L.Y.F.E. is…
My Purpose is Too Great to Hate!
Rev. Jeremy McCants
April 2021
I attended a Youth Town Hall on Violence Prevention within Oakland during the latter part of May. Youth from around the city were galvanized on this call to speak their truth to the people directly tasked to create a more perfect union for them. A union brimming with life, liberty and the opportunity to pursue happiness in whatever way happiness made sense to them, as long as it does not hinder the human flourishing of others.
Moreover, I attended this Youth Town Hall eager to hear the voices of our Youth. The meeting starts and without hesitation, we are placed in Breakout Rooms and the foundational question is raised, how can Oakland help Youth feel safe, seen and heard? Hands are raised. Conversation ensues. Chat blows up. I’m navigating both, playing a virtual Double-Dutch between listening and reading comprehension. A moment of pause, I glance at the chat and I read, from a Youth, “I want adults who ask what happened to you, and not what’s wrong with you?” I whisper to myself, “Wow.”
I know I have been guilty of this. I sit with it and reflect on it all day. It also dawns on me that the first Sunday of this month, April 2021, was indeed Maundy Thursday. A day that we reflect as Jesus’ illuminates how to serve one another by washing the feet of his Disciples, but also a day where we learn about betrayal. And as Millennials we are now responsible for the next generation and we are ultimately embracing a generation that feels betrayed. That some of the same generational curses that we have had to fight and reckon with are now manifesting themselves in different ways and instead of us seeking to understand, we place blame.
SCRIPTURE TEXT: John 13:21 MSG
After he said these things, Jesus became visibly upset, and then he told them why. “One of you is going to betray me.”
We are all, as Jesus, visibly upset. As we are living in a culture where we witness the brutality and the snatching away of BLACK LIVES almost every day by people who consider what is wrong with us over what is continually happening to us. My charge to you LYFE ministry, as well as to myself, as we shift our thinking and how we approach not only our lives, but the lives of the generations coming after us, is that we must do and teach 3 things:
1. Detach yourself from people who don’t believe in your Mission
2. Declare your Mission and Purpose
3. Disrupt the Hate & Display Love
God said, in my humanity as Jesus Christ, I could not allow hate to become my disposition because of Judas’ betrayal. I could not allow hate to become my burden when I was already preparing to carry all of the weight of the world on my shoulders. My purpose was too great for me to hate. Your purpose is too great to hate. Our purpose is too great to hate. And if we want to see a generation of Youth who could so easily choose hate, we have to sow love. We have to detach ourselves from toxic people and spaces. We must declare our mission and purpose that only God can reveal to us. And lastly, we must continually disrupt and agitate this empire so that justice will be served and that both justice and love will roll down like a mighty stream.
PRAYER: “To the God that knows all too well what betrayal feels like, help us not to betray one another; but help us to listen, to discern and to love one another as we turn our anger into righteous indignation and create a better world for us and future generations. Amen.”
