MempHIS
After two weeks of gut-wrenching news, Memphis is still catching her breath. This beautiful city has felt torn and exposed in the national news headlines. For some, this is just one more reason why Memphis is a city where people exit. It is why companies don't come, and our grown children don't stay. You hear it all the time—no need to repeat it.
What we don't hear enough is the acts of kindness and genuine love that flow through so many in this city. If you are a Christian who lives in Memphis, this is our mission field. Every city has problems, and every city needs faith, hope, and love. The wounds of Memphis run deep, and sometimes it feels like we start 100 meters behind the starting line of other cities, but a city is people, and God does not give up on any of His people. Neither should we.
Before the headlines shift to other things and the turmoil subsides to a tolerable level, let me urge you to consider three things:
1. Choose your words wisely.
If God has you here, then embrace your home and choose to become a part of the solution. It starts with our words. It starts with building up instead of tearing down. It starts with bringing light and hope to a conversation, not an avalanche of pessimism that things will never change. We can't be blind to the problems, but we also have a choice on whether we contribute to them or are agents of change.
2. We are uniquely positioned to become a unified city.
One of the things living in Atlanta and Cleveland reminded me of was how Memphis was big enough to be noticed but small enough to see change happen. When an event happens in Memphis, we make the national news. But we are also a city that is small enough that when the different spheres of influence come together, actual change can happen. The needle can move. With over seven million residents in Atlanta, even the most powerful voices have a hard time shifting culture. As I have worked leading Race for Reconciliation, I see many leaders committed to making Memphis a city we can all be proud to represent.
3. Love is actually a legitimate part of the solution.
This city is not made up of criminals and good citizens. It is made up of people. I have sat through recent meetings evaluating the core issues behind crime, and the lack of healthy family dynamics rises to the top of the list. From basic manners to a fundamental sense of belonging are things that generations before us could count on that can no longer be assumed. Poverty and education gaps need to be addressed, but I remember hearing someone say, "if poverty were the cause of crime, then my entire neighborhood would be in jail." In a study conducted in New York City, the most impoverished people group had the lowest crime rate but also had the highest rate of intact families.
My point is not to debate the core causes of crime; it is a complex issue, but to remind us that we have something we can give away as believers. One life at a time, we can each do a little bit to introduce people to a love many of us take for granted.
The level of pain that the victims' families feel is truly hard to fathom, but the secondary level of pain every Memphian felt should not be wasted. Pain is a motivator. Let it motivate the great people of Memphis to love not just their circle but to look for ways to love those in greatest need of it.
The only way to decrease darkness in Memphis is to increase the light. Memphis is His. Let's partner with Him to bring light to our beautiful city. Let’s be MempHIS.