This past Sunday - well, now that I think about, this past weekend was an extremely busy one for me. My daughter, Emily, who plays on the Varsity basketball team at her school, had an away game Friday night - one that was nearly three hours away - and consequently, I was involved from 4 p.m. - 11 p.m. On Saturday morning, my son, Will, had two basketball games, one at 8 a.m. and another at 10 a.m. And then later that afternoon, my youngest daughter, Kate, played in two games herself at 2 p.m and 4 p.m - and I'm her coach! Needless to say, by the time Sunday morning rolled around, I was thrilled to go to church just to get some rest.
So somehow, with all the activity of the weekend and an already packed Sunday morning agenda, I failed even to mention or otherwise publicly recognize the Martin Luther King holiday this year. In fact, it wasn't until Monday evening that I was reminded of this as I watched the news and reviews of remarks made earlier in the day by presidential candidates anxious to recognize (before a viewing public) the truly significant impact of MLK upon North American society.
Now, throughout the years, we have often recognized such holidays and the otherwise special months or occasions that are important to varying people groups at Mosaic. In so doing, it's not necessarily that we feel obliged, it's more just something we just like to do in pursuit of cross-cultural competence. So when I realized that I had missed the moment this time, it's not so much that I worried about reaction or that I felt any measure of politically correct guilt, etc.; it's just that I would have mentioned it had I been more proactive than reactive throughout the weekend.
With this in mind, I was having lunch with a member of our church today. And while reflecting on the growing interest in the multi-ethnic church throughout North America, he reminded me that such statements of personal endorsement or holiday recognition are too often made by those attempting only to show respect from a distance, that is, those who are not otherwise influenced or invested in the very persons and/or causes they seem to celebrate.
He then said, "On the other hand, we live the dream every day at Mosaic, Mark. And who we are speaks louder than words. Who we are is our statement!"
Wow, I thought, what a good word.
So in the future, we'll continue to recognize the contributions of MLK and to recognize the holidays and otherwise special months or occasions that are important to the people of Mosaic. Yet, in those times where less is said, for whatever reason, those of us engaged in multi-ethnic churches will do well to remember that who we are and still striving to become, indeed, says it all.
Definitely "living the dream" is far more profound than just acknowledging the existence of the dream. Which only goes to further the point of leading by example. :)
Posted by: Account Deleted | January 25, 2008 at 06:08 PM