Called...

Occasionally I hear a media report that jerks me out of the toothpaste reverie and send me into a tirade in my head.  This morning, NPR receives the honor as the local station interviews a local boy about a Facebook Random Act of Kindness page.  Now I don't really have a problem with a random act of kindness, we could use more of that in the world.

What got my attention was the language used in the interview about "call."  The creators of this page hope that as others hear stories of people doing good, they will feel "called" to do the same.

That, my friends, is God language.  God calls.  It is, as far as I can tell, a concept unique to the Jewish and Christian faith.  (Though I admit, a PhD in World Religions is not part of my arsenal, so I would be interested if other religions have this language as part of their literature or practice.)  Moses was called by God.  Old Testament prophets have call stories.  Paul has a call story.  God identifies, and specifically charges humans with tasks to be accomplished in partnership with God's intentions, with God's plan for reconciliation.  We understand that each of us has a call, but more often today God works through community and text in communicating our call--I'm not aware of many nighttime visions and/or burning bushes.

So, while I would never stop people from doing random acts of kindness, I do want to be clear that God calls us to love our neighbors as ourselves.  And in pointing to our understanding that all good comes from God (in nice ways, of course--no beating people about the head with the Bible, you could hurt someone!), and in claiming that call language as part of what God's people have always done (imperfectly, granted, but FB's not going to be perfect either!), we publicly claim what God is doing as. God's. doing.

I am sure God can call someone to a random act of kindness who is not attending a church, or claiming to be a practicing Christian or Jew.  Positive.  But I won't let go of the reality that all good comes from God., or that God is constantly calling us to that good.  And, really, there's no "random" act.  If we are answering our call, our acts of kindness aren't random.  They have purpose and meaning because they are our response to God's invitation to participate with God in bringing about God's kingdom.

Finally, visiting the FB page you see a lot of "smiling and being kind through the day,"  giving someone a few dollars to pay for groceries they didn't have enough money for," "paying for the car behind you in a toll line," "being generous in traffic," and so on.  My favorite comment is the first one when I visited the site--"just show everyone how simple it can be."  And perhaps it is simple if you are dropping a few extra coins that you have or smiling at the stranger in the post office line. But God's call to "love God and neighbor" is really not simple at all.  God's call asks what part we play in creating a society in which some working parents don't have enough money to pay for groceries.  God's call asks us what part we play in the traffic jam and resulting pollution, frustration, and perhaps even family harm because we spend hours commuting.  God's call is a call to shalom, the peace and wholeness, health and welfare of the whole of creation.  And that, as you know, is not a simple task.

So, I'm really not grumpy that people are going to make a point to be nice. But I want a tight hold on the idea of call.  It belongs to God.  Facebook can borrow it, but it belongs to God.