Peace In the City

In his book, the Beloved Community, Charles Marsh quotes Presbyterian minister Mark Gornik. Gornik and his friends were committed to fostering community development incarnationally and moved into Baltimore row housing in 1986. Gornik’s words are important for all who struggle with privilege in the midst of inequality:

“I cannot escape my background as a white male born into a world of options and privileges. But I can and should struggle with my obligation as a Christian to view the city in all of its forms and conditions through the eyes of the stranger, the excluded, and the poor. Christian reflection on the inner city must emerge out of relationships: the bonds of commitment to Christ and his peace for the poor. In Christ’s fellowship with the poor, in his identification with the depths of suffering through the cross, the cries from the depths of the inner city are also his, and the pleas that all things might be made right becomes a yearning in the Spirit of God for God’s reign of peace.

These words beg all of us to consider our privilege. Whether it comes by way of economics, education, or in by being a part of the ethnic majority we are called to leverage our privilege for the sake of others.