This Tuesday is .... A Time To Listen

A little over a week ago, I wrote a piece  in the News Leader.  

It was a follow-up to a blog post that I had written before the non-indictments of officers Darren Wilson and Daniel Pantaleo. One of the things I urged in my blog was that progress in situations like these involve a great deal of listening. 

On Tuesday, December 16 (which is tomorrow at the time I am writing this) a multicultural group of evangelical leaders will be leading and live-streaming an event called A Time To Speak. (Read the press release of the event here.) 

The event - which is being held at the same Memphis hotel where Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated - features John Piper, Bryan Loritts, Matt Chandler, Eric Mason and many other men and women that I respect greatly. 

I'm really excited that evangelical leaders are praying and moving to action. In my wildest dreams, I picture a church in my generation that begins to live into the racial unity that the scriptures say has already been achieved at the cross.

And, as my wife Emily Lassiter  and I continue to hope to be part of the solution, we would gladly open our home to anyone interested in catching the re-broadcast of the event at 9 p.m. eastern. 

Just let us know. 

Chris Lassiter is a Christ-follower, a husband to Emily (read her blog here), a father to five kids and a freelance writer for Young Life Relationships, HipHopDX.com, JamTheHype.com and other publications. His first book, You're Grounded, was published by Moody Publications last year. You can order the book here. 

When the real "Enemy" is Inner-Me: Five Thoughts on Forgiveness

If anyone has a right to hold a grudge, it would be Mary Johnson. 

Her only son was murdered by a young man named Oshea Israel, yet her response was anything but typical (This three-minute video might just change your view of forgiveness).



 Mary Johnson's initial reaction wasn't forgiveness. 

"I wanted justice. He was an animal. He deserved to be caged." 

I write this with great sensitivity knowing this situation impacted many people in this community, but I can relate to Mary Johnson's anger and longing for justice.  When a friend of mine was murdered, convictions and long prison sentences didn't bring the peace I thought they would. I grew angry and bitter and that bitterness began to take a toll on me and those closest to me.

Earlier this year, however, everything began to change.

God began walking me down a path of introspection and healing. Even though I said I had forgiven, deep down I really hadn't. Then God allowed me, like Mary Johnson, to forgive what - for years - seemed unforgivable to me.

Here are five things I've learned on this journey...

•  Forgiveness doesn't usually happen overnight. Forgiveness is a process. For years, I told myself and others that I had forgiven when true forgiveness had never taken place in my heart. When I saw photos or heard the names of the men who took my friend's life, all of the emotions would come rushing back. Many lives were changed on 12/12/00, and we are all likely in different places on our journey to forgive. It takes time.

• Refusing to forgive punishes us and the people around us, but rarely the person who originally hurt us. We often believe that refusing to forgive allows us to have power over someone who hurt or victimized us. In reality, the person that unforgiveness has power over is us. I was filled with bitterness and hatred and it was damaging relationships with the people I loved the most - not those who had hurt me. As Mary Johnson shares in the video, "Unforgiveness is like cancer. It will eat you from the inside out." The only way to be free from its power is to make the choice to forgive. 

• Choosing to forgive isn't something we can do in our own "power." Forgiveness isn't natural, but supernatural. For years, I'd said I had forgiven when the true work of forgiveness had never really happened in my heart. I really didn't want to, it just seemed like the Christian thing to say. I could only make the decision to forgive after God revealed my refusal to do so and worked in me by His Spirit to truly forgive. 

• Forgiveness allows us to see more clearly. The day I chose to forgive, I read Luke 23:34 where Christ on the cross says “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” God allowed me, for the first time, to see the humanity of the men who took the life of my friend.  He also helped me better understand His heart for all of humanity. I was able to see all the lives that were left broken as a result of what happened that night. While I knew my friend's family members and friends had suffered deeply, my hatred and bitterness never allowed me to consider the lives of the other families and friends that were left changed as a result. Over the last year, God has helped me to see that no one wins in situations like these and there are victims on both sides.

• Extending forgiveness brings healing. After choosing to forgive, I wrote letters to the men who were in prison for the death of my friend. I shared the hatred and bitterness that I had carried for years and how God's forgiveness of me had changed my life and was helping me extend that same forgiveness to them. To my surprise, they wrote me back. Forgiving them or beginning a friendship with them doesn't absolve them of the crime they've committed or restore all the brokenness that resulted from this situation. It does, however, free me from the prison of my hatred and bitterness. It reminds me of God's mercy towards me and that someone else paid a debt for me I could never pay myself.  In the words of C.S. Lewis: "To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you."

I wrote this with hopes that my story would help encourage others. I would love to hear how you are wrestling through the issue of forgiveness.

Emily Lassiter is wife to Chris Lassiter and mother to their five beautiful children (Read her other guest post here). She is the Coordinator for Valley YoungLives, an outreach ministry to pregnant and parenting teenage mothers. You can find her on Facebook and Twitter or email her at younglivesvalley@gmail.com.

Guest post from my wife Emily Lassiter: 3 reasons you should care about justice

I don't know if every kid is like this, but when I was young, issues of injustice really made me angry. Not the usual 'You took my blocks' type of injustice, but making fun of kids with disabilities, blatant racism, and treating people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds like second-class citizens type of injustice.

Now that I've grown into an adult, I'm even more passionate about justice. Some might say this is a special calling on my life - and to a degree it is - but I believe God wants us all to care about justice...and to care enough to do something about it.





As we look around, I don't think it takes a special calling or passion to see that something's wrong with our world and something needs to be done to address it. Because of how God made me, I can't help but care about matters of justice. Here are 3 reasons I think ALL Christians should care about justice:

1.  God cares about justice. God hates injustice because He is fully just. The more I grow in my faith and understanding of God's character, the more I see where my passion for justice originates. As we grow to be more like Him, we begin to care about the things He cares about. Pastor and Author Timothy Keller says "The Bible is a book devoted to justice in the world from first to last." As we study the Bible and pray for God to make our hearts more like His, we begin to love the things He loves and hate the things He hates. God hates injustice and we should too. You can find a book by Timothy Keller on justice here.
   
2. God has called His followers to DO justice. Doing nothing is not an option. "God has called his people - all of God's people - to do the work of justice." - Bethany H. Hoang. Justice isn't a spectator sport. In one of my favorite verses, Micah 6:8, God gives His church marching orders: "What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" God may call us to do the work of justice in different ways, but He has called His church to "do justice." We can't continue to focus on our own lives while watching injustice flourish and not the people God created and loves. Imagine what the world would look like if Jesus' followers throughout the world worked together against injustice. It's a win-win, really. It would not only promote justice, but unity within the church as we serve on His mission together.
3. Lives depend on it. I'll never forget reading the account by Christine Caine of a young woman rescued from human trafficking who asked "If God is so good, why didn't you come sooner?" Those words still stir me to tears today. The young woman in this story was one of the few who survived being shipped across the ocean in a shipping container before being sold into sexual slavery. There are people all over the world waiting for justice. There are people in our communities waiting for someone to care enough to step into the brokenness of their lives, be an advocate for them, and point them to hope. You have the opportunity to make a difference and I guarantee that it won't only change them, but it will change your life in the process. Knowing lives depend on it, will you go? 

What's one area that God breaks your heart over injustice? I'd love to hear from you about it.

You can read more about Christine Caine and her anti-human trafficking organization, The A21 Campaign, here. Over the last few weeks, I've had the opportunity to read two books that have encouraged my passion for and calling to do justice. You can find Deeping the Soul for Justice by Bethany H. Hoang here and Just Courage by Gary A. Haugen - President and CEO of International Justice Mission here. These are both great resources that I highly recommend.

 Emily Lassiter is married to Chris Lassiter and together they have 5 children. She is the area Coordinator for YoungLives, an outreach ministry to pregnant and parenting teenage mothers. You can contact her at younglivesvalley@gmail.com or find her on Facebook and Twitter.