No Words Worthy…

I write today in the shadow of officer assassinations and police brutality and no words of mine are worthy to express our corporate feelings. I write in the afterglow of yet another outburst of outrage on broadcast and social media. I write to tell you the story about how John Cheek became the most important pastor in either of our presbyteries and to ask that you pray for John and his work, for it is more necessary now than ever.

“Who is John Cheek and why is it urgent for us to pray for him?” Thank you for asking.

To look at John one would not suspect that he is a retired police officer; he lacks the chiseled physique many of us imagine for our stereotypical cop. To listen to John one would strain to imagine how one with such a gentle and kind demeanor could have prospered for 20+ years on the mean streets of Tucson. To see him now, serving in one of his two churches, Northminster Tucson or First Silver City, one encounters a healer, a caregiver, an exemplar among those who follow Jesus.

As a pastor and retired police officer, John Cheek is uniquely positioned to facilitate a conversation between law enforcement and the communities they have sworn to protect and to serve. Such a conversation, if it occurred, could create the kind of dialogue that might lead law enforcement agencies to allow growth, transformation and real, institutional change. In a sense, John has in his training, life experience and personal character the ability to serve as a bridge in this most necessary of conversations. And John feels called by God to be that bridge.

How can one person, one pastor, help create the kind of dialogue where events in Baton Rouge and Dallas become the exception rather than the rule? I don’t really know. What I do know is that God is in the business of working through people, often a single person: Moses, Naomi, Elijah, Esther, Elisha, Mary and Paul. What seems inevitable is that once that one person says “Yes” to the solitary call of God upon their lives other folk, a remnant, present themselves and then, before we know from whence it came, a movement.

As we pray for John, that his sense of call to be a peacemaker along the Way of Jesus be blessed of the Spirit’s wisdom and courage, let us also ask ourselves: what is the one thing that I can do with my training, life experience and personal character to be part of the solution? I ask this question without prejudice in this debate: for me, the Black Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter movements are not mutually exclusive. In the eyes of God, everyone matters. You matter. And what you do matters. So what will you do?

What I will do is this: I commit to learning more about what some call “white privilege.” I want to deepen my understanding of the ways my life is privileged and the ways that my lifestyle or choices may be unintentionally contributing to the problem of unequal justice before the law in this country. I do not consider myself a racist but am willing to wonder what attitudes and actions may be contributing to racism as a systemic expression of our American culture.

I do not ask you to make the same commitment that I am making. I only ask that you ask God to show you what He has for you to do. And if you can think of nothing else, pray for John Cheek.

Grace to you today and always,

Brad Munroe