As I write this, I am on day two of forty of a fast for Gaza. I, along with colleagues in Mennonite Action and Community Peacemaker Teams, am dedicating this period to intentional reflection and calls to action. There are multiple ways to fast during this period, according to each person’s conscience.
My fasting practice has usually been private. However, a visible, public fast is what’s being asked of us by groups like Friends of Sabeel North America. In time books will record the atrocities in Gaza as one of the worst cases of western indifference in recent history. A public fast, showing up for protests, and fervent prayer, should be the bare minimum for every Christian. Yet, it’s not happening.
I reflect on Jesus’ own words on the matter, where he recommends to “not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others.” I thought, briefly, about those words when I considered this fast – then I took a step back and looked at the western Christian world.
One of the most disturbing trends I’ve seen within western Chirstian spaces is apathy towards what’s happening in the Middle East. Christianity, once a tool for great social change, is being used for the most part as personal sin management and conquering others – both at the neglect of vulnerable communities. I’ll never forget the stark irony of scrolling through social media to see Christian influencers posting content about living comfortably in the United States in between posts about genocide and dead children. That’s exactly the spirit of hypocrisy Jesus warns us about in our Christian practice.
As Rich Mullins famously sang, “Save me from religion that makes cheap cliches out of timeless truths.” If we aren’t showing up for the marginalized and the vulnerable, if we aren’t taking stands with the oppressed, if we aren’t calling out the blasphemy of empire, then the western church has lost her credibility and witness.
If you have been otherwise on the sidelines and are now feeling the Spirit’s pull to action, I want to say that the ideal time for this would’ve been nineteen months ago. The second best time is now. When your children and grandchildren ask you about the Gaza genocide, do you want to share that you did nothing? Or, do you want to share how you were a part of the change? Those are the two options left for you. Bluntly put, you can’t claim Jesus as Lord and Savior while doing nothing in the face of mass starvation of babies. Jesus also had some rather strong words of warning about the fate of those who are personally pious and interpersonally apathetic.
And if you’re not in a position to fast, I’d greatly encourage solidarity through other ways. Show up to educational events, plug into the local Muslim community in your neighborhood, support Palestinian businesses, and most of all have hard conversations with your Christian friends. The road ahead of us, however this genocide ends, will require the American church to weep and repent. Reparations will have to be made. There is no plausible way the American church will look guiltless in these atrocities. The best way to start this journey is to have those tough conversations with people who either didn’t understand or who bought into the false theology that Jesus requires us to support genocide to be faithful Christians.
This form of repentance will have grief for all of us followers of Christ. How much grief you deal with later depends on what you do now. Do not be like the hypocrites. Instead, I’d encourage you to listen to your conscience and to listen to the voice of God in the Palestinian child praying for the horror to end.
