A Call for Right Now

“So what is it you do?” she asked. My seat partner on a connecting flight home, she taught at a community college in St. Louis. “Well, for many years I’ve been a pastor,” I replied. “But recently I’ve taken on a new role as an intercultural consultant.” She was intrigued. “What is that?” “Well, you know how these days everyone seems to be polarized, upset with each other, talking past each other? I work to build bridges across cultures and public spaces, to accelerate understanding and peace.” We talked for an hour about one another’s career fields. As we got up to leave the plane, I’ll never forget what she said.

“Don’t get discouraged or give up! Your work is so badly needed right now.” 

This weekend, we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday, life and mission. Dr. King joins a small list of individuals who devoted their lives to creating peace and bridges where there seemed to be nothing but intractable walls. William Wilberforce was a man like this. Both Christians of extraordinary faith passionately gave of their souls, their very lives, in the power of the Holy Spirit to work to change prevailing injustices in human society. 

We find it relatively easy to honor such persons and those like them: Esther, Daniel, Paul. These are people who, from the long lens of history, appear much larger than life, who seem to stare at us across the terrain of time as though their lives and achievements were automatic, inevitable. 

And yet, each of them walked in flesh and blood. Each faced a moment of decision, a time where they stared down and rejected an opportunity to move smoothly and unobtrusively with the flow of their times, to accept the creature comforts of their own communities. 

“Who knows but you have come for such a time as this?” Mordecai’s call rang in Esther’s ears. Dr. King’s own father gave him pushback in the early days of the Civil Rights movement—fearing his son might miss his chance at a prosperous ministry as a pastor (Jonathan Eig, King: A Life). 

Wilberforce could have easily cultivated his friendships with high-society colleagues in the British Parliament and could have easily walked away from his lifelong calling from God to abolish the slave trade.

Yet each faced their moment of destiny with the stark awareness that this was a call from God for right now. And each rose to the occasion with breathtaking courage, words that ring in our consciousness to this day. 

They made a right-now decision.
“I have a dream today!” 
“If I perish, I perish.”

We all sense that these are fractious times, not only in America but in many places across the world. Polarization is at an all-time high. We see far more people talking past each other and relatively few who listen empathically and speak with peace in their hearts.

Yet this is our calling. Our calling for right now. Paul pled with believers to pray for him that he would have the courage to walk through Spirit-created doors of opportunity. What door is God creating for you? What opportunities do you face where you can either stay quiet and comfortable in the molds society has shaped for you? Or will you rise up and speak God’s truth in this right-now time?

God is calling you. He is calling you to build bridges of Gospel peace among people of other political parties, of other faiths, of other cultures. The vast majority of Christians live in their silos, quietly praying, “Here am I, Lord, send someone else.” 

But God is looking for you. For you to step into your calling right now. Are you ready?

Converge Biblical Diversity is dedicated to uniting churches around God's biblical guidance on cultural and social issues. Their mission is to empower and equip churches to champion biblical diversity, reflecting the rich tapestry of the body of Christ. Learn more about Converge Biblical Diversity.