{"id":35874,"date":"2024-03-11T11:00:21","date_gmt":"2024-03-11T18:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=35874"},"modified":"2024-03-11T15:07:03","modified_gmt":"2024-03-11T22:07:03","slug":"they-are-precious-in-his-sight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/they-are-precious-in-his-sight\/","title":{"rendered":"They Are Precious in His Sight"},"content":{"rendered":"

I came into this blog post knowing that I wanted to title it: \u00a0“Red and Yellow, Black and White.”<\/strong> If you grew up in the church, or for that matter, didn’t have your head buried in the sand for the entirety of your human existence, you would have [most likely] heard, or at least heard OF, the Sunday School song called “Jesus Loves the Little Children.”<\/p>\n

“Red, Yellow, Black and White they are precious in His sight, <\/em>Jesus loves the little children of the world.”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Is it coming back to you now?<\/p>\n

Welp, I Googled the phrase “Red, Yellow, Black and White” just to insure that I had the wording correct before writing this blog post, and the first entry I clicked on<\/a>, in no uncertain terms, let me, the “Googler” know that this seemingly innocent and positively-intended song is a “negative categorization by color.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Ah, dang.<\/strong><\/p>\n

After reading\u00a0Sway<\/em> by Pragya Agarwal, I guess I should have KNOWN THAT!<\/p>\n

But here’s the deal, and it’s the point that this author quite admirably has made: unconscious\/implicit bias is baked into almost every aspect of the human experience. Agarwal contends that “we carry these biases within us” (Agarwal, 15). One of the authors chapter headings is “Hardwired,” and that seems to be an adequate term for how we carry biases internally, implicitly, and unconsciously.<\/p>\n

In other words, I can personally grow up singing “Red and Yellow, Black and White,” and then sing it to my kids, and then to my grandkids, without really knowing how language and race are connected and reinforcing of negative or insufficient stereotypes.<\/p>\n

Now I know. And knowing is half the battle.<\/p>\n

And a battle it is<\/strong>. Not to say that my battle is even remotely close to the battles that marginalized people and people groups have experienced through history (until this very day), because it is NOT even REMOTELY. However, it is a battle, nevertheless.<\/p>\n

It’s difficult to remain continually aware of what biases may exist within my heart, how those biases present themselves in both explicit and implicit ways, and how to be better about it all. This is a never-ending challenge. One might say it’s a wicked problem<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Sway<\/em> comprehensively unravels the way our unconscious biases affect the way we communicate, make day-t0-day decisions (from job interviews to romantic relationships) and perceive the world. It goes yet further to reveal how those unconscious biases reinforce and perpetuate systemic and structural inequalities. In my opinion, these are wicked problems that may never get fixed, only managed. Now, I don’t think of myself as a pessimist<\/strong><\/span>. I lean heavily towards being an optimist<\/strong><\/span>, although that characteristic has been waning of late. More accurately, to quote rapper Iggy Azalea in Fancy<\/em>, “first things first, I’m the realest<\/strong>, drop this and let the whole world feel it.”<\/p>\n

Wait. I’m THE Realest? I always thought she said “I’m A realist<\/em>.” The words “realest” and “realist” look and sound so similar, but alas, they are not.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\u2022 realest <\/strong>\/ ree<\/span>\u00b7<\/span><\/span>luhst \/ used in slang for someone or something extremely authentic or exceptional.<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
\u2022 realist <\/strong>\/\u02c8r\u0113\u0259l\u0259st\/ a person who accepts a situation as it is and is prepared to deal with it accordingly.<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

So, \u00a0here I am yet again, deferring to Google on a lyric that I want to quote in this blog, only to discover that for years I’ve been saying it wrongly<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Why do I mention all this? Am I just rambling? Answer: NO!<\/p>\n

The point I’m trying to make is that all too often we, nay I, get it wrong<\/strong>. And we, nay I, repeat it wrongly<\/strong>. I was committed to quoting two lyrics, one of which I quoted wrongly and probably is a subtle case of cultural appropriation (even though she is a white rapper), and the other lyric I now know has an unconscious bias baked in. A song about the stereotypical colors of people groups on our planet certainly has a catchy tune, but it also negatively categorizes individuals.<\/p>\n

What will we, nay I, do with new and improved information?<\/p>\n

My personal prayer is that I would be a person that can receive correction, and graciously change. I don’t want to get stuck. Stuck in past preferences. Stuck in “that’s how I’ve always done it.” Stuck in patterns that no longer serve my desire to “become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.” (Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:22).<\/span><\/p>\n

The broader context of verse 22 perhaps is in order:<\/p>\n

Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.<\/span> To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. <\/span>To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God\u2019s law but am under Christ\u2019s law), so as to win those not having the law.<\/span> To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.<\/span> \u00a0<\/sup>I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. \u00a0<\/span><\/em>1 Corinthians 9:19-23<\/p>\n

It’s as if the Apostle Paul is saying: ALL are precious in God’s sight. ALL are worthy of love and respect. ALL are opportunities afforded to us to not demand OUR RIGHTS, but rather express honor and esteem to one another.<\/p>\n

Drop this and let the whole world feel it: \u00a0Everyone<\/strong><\/span> is precious in His sight. Now that’s a song worth singing!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I came into this blog post knowing that I wanted to title it: \u00a0“Red and Yellow, Black and White.” If you grew up in the church, or for that matter, didn’t have your head buried in the sand for the entirety of your human existence, you would have [most likely] heard, or at least heard […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":172,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2310],"tags":[2244,2245],"class_list":["post-35874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-doctor-of-leadership-3","tag-agarwal","tag-sway","cohort-dlgp02"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/172"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35874"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35874\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36568,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35874\/revisions\/36568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}