How to be evangelically
progressive … or, is that progressively evangelical. Personally, most of the
time I think we should ditch all of those words: progressive; evangelical;
and how to. But this afternoon I figured out, for one small and,
doubtless, insignificant moment, how to be evangelical about the progressive
wing of the church.
Walking past a kitchen supply shop
in my neighborhood an apron in the window caught my eye. It had a raised fist
wrapped around a clove of garlic and it read, “smash the garlic … and the
patriarchy.” I thought immediately of my beloved, who loves smashing both those
things, and I thought, what the heck, that’s a Valentine.
So I turned around and went into
the shop. On the same shelf as what turned out to be a dishrag rather than an apron
the store had copies of I Am Not a
Tractor: How Florida Farmworkers Took on the Fast Food Giants and Won.
I know the outlines of the story
of the organizing, boycotting, and education work of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, and their ongoing
efforts to ensure fair wages and decent conditions for their work in Florida
agriculture. In particular, I know a bit about efforts by Presbyterians to
support the workers. So naturally I looked in the book’s index and was
pleasantly surprised to see multiple references to “Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.)".
When I was making my purchase
the shopkeeper asked if I’d found what I was looking for, and so I told her
that I’d found mention of my church in the index of a book about farm-worker
justice efforts.
It struck me as I headed on to
the grocery store that a whole lot had to happen for me to “share the gospel”
in that small way. First, faithful folks in Florida had to be made aware of the
injustices in the food system. They had to see, in the fields, neighbors with
whom they needed to be in solidarity. The workers had to inform people,
organize them, build networks, create strategies, and work for years to make
inroads with huge corporations. Congregations and denominational organizations
had to make and keep long-term commitments, and share the news far beyond
Florida fields so that I would know a little bit of the story. The workers had
to get their story told such that someone would come along and write a book.
After all that work is done,
sharing the good news is as simple as pointing it out.
