Some of the parables of Jesus were meant to shine a spotlight on the reality faced by the oppressed with the intent to wake them up and call them to liberating action. Sometimes life stories are parables. Such is the case in this teaching. Douglas Avilesbernal, Executive Minister of the Evergreen Association (one of 35 regions of the American Baptist Churches - USA) shares his real life experience to help those not like him understand more clearly, care more deeply, and do more than simply being aware. We are called to be revolutionaries.

Questions to Consider...

Douglas describes parables as windows into realities we might never otherwise see -- what reality have you been blind to, and what parable or story first cracked that window open for you?

Douglas draws a distinction between raising awareness and being a co-conspirator, saying a co-conspirator is someone who would 'definitely be in trouble' if discovered -- what would it look like for you personally to move from awareness into genuine co-conspiracy on behalf of the vulnerable?

Romans 12 calls believers to present themselves as living sacrifices -- in what specific, concrete ways does that calling challenge your sense of comfort or safety in the current political moment?

Douglas argues that reality only persists as long as we collectively agree to it, and that Jesus used parables to invite people to disagree with imposed realities -- what dominant narrative in your community do you feel called to disagree with, and what is holding you back?

The Dutch resistance chose a path of deliberate, nonviolent disruption rather than armed conflict or passive compliance -- how does their example reshape your understanding of what faithful resistance can look like for a follower of Jesus?

Douglas reflects on the guilt that comes not from how we were born but from how we use our inheritance -- how are you currently stewarding the privileges and advantages you inherited, and where do you sense God calling you to use them differently?

The congregation in Douglas's story chose to love the police officers into leaving by sending members to greet them warmly and invite them for coffee -- what does this kind of persistent, disarming love require of us emotionally and spiritually, and where might it be harder than outright confrontation?

Douglas describes keeping a family emergency plan for the moment he might be detained by ICE, including instructions for his children -- how does sitting with that reality change the way you read Jesus' command to love your neighbor as yourself?

Shane Claiborne is quoted as describing nonviolent resistance as 'finding a third way that is neither fight nor flight' -- where in your own life have you defaulted to fight or flight when a third way of love and reconciliation was available?

Douglas closes by saying that for a Christian in this moment, being a revolutionary is 'the only option you have' -- do you agree with that claim, and what spiritual convictions or fears shape your answer?