Mark Stephenson
After receiving an M.Div. degree, I served as pastor of two Christian Reformed churches for a total of 17 years. From 2006 through 2021, I was the Director of Disability Concerns for the Christian Reformed Church, and relish the close working relationship CRC Disability Concerns has with the Reformed Church in America Disability Concerns ministry. I have served as interim Director of the CRC's Offices of Race Relations and Social Justice since Feb 2020. My wife Bev and I have five living children, two daughters-in-law, and three grandchildren. Our oldest child, Nicole, was born extremely prematurely in the late 1980’s and lives joyfully with severe, multiple impairments. That label does not define her. She loves magazines, loves interacting with people, loves roller-coasters and wild amusement park rides, and she loves to worship and to pray with God’s people. In any group, she shares her own unique gifts.
Posted in: "Censorship" on The Network
Dan, years ago, an African American friend, and fellow CRC member, told me that most Black, Indigenous, and People of Color do not post to the Network because of the "negative spirit" on the Network. If you wish to call that "fear" that's your call, but I would call it wisdom of not going where you know you are not wanted nor welcome. Posts to the Network that deny that whites have privileges in our society that people of color do not enjoy, denying that whites sit atop a racial hierarchy that our society has established, denying that people of color face challenges and outright danger that we whites do even have to think about is not disagreeing with Critical Theory, it is denying reality. Choosing to deny that reality that millions of fellow Christians experience causes pain.
Posted in: A Reflection: Is This OK?
Bonnie, thanks for putting the reprehensible words of Rep. Yoho as well as the responses of Rep. Ocasio-Cortez and of Bread for the Word into a much broader context of the systemic sin which permeates our society and which many of us (males, in particular) don't see. As you point out so well, this is about much more than an exchange between two people and much more than vulgar name calling of one individual by another. God calls us to do justice and love mercy in our individual relationships and in our engagement with society as we work against the systemic sins of racism, ableism, and sexism, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Eph 6:12
Posted in: We Must Not Go Back to Normal
Jim, thanks for your comment. Yes, African American friends have said to me that if I'm serious about being an ally of theirs, it will cost me. One of the costs is that when I speak up, I'll make mistakes, I'll say things that are tone deaf, I'll think I'm doing good when I may hurt brothers and sisters who are people of color. May God grant me, and all of us who seek to be allies, humility and teachable spirits.
Posted in: We Must Not Go Back to Normal
Hi Dan, For me, here are three key actions:
1. Listen. I keep listening to the voices of people of color, through personal relationships and by reading. I'm just finishing Prophetic Lament by Soon Chan Rah and The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Among the many specific actions suggested in the linked article in the final paragraph is watching Just Mercy, which several of us in our family did last weekend.
2. Confess. God, forgive me for my racism and cleanse me. Keep revealing to me the ways in which I engage in racist thought, action, and systems.
3. Repent. God, teach me empathy. Open my ears to hear the stories of men and women of color. Show me what small step I might take today to turn from my wicked ways and to take one step closer to loving black and brown people as Christ loved me. (See John 13:34, 35)
Posted in: We Must Not Go Back to Normal
Dan, another thought. The term "white privilege" does not refer to a theory but to a variety of ways in which our society provides advantages to people who are white compared to people of color. This happens in nearly all aspects of society including banking (redlining is one example), hiring processes, college admissions, people's ability to choose where they are going to live, shopping (with blacks, for example, more likely to get followed around by clerks than whites), and law enforcement. Our sister denomination, the Reformed Church in America, wrote a report about white privilege in 2013. Although the CRC hasn't explicitly addressed "white privilege" in any synodical reports, we have addressed institution racism many times over the years.
Posted in: Seeking Justice AND Praying
Chris, thanks for this. The Christian Reformed Church's Office of Social Justice has a rich and deep library of justice prayers. Most of the prayers are written in response to specific situations, though not all. In addition, most are accompanied by brief introductions which help readers understand why it is important to pray about the particular topic. In addition, people can subscribe and receive updates every week. Here's one example from May 13, 2020:
Aid to the Navajo Nation
Doctors Without Borders dispatched a team to join organizations like World Renew on the Navajo Nation in southwestern U.S. Home to more than 170,000, including 20 Christian Reformed churches and missions within Classis Red Mesa. The region has the highest coronavirus cases per capita than any state in the US. Lack of running water for an estimated third of the population, inadequate food and complex medical challenges within the community require significant intervention to save lives.
God of hope, you give your Spirit encourager and your Son rescuer to your people. We cry out on their behalf, please be near the Navajo Nation. We lament the desperate lack of basic resources of water, medical care, and food. Pour your blessing on relief organizations and multiply their efforts for your glory. O Bright and Morning Star, bring us comfort from afar, dispel the shadows of the night and turn darkness into light.
Posted in: We Must Not Go Back to Normal
Once again, Dan, the term "white privilege" does not describe a theory, but a wide variety of practices in society that give us white people advantages over people of color. In banking, here's a report of a study that shows not only that there's a massive wealth gap between whites and people of color, but specifically that Blacks and Latinos must pay more for loans.
Posted in: What Do You Appreciate About Your Church During COVID-19?
Over 300 Facebook users have joined us at Intersection Ministries (Holland MI) for worship on Sunday, nearly three times as many as were present when we were worshiping in person. Also, one of our pastors has been communicating with a man via WhatsApp, who recently committed his life to Christ. Now pastor Tito has begun discipling him via WhatsApp. Praise God, no virus can halt the work of the Holy Spirit!
Posted in: Not Lacking in Anything
I was just talking with a friend today who told me about the challenges for black men regarding masks. Others may think that a black man wearing a mask is up to something sinister, and they may think if he is not wearing a mask shows that he's eager to defy authority. Another example of how this pandemic amplifies our prejudices.
Posted in: The Reality of Chronic Illness and Worth
Sonja, thank you so much for sharing this candid and articulate expression about living with a chronic illness. In a society that measures one's worth by their productivity, I appreciate the implicit challenge you give for each of us to measure our own worth and the worth of others by another measure - our value in God's eyes. If every one of us believers could live that way each day, the ableism that is so prevalent among us and within us would begin to wither away, replaced by delight in and love for every image-bearer of God.
Posted in: Listening to Chris: The Mutual Path of Accommodation
Beverly, I hate jigsaw puzzles, but I love this article and the beautiful way you fleshed out the idea that when we truly listen to another, we hear the heartbeat of God.
Posted in: A Foolish and Dangerous Assertion
Jeremy and Dan, thanks for your comments. I couldn't agree more that "mass shooters are not in a healthy frame of mind." However, society has given us a particular understanding of "mental illness" today that results in only 25 percent of mass shooters having a diagnosable mental illness. So tying mass shootings to "mental illness" does not help the larger purpose of preventing mass shootings. In addition, using such language needlessly and cruelly implies that people with mental illnesses may well be violent, which in nearly all cases is not true.
Yes, I've read as well that the population of homeless people increased when the institutions closed in the '70's. I'm drawing on old memories here, but as I recall, all the funding that went to those institutions was supposed to go to assist people living in those institutions to get the supports they needed for life in communities. Instead, federal, state, and local governments spent the money elsewhere, and many in institutions ended up on the streets. The president's suggestion about resurrecting mental institutions in this context does not have a ring of compassionate care for homeless people who are struggling with a serious mental illness but implies that if we just lock up enough people (in this case, people with mental illnesses) we'll reduce the incidence of mass shootings. Again, considering that only 25 percent of mass shooters have been diagnosed as having a mental illness, that reasoning does not hold water.