#DearWhitePeople - A Reflection on Harmony

I apologize for how long it has taken to write this, but I finally felt like I should write this post. So, here it is.

The previous two posts have been about how the movie Dear White People is about identity and relationship, but the final thing I noticed about the movie is that it is a movie about harmony.

This movie is also about HARMONY.

If you still have not seen the movie it should still be obvious based on the title of the movie that it deals directly with race, ethnicity, and diversity. If you only read the title of the film you would think it would be confrontational, which in some respects it is, but the film is actually a satirical view of how people think of diversity in the United States. I think the aim of the film is to point out issues in how we think, feel, and talk about race, but I am unsure if the goal of the movie is enough. Although I believe the goal is an amazing start, I also believe that I thirsted for more progress.

Director Justin Simien said, “The intention was always to hold a mirror up and tell a dirty truth, even if the truth was uncomfortable.” 

The goal of simply showing people the dirty truth is not enough. In my perspective, Simien’s goal was accomplished but I do not remember any kind of hinting towards a solution to the problem. Racism is real and sinful, but what is the solution to hate, division, ignorance, and pride? There didn’t seem to be any help with the answer.

I believe that this is because there isn’t any specific answer in and of ourselves. I think it is because of one big reason: we aren’t instinctually drawn to diversity. 

Why do I say those things? Well, it’s because we are sinners who love to be comfortable.

Being in a diverse community of people from different races and ethnicities makes life more complex and uncomfortable. We might accidentally - or on purpose - say or do the wrong thing. We are all drawn to people who are just like us, and it’s because it is easier! Being in a diverse community is hard and we struggle with placing our lives in a community of people unlike us.

The only way we can truly love our diversity is to understand our unity with Christ. If we have faith in Jesus we are unified together, which makes us family - a diverse family! Since we are all made in the image of God, we can reflect God’s diversity, unity, and harmony.

Quick theological point: God is diverse and unified which creates perfect harmony within Himself. There is one God who eternally exists in three distinct Persons - the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each are distinct (diversity), each is fully God, and there is only one God (unity).

Stop and think about this for a second: God’s diversity within Himself doesn’t create division or hatred; God’s unity and diversity within Himself exists in perfect harmony. God has revealed Himself to be perfectly diverse without affecting His unity, and since we are all made in God’s image we are to celebrate our diversity without affecting our unity in Christ.

We have the privilege of living in harmony with one another, but this is only possible through the blood of Jesus on the cross. We have the freedom in Jesus to love our neighbors, no matter what race or ethnicity they might be. We have the freedom and privilege of looking to Jesus to be our foundation of unity. His amazing grace to us is shown through the church, which should be diverse and unified while living in harmony with one another.

I lead a Missional Community at Karis Church, and I am very grateful to God for allowing our group to be racially and ethnically diverse. I am eternally more grateful that we are unified by the blood of Jesus, and that we are committed to one another to pursue harmony as we live our lives together. God has been very good and gracious to us.

Let us all look to the Trinity - the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - for our example of unity, diversity, and harmony.

God is good and gracious.

Jacob Luis Gonzales

#DearWhitePeople - A Reflection on Identity

Well, if you are looking for a mindless movie to see in the theaters, Dear White People is not the movie to see.

Ali and I ventured to a small, local place on Saturday night to see the directorial debut of Director Justin Simien, Dear White People. This self-proclaimed satire on race, ethnicity, and identity is set in the present tense; this movie is uniquely and profoundly perfect for today - not yesterday or tomorrow, but today. The movie is focused on four main characters that round out the movie to intentionally display the experience of being black in America. 

As interesting and compelling as each character was to watch, I believe that there were three themes that need to discussed. In my perfect world, I would have the time to investigate each character to properly communicate the intricacies of their experience throughout the course of the movie, but we live in a fallen world so these reflections will have to do.

This will be the first of three posts on Dear White People. I hope you enjoy my perspective and my desire to lovingly discuss important things in the movie, your life, and my life.

This movie is about IDENTITY. 

The moment when it became evident that this movie is about identity happened in a conversation between two of the main characters, Troy and CoCo. CoCo has taken on a new name because of her fear of ridicule of her birth name Colandrea.

Troy: “Is that what you want… to be famous?”

CoCo: “I want everyone to know my name.”

Troy: “Which one?”

This simple moment was profound due to its weight not only on CoCo but on each individual in the movie. Now, I could break down each character’s struggle with identity but I think that might take a year to write about, so for now let’s make it directly personal.

What is YOUR identity? Who are you? What would you say makes you… you?

You place your identity in something. This “something” could be a boyfriend or girlfriend. It could be your talents or skills. It could be the approval, acceptance, or love of someone in your life. Or it could be your race and ethnicity.

The problem with placing your identity in those things is that they will eventually let you down. Those things are not worthy of your mind, heart and soul. They will destroy you in the end because they are not designed to be all-sufficient. They were designed to be enjoyed, but they are not designed to be where we find our deepest joy. 

When I was growing up all I wanted to do was play baseball for the Chicago Cubs by the age of 25. I had it all planned out, but my plan never had a chance. I can’t remember a night when I went to sleep growing up without my body hurting, my body was specifically weak in my knees. That might not seem like the biggest deal, but here’s the thing: I was a catcher. I needed my knees. I needed strong knees and a strong arm. I had neither. When I was a Junior in high school I was indirectly told that if I kept catching as much as I was, I wouldn’t be able to walk at some point in my life.

I was a catcher… but what was a gift from God, I treated as if it were God. Being a catcher was my identity. Being a baseball player was my everything, but God didn’t want me to place my identity in a gift from Him. God wanted me to placed my identity in Him. It took much longer for me to realize that’s what He was doing, but now I can say that it needed to happen so that I would see how nothing would give me the satisfaction, hope, and joy like God can.

Only God is all-sufficient, so he is calling you to place your identity in Him and Him alone.

So, how does the movie play a part in this? Well, each character believes that there are certain parts of their lives that they need to be hidden. Some do this out of fear of ridicule, some do this to not be the stereotype, some do this to overcompensate, and some do this because of the pressure to fulfill someone else’s image of them. 

In the movie, as well as in America today, people believe that what makes them truly themselves is their race and ethnicity. But, the sad part about this is that being one ethnicity or the other is not meant to be our primary identity. Being Latino is a part of who I am, but it is not everything. Being a Christian is what drives me to appreciate God creating me as a Latino man, but I don't view my race and ethnicity as the point of my creation. The point of my creation is to glorify God in my life for Him.

We live in a fracture world with a lot of hate, prejudice, and division, but I trust that God’s plan for the future will come to pass. Only through the good news of Jesus do we see that one day in heaven there will be people “from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” worshipping together (Rev 7:9). That is such a beautiful picture of the unity of all people while still remaining diverse in people groups and languages.

As I conclude the first reflection on Dear White People, I hope to restate my main point: Only God is all-sufficient, so he is calling you to place your identity in Him and Him alone.

God is good and gracious.

Jacob Luis Gonzales

I Am With You Always

Are you looking for a biblical view of the mission of church? John Piper is now doing a series of videos that break down pieces of God's word. Watch this compelling yet simple break down of one of the most important collection of words in all of history!



God is good and gracious.

Jacob Luis Gonzales

Pretty Little Lies

To set the scene for this post I would like to describe my Saturday night activities.

Ali and I sit across the room from one another as we do separate things. Three light are on in our living room, and one of them is the light from the laptop I am typing on. The glow of her iPhone gives me a vague outline of her face. The last light is coming from a our very small TV, and the show we are attempting to watch is a show based on lying to the ones closest to you. I dare not share the show’s name to remain above reproach to all people groups. 

With all that in mind, it has made me think about a topic that I believe we undervalue:

Honesty.

Honesty is an interesting thing, isn’t it? We would all say that we want to be told the truth. When we are lied to we feel betrayed. I can also make the general assumption that when we find out we have been lied to by our friends we are much more devastated than if we were to discover we were lied to by our barista. 

The closer the person is to us, the more a lie hurts us.

But, do you really want the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God? 

Well, do you?

This is the part that gets pretty honest. This is where I tell you that you have been deceived and you have actually enjoyed seeking out the lies. You have passionately sought out things that will tear away at your heart. You have mercilessly pursued something that offers the world and gives you death.

The reality of your life is that you have always wanted the lies but you reject the truth. The reality is that the truth is something you have fought with every once of your being. The thought of the lies makes your mouth water with anticipation. An issue with accepting this is that plenty of people will tell you lies as “truth” because they are also deceived. The ripple effect of the very first deception is still creating waves after waves of destruction, so the best way to find an answer is to look at the start of all the lies in the world.

The first lie in all of history was Satan telling Eve that if she ate a fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil she would not die. The first ever lie was about the result of her action, not the action itself. He said the result of her disobedience to God’s loving command was not what God had told her. Simply put, Satan called God a liar.

Think about that. The first lie was a created being calling God a liar. Satan deceived Adam and Eve. 

But, if this were the end of the story it would appear that we are victims and not a part of the problem. Take a closer look:

But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
(Genesis 3:4-7 ESV)

It said that they were lied to, but it says that Eve looked and thought it was “good,” “a delight,” and “to be desired.” They took the fruit because they thought disobeying God’s commands was good, a delight, and desirable. They wanted to disobey God. 

You are no different. You might think that looking at porn is a good thing. You might think that getting stoned, drunk, or cross-faded is a delight. You also might think that being the best, strongest, most rational, most put-together, most religious, and most responsible person you know is the most desirable thing on the planet. 

Reality check: All of those things are LIES.

To those who believe the lies and disobey God: you are not able to believe God because you actively reject God’s reign. This inability is due to sin’s effect in your heart. Sin promises satisfaction but leaves you wanting more. Your habit, addiction, or passion might feel good, but if this feeling is leading you to death would you want someone to tell you?

All this being said, this may be you. You might believe the lie that you will not die from your sin, but know this: Death only entered the world because of sin, and since we are all sinners you should know that your sin does lead to death.

There’s only two options: believe the lie or believe the Truth.

Jesus is the one man to have ever believed God’s words, spoke the truth in love at all times, resisted Satan’s temptation to doubt God, and perfectly obeyed God’s will for His life. He obeyed perfectly to save you. He believed God was worthy to be trusted in all things, at all times, and in all circumstances. 

God isn’t asking for your perfect faith, but God is calling you to place your life and your small faith in Jesus Christ. He is worthy. He is faithful. He is God.

We can either believe the lie that we can save ourselves or we can believe that the only Way to be saved is found in the perfect Lamb of God — His perfect life, His sacrificial death on the cross, and His triumphant resurrection from the grave.

Don’t believe the lie; even if the lie is a pretty little lie.

MC Prayer - Acts 4 Generosity

I pray that God moves and empowers us to be generous and sacrificial for our brothers and sisters in Christ like you see in the early church. 

Read this and ask God to reveal how He wants you to serve your brothers and sisters with your blessings...

Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet. (Acts 4:32-37 ESV)

God is good and gracious.

Jacob Luis Gonzales

We Need Co-Laborers

This post was not something that I planned on writing, but after having a couple of conversations on Monday afternoon I felt even more moved to write. I belive that those conversations pushed me into a more transparent vision for what I expect to happen in my neighborhood.

The reality of the situation is that I am unable to muster up enough passion, vision, or desire for my neighborhood to know Jesus as Lord and Savior. I am incapable of articulating convincing and moving words so that everyone understands the burden I have for the Douglass Park neighborhood. And this is okay by me.

God is the One who changes hearts. God is the One who saves people. God is the One who changes lives.

Ali and I moved to this neighborhood trusting that God sent us here with the desire and the vision for seeing a revival in this neighborhood. We hope that not only one Missional Community (small groups at Karis Church) begins in this neighborhood, but we are hoping that multiple MCs are flourishing and thriving. My dream is to see a healthy, biblical, and Jesus-centered local church in the neighborhood.

For all of this to happen, Ali and I need a significant amount of prayer. Sincerely pray with us for these things:

1. Co-Laborers
2. Financial Support
3. Salvation and Revival
4. Faith, Courage, and Boldness

Right now in this post, we need all of you to pray that other people catch the vision that we are casting for the neighborhood. We need your prayer for brothers and sisters in the faith to come next to us and practically and sacrificially love the people in our neighborhood.

This passage from Scripture comes to mind when I think of our situation in the Douglass Park Neighborhood:

And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”(Matthew 9:35-38 ESV)

Please pray that Ali and I would have others come next to us and faithfully live out the gospel in a radical, biblical, and Christ-like way so that Jesus may be known, loved, and worshipped! We need laborers.

God is good and gracious.

Jacob Luis Gonzales

Be Faithful, Be Passionate, Be Uncomfortable

For those who might not know, I am an intern at Karis Church in Columbia, Missouri. There have been a lot of twists and turns when it comes to who God is calling my wife and I to reach out to, but only as of late do we feel like we truly know where God is calling us to live and pour out our lives.

Ali and I started the internship just starting the transition to a group that focused on the center of the city, but after about 6 months we decided it was best to multiply into multiple Missional Communities (small groups), so Ali and I chose to go to a Missional Community called Ethnos, which translates to “For the Nations.” We have now been focusing our time and effort to making connections with Latino men and women at the University of Missouri. Things have been going well, and only as of late have we started seeing relationships forming. But – as it normally happens - we are now moving to an area of Columbia that we truly believe God is calling us: Douglass Park.

There might be some questions that are arising in your mind, and honestly we have had or still have all of those questions. But, Ali and I are called to follow God wherever He is calling us to live, and we are attempting to follow God as best as we can and that might include bouncing around in the same city. What we have learned in the past year comes to down to sticking to three principles:

Be Faithful

God has called Ali and I to follow Jesus Christ, our Savior, God, King, High Priest, and our Lord over all creation.

The most important responsibility that we have is not each other. Our highest calling is to love God with all of our hearts, our souls, and our might. I have found through trial after trail that what I am called to do is to follow Christ and seek to be faithful. When followers of Christ genuinely seek Him, He will reveal His grace and glory.

God has called Ali and I to be faithful to our calling as children of the living God.

Be Passionate

God has called Ali and I to be passionate about loving people in any area, any people group, and in any situation to show God’s love.

We are to be passionate about Jesus and in turn we are to be passionate about loving people. When Jesus was asked to tell the crowds what the most important commandment was He said to love God and to love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus said that we are to love God and that in turn makes us passionate about loving everyone in our lives. Neighbor doesn’t always mean your direct neighbors, but that doesn’t excuse the people that live in your immediate neighborhood. Ali and I are intentionally living in a dangerous neighborhood in Columbia so that we can love broken families, drug addicts, single moms, wandering men, and anyone else that God puts in our lives.

God has called us to passionately love Him and passionately sacrifice our lives so that men, women, and children may come to know our loving, holy, and beautiful Savior.

Be Uncomfortable

God has called Ali and I to be comfortable being uncomfortable so that Jesus may be known deeply in the hearts of who God is calling us to share the gospel with.

Honestly, we have struggled with comfort and complacency. We would rather stay in our house and keep to ourselves, but we are called to be lights to the world. We can’t help but go around and share the hope that is only found in Christ. We can’t help but go and sacrifice our comfort so that we can build relationships, disciple men and women, and boldly preach the gospel in any context. If we are comfortable, we are not being faithful and we are not being passionate – at least that’s what I have noticed in our lives. Being uncomfortable should be so normal that we become comfortable being uncomfortable. Sacrificing our preferences, our habits, and our norms so that people may love Jesus is worth it.

God has called us to be uncomfortable so that our friends, families, and neighbors might come to know the One True God.

These findings go for you all too. God has called you.

Go. Preach. Disciple. Love. Believe.

Be faithful. Be passionate. Be uncomfortable.

God is good and gracious.

Jacob Luis Gonzales

If We Die, We Die

While I do not completely agree that giving Chicago good weather is a test, I believe that this Facebook status should reveal the need of the gospel of Jesus Christ to be known throughout each neighborhood in Chicago. I love my hometown, and Jesus needs to be preach boldly and lovingly in the areas of most need.

Ali and I are moving to a neighborhood that is more dangerous than any other in Columbia, the Douglass Park neighborhood, but some areas of Chicago give me a real perspective on violence, drug use, and the brokenness of each and every human being. We are no better than the people that committed crimes, and we all need the hope of the gospel in our lives.

We have all fallen short by sinning against God, and this violence in Chicago demonstrates the reality of our hearts: We need Jesus.

Let's sacrifice to go into the dangerous neighborhoods. People need to know of the life that Jesus lived for us, died the death in our place for our sins, and rose from the grave to defeat Satan, sin, and death.

The gospel sends us into the dangerous neighborhoods because we serve a Savior who went into dangerous neighborhoods, hung out with the rejects of His day, and died a horrific death all for us. We are to likewise go into the dangerous neighborhoods and share the hope only found in Jesus.

If we die, we die, but we die with a certain hope only found in the God that died for us! 

Chicago needs Jesus. Columbia needs Jesus. The world needs Jesus.

You need Jesus. I need Jesus. We all need Jesus.

God is good and gracious.

Jacob Luis Gonzales

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For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. (Romans 14:8 ESV)

Walk With Me - Thursday April 17, 2014

The Glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ

Two Texts To Ponder

There is a new Bible study on Mizzou's campus, and I am praying that God uses it to touch the lives of many people.  The text this week was Matthew 1:1-17. Great time. 

This quote is from When I Don't Desire God by John Piper. Joy itself is a gift from God and for God. That is so insanely powerful and challenging!

God: Gracious

“God is gracious.”

Let me begin by stating this up front: There is too much to say about how God is gracious. The amount of things that I could write about, explain, and expose are going to be limited and not the entirety of God’s graciousness. He is infinitely gracious and immeasurably gracious to all of us, so I have chosen to look at a couple amazing truths about God’s grace.

Grace is undeserved.

Seriously stop and think about this. I mean it. Stop and think about it.

The pure, huge, and infinite God of all creation chooses to be gracious to men and women who consistently disregard His rule and reign. We constantly seek after things that kill us, but the worst part of it is that we want to sin against God. We openly, blatantly and emphatically sin because we think it leads to a free life when in reality it leads to death (Genesis 6:5, Romans 1:18-32, Romans 6:23).

If we have sinned against God, and we openly acknowledge that we have, we must realize that there is nothing that could make us earn His favor. By grace’s very definition it means that God gives us unmerited favor and blessing. 

Karis Church, the church I am an intern and have been a member at for two years, sums up God’s grace like this:

Our God is a God of grace. He welcomes undeserving people to His table even though He is not obligated to do so. As frail, finite sinners we can do nothing on our own. We deserve nothing at all - that is, except judgment.

The good news is that even though all we are owed is to be separated from His presence, He gives us Jesus to reconcile the relationship that we damaged. 

Grace is found in Jesus. 

Jesus lived the life we could never lived, died the death that we deserve, and ascended into heaven to give us new life. 

God is gracious to forgive us from all of our sins. God is gracious to forgive us for our sinful motives behind our “good” deeds. God is gracious to come to the help of needy sinners who need His grace for salvation. God is gracious to choose us when we would never choose Him. God is gracious to sustain our faith in His grace until we die, and God is gracious to come back to take His children from all over the world to heaven. 

Grace frees us from proving ourselves.

Let’s be honest with one another… We all feel like we have something to prove to someone, to some group, to ourselves, to our family, to our professors, to our children, to our spouse, or to our boss. We all feel like that to some extent, but God flips all of that on its head!

Since we know that we can do nothing in our own strength to reconcile ourselves to God, we have to trust that His works are enough to save us. When we place our trust in Jesus’s works and not our own we are free from feeling like we need to prove ourselves to God. God knows that we are finite and frail human beings, and when we see that we are to respond by faith and trust that He is enough for us.

Grace enables us to fight and kill sin in our lives.

After we place our trust in God’s grace for salvation we aren’t done with God’s grace. God’s grace is what enables us to stop pursuing and committing sins. Romans 8 tells us that is we have the Holy Spirit within us, then we will, not might at times, kill sins in our lives (Romans 8:12-17). Clearly we will never have a sinless day, but God is making us more like Jesus moment by moment if we lean on His grace.

John Piper also says that God’s grace is “not simply leniency when we have sinned. Grace is the enabling gift of God not to sin. Grace is power, not just pardon” (emphasis added). 

Grace is not simply just the access point of faith in Jesus, but grace is interwoven in all facets of the Christian faith that it is impossible to fully depict God’s perfect, holy, and beautiful grace in our lives.

Grace is available for you.

Do you trust in Jesus Christ? Have you placed your life in God’s hands? Are you in need of a Savior? 

God’s perfect, loving, and forgiving grace is only found in Jesus and His perfect life, His brutal crucifixion, and His power to rise from the dead and defeat Satan, sin and death!

Jesus died so that the world would place their lives, their hopes, their dreams, and their desires in His gracious hands.

If you have not placed your trust in His hands, I would plead that you would. He is gracious to forgive if you whole-heartedly ask Him to forgive you. Pray and ask for Jesus’s grace to change your heart to love and pursue Him.

If you have already trusted in Him for salvation, please pray and ask God to continue to change your heart, your desires, and your mind so that He will be what you seek for joy and fulfillment. He loves you and He wants you to keep pursuing Him.

God is good and gracious.

Jacob Luis Gonzales

My Instagram Photo Update

 Sunday - The Born For Us series at Karis Church ends today. Should be an awesome time! #KarisChurch Tuesday - Feeling like a student at Mizzou all over again. Coffee, planners, and Ali. Good times. #Mizzou Wednesday - Sometimes disobedience is actually obedience to God. It's better to obey God then to obey a sinful command of a man.#obedience #Samuel #Bible Thursday - The dentist office always provides legitimate selfie opportunities. Haha #selfie #dentistFriday - Amen. #diversity #reconciliation