passover began on April 8 and concludes on April 16. Passover commemorates the time nearly 3,500 years ago when God brought the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. God challenged the gods of Egypt with a series of Ten Plagues, the last one of which was the death of the firstborn son. In order to protect the Israelites’ children from the death plague, they had to stay in their homes and cover their doorposts with lamb’s blood. This way, the angel of death would “pass over” their homes and keep them safe. 

In a strange way, it seems like we are currently in a Passover for the 21st century, but instead of our firstborn sons being the ones at risk, we are all at risk from the novel and unpredictable Covid-19. For Christians and non-Christians alike, this season is causing everyone to reflect and reprioritize what’s most important and what’s not as important as we once thought. Maybe in some cases, God wants to free us from slavery in different forms. What might God want to free you from during this new Passover season?

Lent Holy Week: Meaning of "Goodbye"

Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” 
John 12:23-24

I used to do a really weird thing… I used to hate saying goodbye whenever I left a party or social gathering. I just thought saying goodbye was kind of awkward; I’d rather just slowly disappear rather than announcing my departure to everyone. It wasn’t until recently that I realized why I hate saying goodbye; it’s because I usually don’t want that experience to end. Saying goodbye is acknowledging the loss or death of that moment. I think I subconsciously thought that if I don’t say goodbye, it doesn’t really have to end. But the downside of this strange habit is that I don’t free myself up to receive the next moment since I’m still holding onto previous ones. In some ways, I need to say goodbye to let God do something new in me.

This may or may not be common knowledge, but the word “goodbye” is a contraction of the Old English phrase, “God be with ye.” What do we need to give to God so that God can allow something new to be produced? May we say “goodbye” to old chapters so we can say “hello” to new ones.