The Micah Challenge

Calvinettes was where I spent most of my Friday nights in my early adolescent years. I suppose this club could be likened to the Girl Guides but, with a Christian Reformed twist. These days the group is called GEMS, perhaps because we are meant to be "little Christs" and not "little John Calvins". The club revolved around attaining badges and making crafts. The few badges that I did aquire rarely made it to my scarf (my mom was not inclined to sew) and craft time was personally arduous, to say the least.

Those badges may have been forgotten in my mom's sewing box, but the citation that we repeated at the beginning of every night is triple stiched into my head. Our counselors would ask,"Calvinettes, what does the Lord, your God require of you?" All Calvinettes would respond,"To do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God. Micah 6, verse 8." The significance of those requirements did not move me much then, but today they are the push behind my shove.

The desire to battle injustice presses inside me, pushing me to do more, to live purposefully, and to figure out the best way to act according to my convictions. I doubt that I am the only Christ follower who feels the urgency to do something along with the exasperation of not knowing how to follow that lead. In fact, I am convinced that inaction is the reason why so many Christians end up complacent and spiritually stunted. Repentance and sorrow over sin has led to salvation but salvation never led to a readiness to see justice done (1 Corinthians 7:10,11). The joy of the Lord ceases when the strength he gives us isn't used to bring his kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.

My brothers once took me to a movie they had already seen because they wanted to watch me cry. Tears are a good gauge to figure out where God wants you to live out His will. If there is nothing that gets your ire up and causes righteous angst within you, stop reading and continue your pleasant, shallow life. Somehow your salvation did not produce indignation, alarm, nor concern for those who have been wronged or injured. Idle living is sinful. Stop doing it and learn to do right! Isaiah 1:17.

The problem that exists for the rest of us is determining what wrong(s) we must address amongst the multitude of atrocities to choose from. Sadly, the options are endless. In the last few weeks, I have weeped over child soldiers in the Congo, daughters as young as 5 being sold to brothels in Thailand and Cambodia, and elderly residents being abandoned by family in a retirement home in Brantford. Who will rescue them from their savage environments? Who is speaking up, loud and indignant, for those who have been silenced and violated? Thankfully, there are a plentitude of organizations, such as International Justice Mission, the Christian and Missionary Alliance, and my own mission, International Teams working on behalf of those who are defenseless and weak. The Tamminga family, called by God, along with their staff, have embraced the retired and forgotten. Who will you embrace? What indecency can you work to make right in the name of Jesus?

Not surprisingly, I am still craft-challenged but, the admonition to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with my God remains embedded in my head. Living out this mandate will break your heart but God will use those cracks as the means to pour out His spirit. That which breaks your heart is the very thing that needs your time, your money, your voice, and your love. The Lord our God requires Micah 6:8 of us. Although we may meet these requirements imperfectly, we must seek justice, encourage the oppressed, defend the fatherless, and plead the case of widows. These are the causes that were seeded into my heart through a verse memorized years ago and the standard by which I long to abide for all the years to come.