Day 49
A Fish Out of Water
I wonder if the Porpoises out there see me on the beach and think I’m just fish out of water? They probably talk to one another and say, “Hey, do you see that fellow on the beach? He’s out of his mind!”
Do you realize that Jesus, Peter, Paul and the disciples at Pentecost were all referred to at one point in time in their lives as living out of their minds?[i] Throughout history, every society has this insidious tension between fitting in and sticking out. I regularly see people with metal objects jutting through their skin, tattoos, green hair, wild clothes, hot cars etc. A few weeks ago on CNN, I saw some guy jump the Great Wall of China on his skateboard. Now that’s sticking out! Then you have those who exert all kinds of energy attempting to fit in. They have to have the right model car, live in the right neighborhood, claim they know certain people and have their kids enrolled in the right schools.
Christianity is a society within a society. We have a segment of the Christian population who want to stick out. These are the people the broader society most frequently sees on their television sets that give people a skewed perception of real Christianity. These folks include some televangelists, preachers whose services are broadcast around the world via satellite promising a blessing from God for your cash donation (and a cheesy book or CD if you give enough), radio talk show hosts who dismember others who do not hold their views on certain socio-political issues with verbal onslaughts, and those who protest against abortion, stem cell research, and gay marriage. These are the folks who contribute to what some have characterized as “an attempt to hijack Christianity for a partisan political and ideological agenda.”[ii]
Unfortunately, the observing public, including those who have a desire to explore the Christian faith are repelled at such public displays of contentious self-righteousness. They are turned off by those who stick out because they are devoid of God’s love. “Loveless Christianity is a counterfeit. When we spread the gospel without the love of God, we stage our own gong show.”[iii] Let’s admit it. We have our nuts too. Every faith community has zealots and extremists who capture the limelight and cast a shadow of shame over the faith community they claim to represent and the God whose image they declare to the world…people who behave like fish out of water.
To become a fish out of water, you really have four choices:
A) You overstayed your place in the pond far too long. The life sustaining water that surrounded you has dried up. This typically happens to Christians who just can’t stand the thought of change. As one author writes, “We have learned that maintaining the status quo serves neither God nor the people that He loves.”[iv]
B) You lost your direction in your journey of faith. You ended up some place you were never created to inhabit.
C) You bit on some sort of dogma that looked appetizing, became hooked and were reeled in by people who were fishing for somebody as gullible as you.
D) You were born that way. Seemingly hatched on the beach instead of at sea.
Yvette and Maria (not their real names although this is a real story) live in the same community in Santa Ana, CA with their families. Their families don’t own homes. They rent apartments. The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government published a report in August 2004 entitled “An Update on Urban Hardship.” Santa Ana, CA was ranked as the #1 big city in America where it is toughest to make ends meet.[v] Yvette has 7 sisters and one brother. She lives in a one-bedroom apartment with her parents and siblings. Bunk beds cram most of the living area. Maria has one brother and three sisters. They’re both 17, attractive, bright, hard working and fun loving. They work part-time jobs in a fast-food restaurant together. They help others in their community doing volunteer work.
They have received their public education in the Santa Ana School District. In the spring of 2005, they both graduated from a local high school with honors. This is an amazing feat when you appreciate the fact that almost 6 out of 10 adults in Santa Ana, CA over the age of 25 have less than a high school education.[vi] Both Yvette and Maria will graduated in the top 4% of their graduating class (in the top 20 students out of a graduating class of nearly 400). Both have earned college credits while in high school. They have each received numerous academic awards. Neither has ever received any sort of formal disciplinary action inside or outside of school. They are, in every sense of the term, model citizens.
Maria has worked very hard to earn acceptance to UC-Davis where she will begin her college studies in the fall of 2005. She intends to become a veterinarian. She’s ecstatic. Yvette has been accepted to UC-Irvine. She loves math and intends to apply her aptitude in a career that requires the same. These two young women represent the best of the best the next generation has to offer. All together, each of these young women have pledged allegiance to the flag of the United States of America over 2,000 times. They are both Christians. They attend church. That’s where the similarities end.
Maria was born in the U.S. Yvette was born in Mexico and was carried across the border in the arms of her mother when she was five years old. She had no idea where she was going. She didn’t possess the ability to argue, understand, discuss or stay behind in Mexico. Like any child, she followed the lead of her parents, carried into a life in a land where she would be a fish out of water.
Yes, she has a phony social security card that allows her to work part-time at a fast food restaurant. She drives the family car without a license. She has no medical or auto insurance. Her three younger sisters were all born in the U.S.
She bought into what every generation in America has been told, “work hard in school, excel, get good grades, stay out of trouble, become involved in serving your community and everything will work out just fine for you.” At present, she does not qualify for federal financial aid for college due to her undocumented status. There’s no way her family can afford even in-state tuition at UC-Irvine.
Yvette is now considering postponing her entrance into college. Her father does not work due to the debilitating effects of a stroke. Her mom sews in a sweatshop. Mom and dad are not bilingual. The family is seriously considering moving to Washington State where it is cheaper to live. Her older, undocumented brother lives and works there now. Whether they move to Washington or stay in Santa Ana, Yvette feels that she needs to be there for her three younger sisters who are excelling in school, and bolster the family’s income by continuing to work at minimum wage.
With tears in her eyes, a trembling voice, and a facial expression reflecting deep, disillusioned, torment, Yvette says, “Even though I have done everything I can to demonstrate that I am a person of character, ready and willing to contribute to the future of America, I now feel like I’m on the outside looking in. How can this be happening? It’s not fair.” It is a life-changing experience to sit with a victim whose soul has been raped of hope. As I sat there, I realized that I was being provided with a glimpse of the profoundly wounded soul of a fish out of water.
Yvette is one of the hundreds of millions on this planet that do not have the choice to fit in, or the desire to stick out, as characterized herein. She’s legitimately stuck, seemingly rendered helpless by choices, circumstances and realities outside of her own choosing and control. It has been said, “Jesus’ sensibilities were affected most deeply by the poor, the powerless, the oppressed – in short, the underdogs.”[vii]
Imagine walking alone on the beach and coming upon a stranded Porpoise that was clearly alive, yet deeply in distress. Would you steer clear of the moaning mammal? Perhaps you would pretend to ignore or overlook it? Would you call for help? Maybe you would say to yourself, “Gosh, what a tragedy. I wish there was something I could do,” and walk on? What would you do to get involved in the essential effort required to help something than cannot help itself? When we substitute people for the Porpoise, why is it that “rather than look to our economic, social, or political structures for answers, and rather than recognize our shared responsibility and concern for poverty, we point to each other with accusatory fingers. In the process, we redirect society’s ills upon easy targets, turning them into scapegoats. Such scapegoats are often our least powerful citizens-welfare recipients, minority groups, immigrants, single women with children, the homeless, and so on down the list.”[viii]
The one thing that Christians who are deceived about either sticking out or fitting in is that our God expects us to bend down and care for His fish out of water. “It is time that we demand more of ourselves as Christians. We are the hands and feet of Jesus Christ, and if the world is going to see, feel, and touch him, it will have to be through us.”[ix]
Jesus has one irrefutable, underlying characteristic in common with the world’s fish out of water, “He waits to be wanted.”[x] It is through loving and caring for them that His love grows in us. If we don’t share our love with them, we may end up drowning in God’s tears…just like a fish out of water.
NOTES
[i] Mark 3:21, Acts, 12:15, Acts 26:24, Acts 2:13-15
[ii] http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=sojomail.display&issue=050428#3
[iii] Grady, J. Lee Strangely Warmed, in Charisma & Christian Life Magazine, September 2004, © by Strang Communications Company, p.6 J. Lee Grady is Editor of Charisma,p. 6.
[iv] Caldwell, Kirbyjon & Kallenstadt, Walt with Sorensen, Paul Entrepreneurial Faith – Launching Bold Initiatives to Expand God’s Kingdom, WaterBrook Press, A Division of Random House, Inc. Copyright 2004 by Kirbyjon Caldwell, & Walt Kallenstadt, with Paul Sorensen, P. 1.
[v] Montiel, Nathan & Wright – An Update on Urban Hardship, Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government – Public Policy Research Arm of SUNY. August 2004. http://64.233.179.104/search?q=cache:eVPVaFU9tDAJ:www.rockinst.org/publications/urban_studies/UrbanHardshipUpdate.pdf+%22hardship+index%22&hl=en&start=1
[vi] Montiel, Nathan & Wright – An Update on Urban Hardship, Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government – Public Policy Research Arm of SUNY. August 2004. http://64.233.179.104/search?q=cache:eVPVaFU9tDAJ:www.rockinst.org/publications/urban_studies/UrbanHardshipUpdate.pdf+%22hardship+index%22&hl=en&start=1
[vii] Yancey, Philip. The Jesus I Never Knew, Zondervan Grand Rapids, Michigan © Copyright 1995 by Philip Yancey, p. 40.
[viii] Rank, Mark R. One Nation, Underprivileged-Why American Poverty Affects Us All, Oxford University Press Oxford, NY Copyright 2004 by Mark Robert Rank p. 13.
[ix] Perkins, John M. Restoring At-Risk Communities – Doing It Together & Doing It Right, Baker Books Grand Rapids, Michigan © Copyright 1995 by John M. Perkins p. 12.
[x] Tozer, A. W. The Pursuit of God – The Human Thirst for the Devine, Christian Publications, Inc. Camp Hill, PA Copyright 1982, 1993 by Christian Publications, Inc. p. 17.
