Human Flourishing is one of the fundamental themes in Christian doctrine.

This is evident throughout Scripture, from the Torah (Genesis 1-2), to the Psalter (Psalm 1-2), to prophetic visions of a new heaven and earth (Revelation 21-22). So also, in the teachings of Christ (Matthew 5-7; John 8-10). Though the Bible offers a multifaceted account of human flourishing, its intent is arguably to make known this message: fullness of life is found in God. Or as Jonathan Pennington remarks,

“…the Bible, across its whole Christian canon of both Old and New Testaments, provides its own God-of-Israel-revealed-in-Jesus-Christ answer to the foundational human question of how to flourish and thrive.” (Jonathan Pennington, A Biblical Theology of Human Flourishing, 4).¹

Of course, Christian scriptures are not the only commentaries on the subject. Claims about human flourishing can be found in every age, current (Miroslav Volf, Life Worth Living) to ancient (Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics). Also, across disciplines. For example, it has been the focal point of some of the most ambitious interdisciplinary projects to-date, e.g., Harvard’s Human Flourishing Program² and United Nations: 17 Sustainable Development Goals.³

When I think of human flourishing as an African American educator and Christ-follower, it is primarily with theological anthropology in mind — the tension between the cross, which is a symbol of death, and our creaturely longing for the good life. It is the search for a Christ whose death was/is not only effective unto salvation after death, but even now engages brokenness and despair with power. In one of James Cone’s more provocative arguments, he states:

“The cross is the most empowering symbol of God’s loving solidarity with the ‘least of these,’ the unwanted in society who suffer daily from great injustices. Christians must face the cross as the terrible tragedy it was and discover in it, through faith and repentance, the liberating joy of eternal salvation.” (Cone, The Cross and the Lynching Tree, 156).⁴

It is this intersection of the cross of Christ and the universal desire for flourishing that frames my interest. Namely, what does it mean to die to self (cruciformity) and contribute to human flourishing, including to co-labor with those whose vision of flourishing is indifferent to the suffering of others? The problem is vast and beyond the pale of this essay. However, I contend that there are at least two practices which complicate the question: (1) empathy – the ability to understand a person from their frame of reference, and (2) proximity – the quality or state of being near to another.

Using Luke 14:1-6 as a catalyst, what follows are stories from fellow African American colleagues whom I have had the privilege to serve alongside, and their perspective on faith and flourishing. Distinct from one another (Government Worker, Nurse, Higher Education), each story also speaks to the challenges of persisting in the task of human flourishing amid weariness and workplace disappointments.

Human Flourishing is one of the fundamental themes in Christian doctrine. Though the Bible offers a multifaceted account of human flourishing, its intent is arguably to make known this message: fullness of life is found in God. Share on X

To Heal or Not to Heal

First, let us consider the setting as Christ shifts the gaze of his audience from bystander to participant. Luke 14:1-6 reads as follows:

One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body. Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him on his way. Then he asked them, “If one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?” And they had nothing to say. (Luke 14:1-6)

On the surface, this passage is simple to understand. The Pharisees were concerned with what could and could not be done on the Sabbath Day. They disagreed with Jesus on matters of religious practice. Perhaps, more crucially, to have answered Jesus in the positive would have meant to concede a lack of expertise and importance.

Yet, the actions of Christ, and the subsequent response of the Pharisees, suggest a deeper conflict beyond policies and public perception. It would seem that while they both observed the Sabbath, there were moments Christ intentionally chose to heal on the Sabbath – not to devalue it, but to expose the underlying commitments of those around him (Matthew 12:1-14; Mark 1:21-28; Luke 4:14-30). In other words, the main issue was not about keeping Sabbath, but the nature of Sabbath in relation to a love for God and neighbor, an intentional choice of life over death.

Given the Pharisees’ pattern of callousness, at least two key points of tension become apparent:

1. The ones who ought to know better — religious leaders, authority figures, decision-makers — struggled to empathize whenever their agendas were deemed to be secondary. Rather than grieve with the sick man, or celebrate his return to health, the text reveals that those in attendance were silent. Instead of humility, their actions exhibited cruelty. In contrast, Christ demonstrated a willingness to convey care through tangible steps. That is, he proceeded to hold the man’s hand, validate his presence, and heal his body.
2. The ones who ought to know better — religious leaders, authority figures, decision-makers — struggled to come alongside the afflicted and marginalized. Their silence communicated either an unwillingness or an inability to advocate on behalf of the sick man. It was almost as if the ambitions of their hearts were misaligned with acts of sacrificial love. In contrast, Christ moved in proximity with and towards the other. He made himself approachable to friends and enemies alike. As a result of his decision to be near, Christ was close enough to rub shoulders with the sick, to have intimate conversations with diverse members, and to model how to love well.

Christ’s posture then (first century), exemplified a different approach to life which remains countercultural still (twenty-first century). Moreover, part of the difficulty of following Christ is that he tends to reorient our vision on faith and flourishing in and through suffering, rather than removed from it.

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When I think of human flourishing as an African American educator and Christ-follower, it is primarily with theological anthropology in mind — the tension between the cross, death, and our creaturely longing for the good life. (1/2) Share on X

Human flourishing involves the search for a Christ whose death was/is not only effective unto salvation after death, but even now engages brokenness and despair, with power. (2/2) Share on X

Case #1 – Government

James is a young, African American civil servant who resides and works in Philadelphia, PA. He has been a Zoning Liaison for about six years, navigating city politics to address the concerns of Philadelphia residents. This includes overseeing land use regulations, community building efforts, and facilitating conflict resolutions between neighborhoods. Subsequently, much of his tasks can be assigned to one of two categories: (1) Achieving the goals of elected officials (his employers), and (2) Ensuring that quality services are provided to their constituents (his clients). For James, to work in government is to hold together the aspirations of politicians alongside providing supportive resources to local communities.

In recent years, what has been disheartening to James is the growing gap between the haves and the have-nots, and the seeming inability of his profession to mitigate that gap. That is to say, it can become all too easy for his workplace to focus more on the technicalities of human flourishing than on the telos, or ultimate aim, thereby producing very little systemic change. Reflecting on the crux of Luke 14:1-6 as a government worker, James increasingly finds himself wondering how he and his co-workers can say they work for the flourishing of their communities if the bulk of their projects say otherwise?

For example:

1. When given time to review past crises, the impulse of the workplace is to quickly move on to the next crisis, which in turn results in a type of apathy. Instead of cultivating a culture of foresight, there instead emerges a reactionary mindset and an unwillingness to learn from the past.
2. Since the challenges before James and his co-workers are never ending, the temptation can be to opt for quick satisfaction over long-term solutions. It becomes more convenient to focus on creating trivial events such as block parties and random giveaways, rather than the more difficult matters like developing safe school systems and solving the public housing crisis.

These, and many other examples, have at times led James to question what it is to contribute to human flourishing, especially given an unhealthy workplace and lack of substantial project results. However, those same examples have also confirmed that no amount of community engagement will bring deep, lasting change in our lives and communities. The reality is that every good project ultimately falls short. True healing and change can only come supernaturally. And so, the greater task for James has been to learn to entrust all things to God.

What does it mean to die to self (cruciformity) and contribute to human flourishing, including to co-labor with those whose vision of flourishing is indifferent to the suffering of others? The problem is vast. Share on X

Case #2 – Healthcare

Sheena is a middle-aged African American Resident Nurse who lives and works in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Having begun her nursing career several years prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, she acknowledges that in the early stages she romanticized the profession of nursing, i.e., predictable and exhausting, but overall, a supportive environment. However, it did not take long for her to experience that nursing can also be a lonely endeavor. To be sure, Sheena has witnessed numerous moments of healthcare providers working together and managers taking care of their units. But at the same time, she has also seen a pervasive lack of friendship among providers.

To make matters worse, once the pandemic began, all notions of nursing being a team sport proved to be mere camouflage for another reality. That is, the health of healthcare professionals is only regarded to the extent that institutions are willing to show regard. For example, in one hospital, Sheena and her co-workers were required to not wear masks so as to not “scare the patients,” regardless of the staff’s personal convications. Months into the pandemic, whether directly or indirectly a consequence of that mandate, some of her co-workers died, patients initially uninfected were later infected, and the staff were the ones who were blamed.

As Sheena has made time to process life as a nurse post-Covid, and in reflection on Luke 14:1-6, particularly how God has been challenging her views on faith and flourishing, two new perspectives have materialized:

1. She entered nursing with the intension to contribute positive change, but has come to learn that human flourishing is painfully slow work. While she can and does impact lives on an individual basis, it is also her experience that some workplace environments are simply not open to broader change, nor might they be the space in which to continue working. This has meant decisions about next steps have involved listening more to her body rather than pushing herself to burnout, seeking out wise counsel of families and friends rather than trying to figure out everything on her own, and remembering that there is more to her story than the highs and lows of nursing.
2. The higher the position of leadership, the less diversity she finds. The lack of minority representation in nurse education and leadership is widely acknowledged. Less obvious is how the trickle-down decisions at a given hospital create a caring or toxic, environment or its employees. The experience of myopic leadership teams and uncaring environments has motivated Sheena to pursue graduate work for the sake of potentially positioning herself for greater responsibilities of servant-leadership in the future. In the meantime, Sheena makes it a priority to move in proximity towards other nurses, especially those younger, to continue advocating for her patients even if that might cost her job, and to regularly give thanks, privately and publicly, for the kindness of good nurses, doctors, and leaders.

The ones who ought to know better — religious leaders, authority figures, decision-makers — struggled to empathize whenever their agendas were deemed to be secondary. (1/2) Share on X

In contrast, Christ moved in proximity with and towards the other. He made himself approachable to friends and enemies alike. (2/2) Share on X

Case #3 – Higher Education

John is a seasoned African American educator who has worked for the last two decades in the Department of Multicultural Affairs at a prominent Christian university. The joy and heartache of his job is trying to meet the needs of students as well as the goals of his Supervisors. As these needs sometimes compete with one another, his primary role can be summed up as managing the expectations – notably of students, staff, faculty, and departments – in what makes for a diverse and inclusive environment.

Although John works for a university that emphasizes care, some of the most common problems he routinely faces include:

1. Helping university members to overcome a scarcity mentality. This is the thinking among students and faculty, underrepresented and otherwise, that there is not enough resources nor opportunities to go around. Interestingly, John’s most vocal critics sometimes come from underrepresented groups who can often feel that not enough is being done. Thus, rather than rejoicing in the successes of others, the response among the different groups and organizations can tend towards animosity.
2. Providing clarity on how to respectfully engage contentious social issues. This has not necessarily meant offering satisfactory answers, but rather creating space for students and staff to be able to communicate the kind of culture that they want in relation to the culture that is currently present.
3. Maintaining regular inter-department conversations on how money is spent in service to all the community members. John often wears the hat of “the outsider,” the one who advocates on behalf of students and faculty whose needs have been left out of group planning. While John would freely admit that he does not look forward to those challenging conversations, he is also mindful that these are the very same interactions that can deepen relationships and help folks to embody a caring environment.

Reflecting on Luke 14:1-6, John has seen God re-animating his approach to human flourishing in the following ways:

1. He firmly believes that a lack of visibility does not mean there are not good people behind the scenes.Contrary to thinking that can often result from despair, the truth is that there are good people, doing good work, all around him. For John, this has included his mentor and former boss who taught him how to navigate systems, to ask better questions, and to continually lay before God his own expectations.
2. In terms of communal thriving, expect it to take time. When victory does come, whether in the form of students maturing as servant leaders, or DEI initiatives bearing fruit, it will tend to take years, sometimes decades. And so, the task for John has been to continue to lean on family and friends, to move in proximity toward students and faculty, and to do what he can to nurture a celebratory school culture even as much more work remains to be done.

Flourishing within Peaks and Troughs

In reality, despite an emphasis on flourishing, the Christian life is actually a movement of peaks and troughs. However, what is evident in Scripture as one considers the death and resurrection of Christ, and in real stories such as the ones mentioned earlier, is a glimpse of what it means to die to self and contribute to human flourishing. This glimpse is simple and profound in equal measure: We are called to flourish as human beings who deepen our love for God and our love of neighbor as ourself.

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The ones who ought to know better — religious leaders, authority figures, decision-makers — struggled to come alongside the afflicted and marginalized. (1/2) Share on X

In contrast, Christ demonstrated a willingness to convey care through tangible steps. That is, he proceeded to hold the man’s hand, validate his presence, and heal his body. (2/2) Share on X

*Editorial Note:  Sahr’s incredible piece is the second of several articles in a new series that we will publish over the next few weeks, all seeking to answer the (obvious) question, ‘Do Black Lives Matter?‘ with a hearty, robust, empathetic, biblical, and obvious apologetic: YES! They always have, and they always will. One of our Leading Voices, Rev. Dr. Dennis Edwards, introduced this series in April with his piece, ‘Listening to Black Voices Experiencing Oppression.’ You’ll hear from a number of African American voices in the next few weeks as we continue to answer this question with a resounding YES. ~CK

Footnotes    

¹ Cone, James. The Cross and the Lynching Tree. New York: Maryknoll, 2012.

² “Harvard Human Flourishing.” Harvard University: Institute for Quantitative Social Science. Accessed at https://hfh.fas.harvard.edu/?mc_cid=33941e4872&mc_eid=513e4af38b on June 26th, 2024.

³ Pennington, Jonathan T. “A Biblical Theology of Human Flourishing.” In Institute for Faith, Work & Economics. 2015.

⁴ Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.” United Nations. Sustainable development publication for UN 2023 Water Conference, 22-24 March 2023. Accessed at https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda on June 26th, 2024.