~ 5 min read |

As someone who is building a professional career fighting for ‘racial equity’, and spends every day at work in service of ‘social justice’, times like this make me feel completely and utterly deflated. Like those are just buzzwords, hence the quotes. I feel guilty, fraudulent, and defeated.

Times like this leave me wondering, what’s really good? Apart from that question being a colloquialism, I really do wonder, what is truly good? What does it mean to be good and do good, especially in times like this when confusion runs rampant?

IF we’re being honest, doing good a lot of times just looks like us doing what appeases our insecurities and/or makes us feel good, safe, or comfortable. But how do we move beyond this? Make sure we’re walking the walk, even when no one is looking? Even when it’s risky. Even when others, to our disappointment at times, are still.

With any platform comes responsibility. Not a responsibility to our egos and image, or our desire for money and security, or our need for power and control. But a responsibility to maintain integrity. Yes. Even in the face of fear (personal or external), in the face of difficulty, and in the face of persecution or disdain.

Why? Because our lives and the lives of others as we’ve seen time and time again, literally depend on it. Regardless of your creed or color, it’s NOT enough to play it safe, or stay on the side lines. Even if that’s how you’re coping. While I know that may come across as strong, or even insensitive to some, it needs to be said. And for all the believers: if it takes more than one tool to fix most things, why rely solely on prayer in times like these? It’s a tool, yes, but it’s far from the only one. 

The truth: Playing it safe (i.e. ignoring the circumstances and being complacent) doesn’t keep you safe. It’s a dangerous illusion at best, for this simple fact—-no one is immune from injustice. You’re exposed and impacted regardless of whether you realize it or experience it directly. 

Nevertheless, integrity first is always better than reparations after the fact. In either circumstance, however, The Truth is the only way out, the only way for authentic and sustainable resolution. His Truth is more powerful than any good we can ever do. Nowadays, “good” is subjective. But His Truth is an anchor. His Truth is life. His Truth is freedom.

If you are pleasing others with your platform more than you are serving them, you’re not doing it right. Our image is not our own, it’s God’s. So the question is, what do you want to be remembered for? Are you making Him look good? Are you representing Him with the utmost integrity?

This isn’t to say we as humans can’t or won’t make mistakes. But to challenge everyone to admit and face their flaws and (propensity for them) squarely. 

Nobody wants to feel wrong. But we spend our whole lives powering through trying to avoid that feeling, and then we never get it right. So neither does the generation after us that we’ve raised. And so on and so forth.

Opportunities for growth are always available. However, it takes pushing past the discomfort/fear that comes with admitting there might be a better way. Change can be a beautiful thing if we let it. 

**Disclaimer**: When I say “platform”, I’m not talking about social media, self or socially proclaimed status, or numbers. However, I would be remiss not to acknowledge these as tools for facilitating change.