Unapologetic love
Assembly Policy and Advocacy Officer Raúl Sugunananthan offers our fourth Advent reflection
December 20, 2023
By Raúl Sugunananthan, Assembly Policy and Advocacy Officer
“Justice is what love looks like in public.”
Dr Cornel West has famously shared this quote many times. In his 2011 lecture at Howard University, the philosopher, religious scholar and activist elaborates on this idea. He names the challenges of the American society around him, such as the prison industrial complex, unmet housing needs and rampant unemployment, as the consequence of greed and selfishness.
"But as Christians ... we must emphasise the experience of the other."
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There are many ways our own Australian society reflects this reality. I recently had the opportunity to meet with Federal politicians at the Pacific Australian Emerging Leaders Summit. Alongside other young leaders in the Pacific-Australian Church, we talked about issues such as climate change, migration and self-determination. I learnt from the stories of my peers the many ways Australia sees the Pacific as a political pawn.
For example, whilst the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme provides significant economic benefits to Australia, it neglects the social and cultural needs of workers. Whilst the workers are grateful for the financial opportunity, they lack support networks in Australia, and sometimes both parents leave children in their home countries impacting the local workforce and family needs.
We can also look at the example of housing in Australia. What we are experiencing can be described in no other terms than a crisis. Rental costs and housing prices continue to spiral as more and more Australians struggle with everyday expenses. Crucially, this is not just some unfortunate coincidence. It is the result of deliberate policies and ideology that see housing as a commodity. Instead of treating it as an innate right, we see property as an opportunity to accumulate wealth.
Dr West says the antidote to this predicament is “unarmed truth and unapologetic love.” We often resist speaking in these terms, fearful that rocking the boat may make us seem unlikeable or troublesome. But as Christians, as we remember the birth of Jesus as the source of love, we must emphasise the experience of the other. We must turn to those who cannot afford housing and to those whose labour we exploit and care for them as we would care for ourselves. Only out of this love can we achieve justice. After all, it is this self-sacrificial way of life that Jesus Christ taught us to seek.
Prayer
Loving God,
God that is love,
There is so much we do not know about You,
but we do know of the love You poured out in sending your only Son.
We pray that we might know this love better.
That it may lead us to act with tenderness in our private lives,
and justice in our public lives.
May we remember the birth of Jesus as the source of this love.
In his name we pray, Amen.