Every day that passes seems to make life harder and harder to deal with. The sentiment right now seems to be to just “push through.” However, I don’t like this sentiment. I have an impulse to actively resist the crushing evil that I see taking over the world. It crushes me when I try to engage people and they seem uninterested, disengaged or think I don’t have it “bad enough” to hold strong opinions and, in their view, “play the victim.” If only they could hear my cry as an invitation to unite and resist together. If only I could communicate more effectively the desperation I feel at my perception of the danger of apathy and where it can lead us. If only I didn’t feel so alone on this journey.  

There have been seasons in my life where I’ve had an incredible community around me. I’ve had friends far and close support me and provide care through some very dark times. I’ve also experienced very lonely and isolating times when life doesn’t seem to make sense. My relationship with the church has been similar. At times, I’ve received immense support, and the community did not let me fall. Other times, however, I’ve felt like I wanted nothing to do with the community. All that to say, there are ups and downs to every relationship. Relationships have their complexities and require work. 

At church we often talk about concepts such as accountability, empathy, peacemaking, diversity and community as being part of our core values, yet I’ve rarely (if ever) seen them  implemented in a constructive way. I say this because I think that if they were implemented properly, I wouldn’t feel so lonely. If Mennonites or Anabaptist-adjacents focused on practicing these core values, would it actually make a difference? In my opinion, it would make a world of difference to folks like me that need the church to do what it preaches.

1. Accountability

Accountability is defined as “an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions.” Mennonites often preach accountability as being a core value in relationships. As Christians who value community and believe it to be an essential part of living out our faith, Anabaptists have a messy history, however, of practicing accountability (e.g., shunning). I have also seen this played out where the church or church organizations don’t feel the need to be accountable, but do hold individuals or groups/couples accountable at its discretion. Accountability in any relationship needs to go both ways for it to work. Individuals and/or organizations need to be open to be held responsible for its words and actions. For example, in regard to MCC’s treatment of its workers, Pastor Desalegn Abebe wrote in the Canadian Mennonite  that “if MCC were to seize initiative,” one of the things it would do would be to “Restore leadership structures — with accountability for everyone.”

2. Empathy

Contrary to what some “Christian” politicians have been saying, empathy is not a weakness. On the contrary, I believe it to be very much a strength in one’s character and is exemplified in the person of Jesus. Empathy is the ability to connect with others at the deepest level, which allows us to be compassionate and, to some extent, experience or understand how they feel. Although some folks are naturally more empathetic, empathy can be practiced, and, like any other skill, can be learned and refined. Practicing empathy isn’t always easy, though. Whether we’d like to admit it or not, pride and ego can get in the way of this very important value. A first step may be approaching interactions with others by intentionally monitoring our pride and ego. If we are experiencing a hard time connecting with people’s struggle (or joy!), it may be good to ask ourselves what is getting in the way of experiencing such feelings with them.

3. Peacemaking

“Peacemaking involves dialogue, deliberation, and dispute resolution after episodes of conflict or violence arise, such as negotiation, mediation, and democratic decision-making processes,” says a Peacebuilding Education Teaching Resource. Mennonites, as a historic peace church, cling to peacemaking as a core value. However, some streams of Anabaptism have been ditching this once-essential faith marker and have bought into it a more mainstream evangelical faith ideology that allows for violence to have a place in their theology.

Peacemaking requires effort and action. Being passive and abstaining from engagement in the current political climate is a dangerous lack of commitment to this value. For example, since democratic decision-making processes have not been respected in the United States by its current president through his signings of executive orders for decisions that require congressional approval, how are Christians committed to peacemaking addressing such a conflict? Are churches encouraging folks to write to their state and congressional representatives? Are churches joining organized protests? Are children in their Sunday school classes being taught that Jesus was a political figure of his time who was anti-establishment, but remained non-violent?

4. Diversity

It has brought me so much joy to see not only familiar faces of color in leadership positions in the Mennonite church, but in general, to hear their voices be amplified. I have noticed this as a big change and improvement in the national leadership of MC USA. However, I still often feel like in so many other church spaces and organizations “diversity” is just another buzzword. It is said often, but when it comes to actually implementing it we fall short. It the past few years, it has become tragically clear to me how much work the Mennonite church and its institutions need to do to stop tokenizing people, to improve in their advocacy work by actually centering BIPOC voices and not just allies, as well as to review  employment and hiring policies to address nepotism, preferential bias towards name/cultural Mennonite folks, and tokenism. 

5. Community

Although most of the concepts I mention are interconnected, community is a core value of our faith that requires the others to be implemented for it to work properly. Prioritizing community in our lives is acknowledging that we are interdependent. It’s also an act of resistance against the modern western culture that pushes individualism in all aspects of our lives. One way I like to think about it is that “life is not a competition.” If I thrive, I will help those around me thrive as well. If my community thrives, I will thrive as well. I carry this beautiful image of Jesus caring for all people: young and old, men and women, sick and fit. Many challenged his example, but can a community really thrive if it isn’t a priority for individuals within it to care about all its members?

One of the things I love about being active in church is having “grandpas” and “grandmas,” “aunties” and “uncles,” “nieces” and “nephews,” and not just peers. There are others who look different, live differently and think differently than I do. Try reaching out to folks within your “community” from whom you could learn more. Make learning about your community and spending time with folks an utmost priority.