That’s Some Binary Bologna by Jake

I have been mulling over this blog for a long time now. I can’t even remember the last time I blogged to be honest. So forgive me if this one is a bit long and preachy (or radical).
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The thoughts all began at a local coffee shop in Douglas, AZ. This place is great: delicious food, a really interesting owner, and a very solid artsy vibe going on the whole place. It’s really a unique business for Douglas. Around the coffee shop, they have different pieces of art from local artists. It was one of these pieces that really caught my eye. This painting had three people on it, all of who were darker skinned (possibly Middle Eastern). And with those people was the phrase “Pray for ISIS”. At first I was taken aback. What? Pray for ISIS? Those horrible people? Why would someone be praying for them?! However, as I began thinking about it, I realized that we SHOULD pray for ISIS. Not because we support them or believe in what they’re doing. Nor because we want them to instantly become Christians. We should pray for ISIS because that’s what God calls us to do. In Matthew 5, verses 44 and 45, it clearly says “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those for persecute you, so you may be sons (and daughters) of your Father in heaven”. Even horrible people we completely disagree with deserve our prayer.


Then, over the past two days, we have had discussions here in Douglas over the topic of being a Welcoming City. These talks involved the mayor of Douglas, Pastor Brad, a pastor from a presbytery in Arizona, and Pastor George, a Syrian pastor who lived in Syria then Lebanon before finally coming to the US as a refugee. The three of them discussed what it meant to be welcoming from their point of view, and how we as Christians and Americans could be more welcoming to our brothers and sisters from around the world. One thing that really stuck out for me came from Pastor Brad. He said, “Binary conversation cannot help us find a third way”. For those of you who don’t know, binary is a system representing numbers, letters, images, commands and sounds that uses ONLY 0 and 1. It is essentially a two-sided issue. Us vs. them, Republican vs. Democrat, conservative vs. liberal, Christian vs. Muslim, white vs. people of color, Border Patrol vs. migrants, the haves vs. the have-nots. Having these constant two forces fighting each other will never allow us to come together to create a third way, a way to truly help our fellow brothers and sisters throughout the world. Only by doing something radical and different are we able to break the norm and create a new conversation.

I believe that is what Jesus has called us to do. He wants us to do something completely unheard of. He wishes us to reach out to those different from us, those across the political aisle, and those who are considered “lesser”. I believe that Jesus didn’t come necessarily to create a new religion, but to help us cross the gap and work with those different from us so that “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on EARTH as it is in Heaven”. Jesus calls us to do something different. So please, join me in doing something radical and different. Something possibly unheard of.
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Pray for ISIS. Pray for Trump. Pray for our brothers and sisters who are discriminated and killed purely for their skin color. Pray for the police officers that discriminate and kill them. Pray for refugees around the world and for those who oppose or support them. Pray for Border Patrol and for the migrants who are crossing our borders without papers. And pray that we may learn, day by day, how to break out of this binary conversation and move into a third way. A way that lets’ us work together to bring God’s kingdom of justice and love here to Earth for everyone.