Protest

Brainstorming alternatives to fighting fire with Fire

I learned recently about a protest being demonstrated at my husband Jeremiah's work. The protest has been ongoing for the past year at least (How am I just hearing of this!) and will likely not end while those participating work at the store.

I was let in on the details of the protest after tossing Jeremiah a t-shirt for work. Standard uniform is a t-shirt provided by the store and casual pants. He tossed it back and said "I don't wear that one." We were running late and there were no other shirts in his drawer. I was getting frustrated. He rifled through a pile of clothes shoved in his closet, found another shirt and put it on.

I looked down at the shirt in my hand and the shirt on his back. Same color, same back logo. "What the heck?" I asked.

"The one you gave me says 'Crew' on the front."

"So?"

Jeremiah, ready for work back before
joining the t-shirt cause.  

"So I don't wear it. I never have worn it. We're protesting them at work."

"Protesting what?"

"The shirts that have the word 'Crew' printed on them." I gave him a look that managed to both express my confusion and demand further explanation. "One of the store's core values is equality of staff. 'Crew' very clearly separates us from the other positions."

"So no one wears them?"

"A lot of us don't. We aren't trying to spread it around or recruit people or anything. Word gets around, some people care some don't."

I had an experience recently after trying to explain my thoughts on giving and tithing. My thoughts were met by a woman whose "been in ministry since she was saved." Of her responses, most notable were "You can't give to people and call it tithing. God defines tithing and giving, not you... Hopefully you have a Bible so you have access to the same verses as me."

I realized that the point I was trying to make - I give to people, not establishments - needed a lot more explanation than is reasonable on a platform like someone else's Facebook page. In parting, I explained that since I've chosen not to attend a church building, I tithe differently than she does. Though our expressions of Church are different, I am not omitted from tithing.

The interaction was incredibly fruitful for me, as it led directly to a conversation with Dad. As a writer, I find miscommunication particularly frustrating. As a life-long student, I find imposed teaching from strangers particularly frustrating. As a member of Christ's body, I find it particularly frustrating when the religious spirit comes along sewing separatism and disunity.

"I don't attend a church building, Dad. I'm under the impression this is a decision I came to with your guidance and blessing." In response, the details of Jeremiah's t-shirt protest came to mind. I noticed many parallel's between his protest against separatism at work and my protest against separatism in the Body of Christ.

"What are you protesting?" Dad asked.

"Religion. Is it wrong to protest?"

"Does it separate you from community?"

Aha! I can't protest religion by creating separatism and disunity. Doing so would undermine and omit me from my core values. I find Jeremiah's t-shirt protest seriously profound because, if done differently, they could easily create the very environment they are protesting. Instead, their tactics have generated unity between 'crew' members without sewing separatism with employees in other positions.

On the whole, I haven't sacrificed community with anyone by not attending church. I should note, I do go to church if someone I care about building relationship with invites me. To refuse an invitation on the basis of protest would be anti-social and separatist. That said, genuine relationships with the people around me are the foundation of my community. When relationships start to get trivial and fake, I know I've exceeded my circle of influence and need to refocus my energy. When I accept a church invitation it is to build relationship with one or two particular people, not to beef up the number of people in my circle.

There is potential, and at times I have, chosen anti-social behaviors due to my religion protest. Intentional living is key to building community. When my intentions are gray, I find it inevitable that I'll miss my mark. If my intentions are to live in community with others free of religion and full of Christ, I must make intentional decisions to act in ways that foster my intentions rather than undermine them.

I know many - most of those in my church community, actually - who've chosen to omit weekly church building attendance with similar intentions. If we can truly claim that our decision is based on our intentions, we must begin asking ourselves how to sew seeds of unity and community lest we embrace the separatism we've abandoned.