I am being colonized.

And I’m letting it happen.

What is colonization?

Colonization is a process where another nation, or culture, or people group, enters and wrests control from indigenous people. It’s happened all over the world. Today the word is often used to refer to cultural appropriation, when a dominant culture forces their views and way of life on others.

Dandelions are imports from Europe to North America. Like bad ideas, they spread across the continent. We easily recognize the picture above because dandelions successfully colonized the Americas from sea to shining sea.

So, who, or what, is colonizing me?

I’m being colonized by the seeping, constant dripping of values opposite to those I believe, values that I cannot avoid.

I watch shows in my home that are far more violent and sexual that I would have even considered years ago.

I consume without thought or guilt.

I consider what I once thought immoral as acceptable.

I’m being colonized.

Ideologies colonize me. Legal definitions. Economic philosophies. Moral perspectives. Proponents of these views don’t care about me, they care about themselves, while relentlessly pushing their agendas.

Social media colonizes me, shouting messages from the edges of society. It urges me to fight with others, to make instant value judgements, to feel guilt and angst and anger. To posture in the correct ways. To hate those different from me. Mostly, it urges me to never turn off social media.

Advertisers colonize me, manipulating me to desire something I do not have, making me crave for more, to believe that I’ll finally be happy with their product in my hands. Beer companies colonize me. Drug companies. Internet shopping. It’s the colonization of my good desires, pushing them well beyond good to greed and lust.

News about the ongoing pandemic, racial upheaval, politics and cancel culture, all colonize me by sowing distrust. My natural skepticism moves beyond healthy to where I trust no one.

I am being colonized.

As a follower of the way of Jesus, I’m reminded that the devil wants to colonize me. He’s the father of lies, prowling around seeking someone to devour.

I think of Solomon, the wisest and richest of the kings of ancient Israel, colonized by his multiple wives. His devotion to the Lord collapsed due to the ceaseless pursuit of ever more exotic women and their exotic gods and the political alliances they strengthened.

I want the Lord to colonize me. I’m asking the Holy Spirit to colonize me. I’m adding the Scriptures to the colonization efforts along with prayer to the Father.

Colonization by the Holy Trinity.

Here’s a vision of the colonized follower of the Lord, a vision of my hoped for life:

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

Psalm 1:2-3

You will join me in embracing this colonization from the Lord?

“With my great power and outstretched arm I made the earth and its people and the animals that are on it, and I give it to anyone I please.“ Jeremiah 27:5

Words from the Lord, spoken to Jeremiah, on the impending invasion and conquest of the land of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. The Lord ceded the Holy Land, the land of milk and honey, the homes and fields long promised and inhabited by the children of Israel, to a pagan king.

Why? Because the people of Judah turned their backs on the Lord and served other gods. Sobering. If the Lord truly is, as the scriptures say, the same “yesterday, today and forever,” why wouldn’t we expect Him to work in a similar way in our day?

If we serve other gods, if we mistreat the widow and orphan, if we ignore the foreigner among us, why wouldn’t the Lord give our land to others? “To crush underfoot all prisoners in the land, to deny people their rights before the Most High, to deprive them of justice – would not the Lord see such things (Lamentations 3:34-36)?” If we understand that our nation’s structures aid some and hinder others based simply on skin color, will God not eventually bring justice? Does God not expect us to do what is in our power to change such structures?

Today we battle two viruses, one being Covid-19, and the second racial inequality and the distrust that produces.

As a follower of Jesus, I understand that we all are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139), that every person born lives as a beloved creature in the eyes of God. I also remember a profound teaching of Jesus, “love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself (Luke 10).”

I’m asking myself, how do I love my neighbor as I would want to be loved in light of these two viruses? Covid is straight forward. I wear a mask where needed, I stay close to home, I check on neighbors, I attend outdoor church. In a year or so, this will pass.

The virus of racism proves difficult to engage – hard, deep, sly, slippery, insidious, frustrating. I don’t know how to help, so I pray, ask questions, and listen. Black Lives Matter. Absolutely, in the eyes of God and so in my eyes. If I were black, I would want others to notice my situation, my frustration and my pain. So, I’m working to notice and pray and engage as a friend, trying to love my neighbor as I’d hope to be loved.

Of course, I will also vote. I look to vote based on my biblical beliefs, not by party affiliation. It’s harder this way, but I want my vote to line up, whenever possible, with the teachings of scripture.

The world is not ours. The true owner is the Lord, who’s given it to us, for now. The people in this world are not ours, either. They belong to the Lord, all of us together. Let’s bring compassion and prayer and humility and listening and justice and lending a hand to our neighborhoods and communities. Perhaps the Lord will notice and begin healing the deep divisions we experience today.