Tag: freedom

A Black Son’s Juneteenth

By Ife J. Ibitayo

I’ve been black ever since I was born. This may be obvious to you, but it wasn’t to me. I was born in the suburbs of deeply-black Detroit. Then I moved to racially diverse San Jose. Then I wrapped up my childhood in Mission, Texas, which is 80% Hispanic. I never experienced brazen racism or saw Confederate flag-waving white supremacists. Microaggressions and “can I touch your hair?” were the extent of the indignities I lived through.

So I never understood my Dad’s rules: If you wear a hoodie, the hood must be down. If you’re wearing a fitted, it must face forward. Never pocket anything in the grocery store even if you intend to pay for it. And always keep your receipts.  No Kobe earrings for my older brother. No Iverson cornrows for me. And in the midst of these perplexing rules, I remained relatively cocooned from the complex web of racial interactions that tangled around me.

Divided

But then Michael Brown—a teenager less than a year older than me—was shot in Ferguson, Missouri. And less than two years later, Donald Trump was elected president of the United States. With these jarring cognitive blows, I finally began to realize the United States of America was not as united as I once believed. And I began to understand my dad’s deep-seated anguish and frustration with our country.

Black people in the United States have always lived divided lives, torn between the high ideals America stands for and the disappointing reality our nation has fallen into. America decried racism in Nazi Germany while embracing it on our own soil. America lauded Gandhi overseas but assassinated King back home. America opposed apartheid as early as the 1940s yet supported Jim Crow until the 1960s.

United

I still remember sitting with my dad a few years back, overcome by my newfound jadedness. I shared my grievances with him and expected him to say, “Son, welcome to the table.” But rather, he told me he was still proud to be an American. The United States is still the nation my father dreamed of coming to from his youth. The United States is still the nation where my father proved that blood, sweat, tears and an unremitting hunger for success can open nearly every door and shatter countless glass ceilings. And this hope, this pride is what he’s passed onto me.

So as a Juneteenth Father’s Day approaches, I celebrate all the black fathers who refused to give into cynicism and despair. I celebrate all the black fathers who stuck around, gritted their teeth, and refused to give up or give in. I celebrate all of the black fathers who poured themselves out for their nations, their companies, and their families even when no one gave them an ounce of appreciation. And most of all, I celebrate my own father. I love you, Dad.

Hitler, Will Smith, and Cancel Culture

By Ife J. Ibitayo

I’ve always rooted against Germany’s soccer team. As a matter of course, I favor Latin American teams over European teams, and I admit to being a Brazilian bandwagoner. But for some reason, I despised Germany in particular.

On a completely unrelated note, I voraciously devoured Holocaust novels as a child. Night by Elie Wiesel, The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, and many other lesser-known novels gripped my imagination as an elementary student. My brain just couldn’t piece together how so great a nation could commit so great an atrocity.

It wasn’t until I read a book called Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas that I finally connected the two: “At the beginning of the war, it was possible to separate the Nazis from the Germans and recognize that not all Germans were Nazis. As the clash between [Germany and Britain] wore on, and as more and more English fathers and sons and brothers died, distinguishing the difference became more difficult. Eventually the difference vanished altogether…As [Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s parents] took in the hard news that the good man who was their son was now dead, so too, many English took in the hard news that the dead man who was a German was good.”

The Truth Behind Cancel Culture

My subtle subconscious prejudice may sound rather incredible, especially as a young black man growing up in the racially charged streets of America. But I believe a wider social practice of this is rampant today. It is called “cancel culture.” Dictionary.com defines cancel culture as “publicly rejecting, boycotting, or ending support for particular people or groups because of their socially or morally unacceptable views or actions.”

Interestingly enough, after Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars’ his biggest fear was “being cancelled.” Now cancel culture isn’t inherently evil. We’ve entered a day and age where individuals have been empowered to force powerful public figures and organizations to reckon with their actions. However, it is telling that cancel culture has no timeline associated with it. Once someone is cancelled, they will always be.

At the root of permanent cancel culture is a heart of unforgiveness. Cancel culture says, “No matter how deep your contrition, no matter how great your atonement, you are dead to me.” But Jesus Christ said, “If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them” (Luke 17:3). Forgiveness is sensitive, it welcomes the penitent. But unforgiveness is ossified, it will always be too late, and it will never be enough.

Now a word must be said about consequences. True repentance demands restitution. For instance, after World War II, Germany paid reparations for nearly ten years, and it’s standard of living was set back by a decade as well.    

However, when Germany calls out Russia on its war crimes in Ukraine, the rest of us don’t roll our eyes. We listen intently because Germany has been forgiven and restored just as we hope Russia can one day be.

Conclusion

I needed a fresh reminder that Germany has given us some of the world’s greatest treasures: the Protestant Reformation, the printing press, and the BMW. Germany is more than Hitler; Russia is more than Putin; and Will Smith is more than a slap. If we accept this truth, we might be able to foster a culture of reconciliation rather than cancellation.   

“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
(Ephesians 4:32)

Leaping Into the Abyss

By Ife J. Ibitayo

I love control. As a happy creature of habit, I love my Takeout Tuesdays and my free time on Fridays. I religiously adjust my thermostat every night to optimize my sleep. And every day I guard my thirty-minute lunch break like it’s the Holy Grail. Because control is my sacred relic—”my precious.” Feeling in control is one of my strongest sources of peace today, and it have been for a very long time.

Restriction and Freedom

Ironically, the more control we seek, the more restricted we will be. We know instinctively that innovation requires a certain amount of chaos. Failure, mistakes, and waste are all essential components of progress. I assent to all this in theory, but in practice I spend my days in utter terror of my imperfections. I don’t remember the hundreds of times I did a perfectly satisfactory job. Rather, I remember each and every moment I slipped up.

Trust, on the other hand, frees. The Bible often equates trusting with casting. For instance, Psalm 55:22 says, “Cast your cares on the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken.” The word translated “cares” in this verse is the Hebrew word yehab, meaning “a burden that has been given to us.” When we spend our days carrying around the burdens placed on us, we won’t have the capacity to carry much else. But when we give our burdens to God, we will then be free to tackle greater challenges and even help others who are struggling under their own heavy loads.

Caution and Daring

Control is cautious. It’s risk averse. Whether it be asking for a raise, revealing a talent, or proposing to a beautiful woman, the most meaningful opportunities in life will require us to relinquish control. They demand a leap of faith.

The author of the book of Hebrews said, “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going (Hebrews 11:8). Faith is audacious and bold. It’s daring. It’s willing to leap into the abyss, step into the darkness, and let go of the rope. If we’re only willing to move forward when we’ve been given a map of the whole journey, we’ll spend our whole lives going nowhere.

Conclusion

Control and trust are polar opposites. The more time I spent reflecting on their differences, the starker they became: Control hoards while trust gives. Control demands more and more while trust requires less and less. Control depends on what’s in our hands. Trust depends on Whose hands we’re in.

Finishing this article was a struggle for me. The weight of anxiety threatens to smother my heart as I enter this new, exciting phase of my life. But I must leap into the abyss, step into the darkness, and let go of the rope. I must renounce control so that I can receive trust. All I can do now is pray that God catches me.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.

(Proverbs 3:5-6)

How to Be a Happy Creature of Habit

Ife J. Ibitayo

I am a happy creature of habit. Every morning, I wake up at 7 AM, brush my teeth and change into my work clothes. I head into the kitchen and grab a fruit cup, two cheese sticks, two granola bars, and a glass of juice. I spend thirty minutes reading my Bible, then dive into work. My patterns continue throughout the day. I used to joke that if a stalker were trying to peg me down, they’d be finished in a day.

Yet all of us are slaves to our habits. We just have to have our Starbucks latte and scroll through Instagram as we ride the train to work. Or we have to eat out for lunch because we just don’t have enough time in the morning to make something healthy. Or we have to binge scary Netflix movies before we go to sleep each night because that’s the only way we can relax (still don’t quite understand that mindset). When anywhere from half to three-fourths of our actions each day are habit driven, the habits we form are very important indeed.

But how do we change our habits when we are our habits?

Finding a Vision

The first step is laying hold of a vision. The Apostle Paul once said of believers, “We all, with unveiled faces, looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18a). We innately become what we fix our eyes on. We have to be energized by a goal, an end destination that is worth the high price of change.

Starting Small

Secondly, start small. For many of us, when we read an article like this, we may be tempted to go vegan, finish our magnum opus, and become the perfect spouse, parent, and employee all by next week. But drastic, unsustainable change never lasts. Someone once said, “Greatness is not composed of one big act but a thousand little ones.” When we commit to eating out one less time a week, or writing one page of that novel, or saying, “I love you” as soon as we wake up, we are setting ourselves up for future greatness, one tiny habit change at a time.

Celebrating Victories

Lastly, celebrate the victories, both big and small. I especially struggle with this. I tend to see each hill I climb as a fresh vantage point to start eyeing the next mountaintop. But science shows that the act of celebrating reduces stress and increases our productivity. Patting ourselves on the back for following through with our commitments makes it more likely for us to keep them long term.

Conclusion

Almost all of us have bad habits that we tolerate in our lives. But life was never meant to be tolerated; it’s meant to be lived. When we find the right goal, get off to a manageable start, and celebrate the progress we make, we’ll be just that much closer to the fullness of being God has called us to.

“I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.”

(Ecclesiastes 3:12)

The Freedom of the Terrifying Truth

By Ife J. Ibitayo

I recently read an article about a number of anti-vaccine radio hosts who died of COVID. This got me thinking, “What happens when your beliefs are rooted in something other than reality?”

We all hold fundamental beliefs that we think are self-evident like “We should all have a right to choose” and “Love is love.” We hold to such statements because, just like gravity, they ground us. They provide a comforting framework through which we can make sense of our dizzyingly complex world. But comfort is not a sufficient reason to hold on to any belief.

The Terrifying

Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “I still believe that freedom is the bonus you receive for telling the truth. Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” This truth resonated strongly in March 1965, when the suffering of the black community viscerally confronted white America.

The United States government passed the Civil Rights Act the year before. They were attempting to legislate desegregation from the top down. But it could be argued that the dismantlement of “separate but equal” institutions did not begin in earnest until Bloody Sunday. On that fateful afternoon, racist local law enforcement brutally beat down Martin Luther King Jr. and thousands of others. It could not have been comfortable for any “upstanding, moral” American to come to terms with the vile ugliness of complacency lying in their souls. But only when our nation was awoken from its slumber could it continue the hard work of reconciliation.

This behavior is not anomalous. It’s a worsening trend. 2 Timothy 4:20 says, “For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear.” Now is that time. In the internet age, we can find voices that preach whatever message we want to hear. We live in a generation when many are entrenching themselves in their worldviews, attempting to block out the terror of reality.

The Truth

But Martin Luther King Jr.’s statement still rings true today, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” Grounding, orientation, only comes when we submit our preferences to the one who said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).

Someone once said that no one holds the market on truth, and there is some validity to this statement. No politician, no preacher, no blogger has got it all right. That’s why we must be willing to question and challenge them. But we ourselves don’t know it all either. That’s why we must be willing to humbly retract and correct ourselves. Yet truth does exist. And if it can’t be found with humanity, maybe it can be found with the one who made us all.

“‘You say that I’m a king,” Jesus replied. “I was born for this, and I have come into the world for this: to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.’”

(John 18:38)

Hope or Hopelessness (40 Years of Muttering with Moses Pt. 1)

By Ife J. Ibitayo

The Israelites suffered under the heavy hand of the Egyptians for 400 toilsome years. But through a miraculous series of events, the LORD raised up Moses to deliver them. (Exodus 2:1-10). He commissioned Moses from the midst of a blazing bush, equipped him with miraculous powers, and supplied him with his older brother to speak on his behalf (Exodus 3-4). Together, they stormed into Pharaoh’s palace and uttered these famous words for the first time, “Let my people go! Let them hold a feast for me in the wilderness” (Exodus 5:1).

But Pharaoh said, “I won’t let them go. Why are you making these people rest from their burdens? They’re obviously idle. That’s why they want to hold a party in the wilderness.” So he commanded their taskmasters to stop giving the Israelites straw to make bricks (Exodus 5:4-9).

The overburdened Israelites grumbled at Moses, and he, in turn, grumbled at God, “‘Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued Your people at all’” (Exodus 5:22-23 NIV).

God Promises

God said, “‘I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob…I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they resided as foreigners’” (Exodus 6:2-4 NIV). God began by reminding the people of the promise He’d made them.

 Hundreds of years earlier, He’d told their ancestor Abraham, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be slaved and mistreated there. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions’” (Genesis 15:13-14 NIV).

Even before their slavery, God knew the hard times His people would face. And He had already prepared a rescue plan for them. The LORD never makes a promise He cannot keep.

God Listens

Secondly, God said, “‘You can be sure that I have heard the groans of the people of Israel, who are now slaves to the Egyptians. And I am well aware of My covenant with them’” (Exodus 6:5 NLT).

Sometimes prayer can feel like futile shouting into the empty void, but be assured: God hears you. King David once asked, “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there” (Psalm 139:7-8 NIV). From the depths of Marianas Trench to the tip of Mount Everest, God’s presence fills all in all. He is watching over us, listening to us, and knows what we are going through.

God Provides

Lastly, the LORD said, “‘I will take you as My own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession.’” (Exodus 6:7-8 NIV). God always desires to take us from where we are to a better place: from hunger to fullness (John 6:35), from striving to peace (Matthew 11:29), from slavery to liberty (Isaiah 61:1). By providing us the hope of heaven, God has cemented a positive trend to our existence. We know that things are going to get better soon.

Conclusion

The Israelites responded to the LORD’s heartfelt speech by refusing to listen to Him anymore. “They had become too discouraged by the brutality of their slavery” (Exodus 6:9 NLT).

The LORD has a message of hope for each of us. He keeps His promises, cares about our situation, and desires to deliver us to the Promised Land. We must cling on to these truths as our lifeline in these battering times, lest we also succumb to hopelessness.

“Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise Him again—my Savior and my God!”

(Psalm 43:5 NLT)

Freedom (Unreliable Idols Pt. 3)

By Ife J. Ibitayo

This the third article in a series on unreliable idols. For Part 1 on Fame, click here. For Part 2 on Fortune, click here.

Freedom is the bedrock of the United States. From the Declaration of Independence to the Bill of Rights to the Emancipation Proclamation, citizens of the United States have experienced tremendous freedoms, both collective and individual.

As an American nomad, I’ve especially grown accustomed to the free life. I bed down in a location for a few years, accomplish what I’ve come to do, and move on to the next. In the past ten years, I’ve moved five times, and I’ve maintained my freedom: I have no girl back home, no children to return to, no strings attached.

Idol of Freedom

According to dictionary.com, freedom is “exemption from external control”, the ability to do what you want to do when you want to do it. Freedom is a blessing, one that many stuck-at-home mothers are understandably craving right now. But the moment freedom becomes tantamount, it become an idol.

When your own personal freedoms become more important than anyone else’s (eg watching what you want on TV even when it’s inappropriate for your children, eating what you want even when your spouse is concerned about your weight, or working when you want even if it’s inconvenient for your coworkers), you have made your personal good your god and become a slave to your desires.

True Freedom

Living a life dedicated to yourself ultimately leads to death. It will poison your friendships, your marriage, and, ironically, your personal well-being. But living for others leads to life in these same areas (Romans 6:20-22).

I wasn’t completely truthful when I said I have no strings attached. I have family I visit, friends I call, and a community I serve. These connections do drain my resources and restrict the way I live my life, but they give so much more than they take. I would be adrift without them.

Conclusion

A morning spent sleeping in, an afternoon wasted lazing around the house, or an evening devoted to a good movie is not innately sinful. A disproportionate amount of people today are genuinely in need of these things. But we must also remember to play with our children, romance our spouses, and love our neighbors.

Galatians 5:13 says, “For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.” Freedom is found in service to others specifically because it frees us from the “tyranny of me”. Selflessness expands our circle of care beyond ourselves and provides us the joy and satisfaction we are truly looking for.

“Jesus said to the people who believed in Him, ‘You are truly My disciples if you remain faithful to My teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

(John 8:31-32 NLT)