Someone close to me was involved in something that I perceived to be out of alignment with God’s Word and given the circumstances this individual was dealing with in their personal life, I knew that saying something had the potential to cause deep hurt and strain in our relationship. I brought this situation to God and during this conversation I expressed the many things that I was wrestling with: first, that I felt some responsibility to express my conviction based on my understanding of the Bible (Galatians 6:1); but also I wasn’t 100% convinced that I was clear on the matter and was willing to be wrong about my perception (Romans 14:22); and lastly, that I didn’t want to cause a strain in the relationship because the Bible also tells us to strive for peace and work to maintain it (Psalm 34:14). I told God that I wasn’t sure which part of His Word to apply in this situation, but was willing to do what He asked me to do. To my surprise, I was not to do anything aside from praying and bringing the matter before Him.
Some time later God pressed upon me certain memories and helped me unpack things in my life that led to greater understanding of how He was present and working through that situation. I later had the opportunity to share this memory with this same individual in a casual conversation and thought nothing more about it. This friend later came to speak with me and told me that they were wrestling with something (the matter that I was concerned about), and that what I shared had helped bring insight to their situation and it was this conversation that, in fact, became the connective piece they were searching for and this understanding caused them to later to submit and surrender it to God.
There were several powerful lessons in this. First, it was my reminder that God was already at work - and this should never surprise us - but while I was worried about the best course of action, God proved that He does care very much about our human relationships and honoured my desire for maintaining peace. He also honoured that I wanted to be part of what He was doing concerning this individual’s circumstance and He caused me to play a very cool role in what He was doing. I liken this to when. as a parent. you are making a cake and your three-year old very much wants to get involved. If you hand everything over to this enthusiastic, well-meaning toddler, there will be a lot of mess you will end up cleaning. And if left entirely in their hands, you will definitely end up with something, but it is very unlikely that it will be cake. It is a very cool thing that our parent, God, is always at work and loves us so much that He will find ways for us to be involved in such a way that we still arrive at His desired outcome - we just need to really listen to His instructions and honour His timing.
Much has been done to evangelize to Indigenous peoples in North America - and some of the methods in doing so have caused such considerable harm (i.e. mess) that we really need to hear from God on how to move forward towards Truth and Reconciliation. In this region of Canada where I live, we have Numbered Treaties which spell out the spirit and intent of how our nations would live alongside one another. In the stories that were passed down to me from family about the Treaty signing, I was told that those representing the Crown became somewhat frustrated with the Indigenous leaders because they spent a very long time in prayer during the negotiations which delayed the signing. I was told that those Indigenous leaders who came together and prayed were told that the road ahead was going to be hard and detrimental in many ways for Indigenous people. But they were also told that there was also going to be a time when Indigenous peoples and our ways were going to be needed to help both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people living here. The ancestors who signed the treaty did so with this understanding that the choice was going to bring hardship for a time, but there was a long-term plan in place that would bring better outcomes for both. It is in their great faith in God and in God’s plan that they eventually agreed to sign the Treaties we know of today.
These are stories passed down through family and not written in history books, but what I find neat is this similar message was heard by other Indigenous prayer warriors in their territories. Around the same time of the numbered treaty signings and just before his death in 1877, the Lakota leader Crazy Horse was quoted saying “Upon suffering beyond suffering, the Red Nation shall rise again, and it shall be a blessing for a sick world. A world filled with broken promises, selfishness and separations. A world longing for light again.” Indigenous people at the time were given a promise that God had a plan for them, a plan to give them hope and a future similar to that which He promises in Jeremiah 29:11.
If Christians are looking for a confirmation that is more ‘close to home’, it was almost one hundred years later in 1975 when Billy Graham said “The greatest moments in Native History lie ahead of us if a great spiritual renewal and wakening should take place. The Native American has been a sleeping giant. He is awakening. The original Americans could become the evangelists who help win America for Christ! Remember these forgotten people!”
In Daniel 7, we hear much about the enemy of God and that he tries to change time and laws. We see this at work at the time when Moses is born where he causes Pharoah to slaughter all Israelite male newborns to slow the growth of Israel (Exodus 1:22). Similarly in Jesus’ time, King Herrod becomes jealous over the birth of the King of the Jews and orders all males born within that time killed (Matthew 2: 17-18). The Bible gives us several clues to how the enemy behaves to circumvent the plans of God (i.e. change the times), and with Indigenous peoples, he accomplished it through broken promises and introduction of laws via The Indian Act that would see to the systemic eradication of Indigenous peoples and their way of life. As done in the past, the enemy targeted children - with Indigenous peoples we can see this through the weaponization of the residential school system.
If I was the enemy and I did not want Indigenous peoples to step into the divine plan that was prophesied over them, then it would make sense to try to dismantle their way of life, to separate families, to take away their language, and to create unfair systems that would see them disproportionately represented in prisons, in child welfare, with poor health outcomes, as unhoused, and those experiencing addiction. If I were the enemy, I would cause a great division between the Church and Indigenous peoples where the Church would have strong views of Indigenous practices as demonic and work to remove them or forbid them from being practiced. I might cause such resentment among Indigenous peoples towards the Church due to the past harms that it wouldn’t be logical for any Indigenous person to want to raise their children in that faith. If I were the enemy, I would distract both sides in rhetoric of condemning the other without exposing that it was I who was working against God’s divine plan of healing, restoration and revival through Indigenous peoples. The spirit and intent of the Treaties - and not what we currently have today - actually resembles what Jesus set out to do according to Ephesians 2: 14 - 16: “For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility…His purpose was to create in Himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace.” If I were the enemy, I would cause these agreements to be broken and sow distrust between these groups - I know this because his playbook is already exposed through the stories we read about in the Bible.
As I journeyed into reconnecting to my Indigenous history and teachings, I relied on asking God what He wanted me to understand and I was brought to consider the deep faith that Indigenous people have in God - so much so that it caused them to trust God’s plan surrounding the Treaties despite an immediate and now apparent cost. I have come to respect and celebrate how Indigenous people center prayer in every aspect of daily life and will use the designs within God's Creation to help explain God’s spiritual laws and natural laws. These teachings around these laws cause Indigenous people to understand their purpose for being on Earth and builds up a rich hunger to know more about the incredible characteristics of He who created the world around us. When I stand on the land with Indigenous Elders, I come to be amazed at how God works everything together for all of Creation and makes me appreciate being present for such a time as this.
Due to laws that forbade Indigenous practice and disrupted the transfer of knowledge through the residential school system, there are a lot of teachings that are no longer commonly known and some that have gotten confused due to the disconnect from our languages. In sitting with the Elders, I came to understand much about God’s nature and it brought a new level of insight in how I read the Bible - it caused me to seek Him more and to desire a stronger relationship with Him through prayer and worship. I believe it is these very attributes of centering God in every aspect of life, searching through the natural world for clues about his character, and a ‘mustard seed faith’ that is embedded in Indigenous people that the enemy is most afraid of - imagine the mountains that God can move with such attributes!
Coming back to the cake analogy - I am cautioned that there is a danger in calling out something (that I may not be called to do) with little understanding. When the Apostle Paul is speaking about the debate among Christians in what food the Jewish people are permitted to eat, he simply leaves it as some people will not eat it according to their belief and others will now eat what was once forbidden due to their belief that this particular law no longer applies under the New Covenant. Paul emphasizes leaving both to do as they are convicted to do so so long as it is not a salvation issue. I understand that this does not apply to actions that the Bible expressly forbids, but Paul is pointing out that in these matters, “The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgement on himself for what he approves” (Romans 14:22). Personal conviction and doing what one believes is right very much matters to God as He measures the heart (Jeremiah 17:10). I have often heard people in the Church call out Indigenous practice as evil and demonic. This has not only created a fear amongst Indigenous believers in not wanting to connect to Indigenous teachings, but there is a risk in shutting down the values, intentions, thoughts and behaviors that God intends to use to bring others into a deeper relationship with Him.
I do believe that God still has an incredible part for each of us in this plan for Truth and Reconciliation. I was just recently invited to speak at a Gathering where the theme was ‘How Shall They Hear?’ This question implies conversation which we sometimes miss as Christians. What if Christians were to build relationships with Indigenous peoples not with a limited understanding of their teachings and practices, but with the perspective of what God is uniquely calling these Nations to do for His Kingdom? What if we approached all people in this way? What if we spoke to everyone according to their purpose and why God created them - not looking to their past or the present or our own understanding, but as individuals with unique qualifications to do the very cool and amazing things that they were created to do? This would alter how we speak with one another and how we build relationships. We would begin to prophesy into each person's future and breathe life into their purpose! What if we would begin praying into each other’s purpose and sowing into the plans God has for them? These are the conversations that people would hear because it would speak to their spirit. I believe in my spirit that these are the kinds of relationships that build His Kingdom - and in such a Kingdom we can have our cake too!
Heavenly Father,
You are a remarkable parent who withholds nothing good from us!
I humbly ask that you give us eyes to see what you are doing throughout this Nation and through others. Open our ears to your plans and vision for comm-UNITY and posture our hearts to bless those who may not currently sit at the same table as we do.
Please show us how to extend love and grace to others in the same way you have generously bestowed over us. Teach us to be more Christ-like - teach us to be true peacemakers so we can be called Children of God.
I ask this in Jesus' Name!
Amen and amen.
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