A Witness of Faith at Alligator Alcatraz
Pastor David Williamson planted Spring of Life with his wife, Pastor Carolyn Williamson in 2002. This past week he drove down to the everglades to offer a video message from the entrance of the immigration detention center known as Alligator Alcatraz. He challenges us to consider how the values of our Christian faith intersect with what is transpiring there. I encourage you to click here and watch his reflection.
I am grateful for Pastor David opening up the conversation and grounding the conversation in the values of Christ. Pastor David is not adding to the partisan noise, he is challenging us to think deeply about what Jesus would do in the situation we collectively find ourselves in. I want to be a church that is welcoming for everyone and a church that also isn’t afraid to engage in difficult topics. If we are truly serious about following the way of Jesus, we need to be serious about following Christ even when it makes us uncomfortable. If every person is made in the image of God and we believe in God’s justice, how can we accept a system that seems to imprison first and ask questions later? If we believe in the values of helping the poor, how can we accept a system where some people profit financially from the suffering of the vulnerable? How do we offer a witness that is not easily dismissed as partisan but wisely framed through the values of our faith in Jesus?
As always, I’d like to hear your thoughts and open up the conversation. Please reach out to me at PastorMike@SpringChurch.org to talk further. As I continue to reflect on many people suffering in the world both locally and on other continents, I remember the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We are all “caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be, and you can never be what you out to be until I am what I ought to be.” My well-being is connected to your well-being and vice versa. If I were to translate his words into a sentence, I would say this; we as Christ followers are called to care about every person, no exceptions. This is a challenging teaching, Jesus calls us to live out.
