by Ben Sciacca
Just then Wilma felt the hand in her own begin to stir. She gasped, ever so slightly, as she watched Malik’s wearied and weakened eyes flutter and struggle to open. All eyes turned to his bed. He was awake; he appeared to be alert. Smiles erupted on all of their faces as they pressed in around him.
Malik exchanged a brief glance with everyone in his family, but Wilma noticed that he kept returning his gaze to the doorway. She looked up in that direction. Her grandson’s eyes were locked with Jim’s.
Mary Beth grabbed her husband’s hand and gently tried to pull him away. But he would not budge. He and Malik beheld one another in solemn silence.
The distance between them was little more than a leap.
AFTERWORD
ON JULY 12, 2013, in the middle of a segregated city, our church seemed a model multicultural gathering. Our small-group meetings were diverse. Our pastoral staff was diverse. The music performed on Sunday morning had no allegiance to a specific genre. It was the utopia of diversity that so many pastors desire today.
However, July 13, 2013, created a pivotal change at my church. That day, six Florida jurors acquitted George Zimmerman in the killing of teenager Trayvon Martin. Social media was ablaze with both adulation and condemnation.
July 14 was not a regular Sunday for many. Droves of Americans entered their churches with a heavy burden: the knowledge that they lived in a country that condoned injustice. Many sat waiting for the pastor to reconcile their concerns to a good and faithful God. However, many church services went on as though the world outside wasn’t experiencing a traumatic event. There was no mention of the case. There was no attempt to touch the tension.
I have to admit that I was livid. I did not expect my pastors to approach the stage wearing hoodies in veneration of Trayvon. However, I did expect them to pause from their regularly scheduled agenda to address a pronounced tension in our congregation. Many of the minority members of the church felt there was an elephant that needed to be addressed, a national issue that carried heavy implications regarding their identity. Many of the white members wondered why this was such a big deal to people who had no relational connection to Trayvon. The division was obvious—and yet disregarded. For months there was only silent hope that this agitation would go away. It never did.
What did we need in that moment? We needed reconciliation. We needed to talk!
I would reason that my church is a microcosm of America. Brothers and sisters, we need to talk! Furthermore, when we talk we need to not assume the worst in each other but affirm the image of God in one another. This is precisely what Meals from Mars is attempting to do.
Conversations around race can be toxic, difficult, and subversive. However, one of the most destructive ways to enter into a conversation about race is to ignore that we have different opinions and experiences. What I learned about our church community is that we shared in proximity but lacked in authenticity. We sacrificed crucial conversations for the sake of apparent harmony. That is not love, nor does it produce true community.
To live as if we are all the same is to be foolish and irresponsible. We acknowledge variety in the animal kingdom. A zebra is beautiful because of its design. It’s admired because it’s different from the stallion. We appreciate the variations of the seasons in a year. We don’t ignore the snow when it falls. Many in the faith community are well-meaning people who desire unity across racial and cultural lines. Therefore they declare they are “colorblind.” However, the declaration of colorblindness doesn’t remove the tension. It perpetuates a dangerous narrative that how God created me isn’t fascinating enough to acknowledge. The simplest indication of ethnic importance is the fact that God made us this way. All his creation was good!
When we do decide to talk, we cannot sweep the truth of history under the rug of reconciliation. We must deal with truth in order to get to reconciliation. We must approach the table with our feelings and agendas submitted to the glorious Lord, speaking candidly from our personal experience.
We must also be allowed to mess up without the threat of being labeled racists or race baiters. We must approach these conversations with reckless compassion—the kind of compassion that may be misunderstood and mistreated but that still extends a hand of grace.
I ask that we stop ignoring racial differences and love each other in light of our differences. We should desire to know and understand our brothers and sisters so we can love them and God better. Our color matters because our identities matter. We are creations of the Most High—a motley demonstration of his creativity. He desires that we find every aspect of our differences in the intentional design of creation.
Outside the gospel, there is every reason to hoard power and privilege. But in the house of God we are called to consider others before ourselves. Outside the gospel, there is legitimacy in feeling bitter when offended. But in the house of God, it brings dignity to turn the other cheek.
I would commission us all to be slow to speak and quick to listen, to surrender our presuppositions so that true dialogue can take place. We must throw away bitterness and entitlement because we are indebted to the Maker of all creation, and we must be ready to forgive as Christ forgave us. I believe Meals from Mars can push us in the direction that creates authentic dialogue.
In August 2014, an unarmed teenager, Michael Brown, was shot and killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. Once again we had a traumatic event in our country. However, there was a different response from my church. Our pastors tackled the issue head-on. We had church-led discussions around race and culture. People were able to vent, cry, and argue about the state of America. Once emotions were released, we felt one step closer to real community and reconciliation. I praise God for the courage and wisdom displayed in our leaders. It’s time for that same courage and wisdom to be displayed throughout America.
Now let’s talk!!
SHO BARAKA
FOR DISCUSSION
Meals from Mars is a complicated story, touching on tender issues of race, class, privilege, personal pain, and systemic cultural challenges. Please use the following questions to guide your conversation about these difficult issues.
The novel opens in the middle of the story, with Malik and Jim crashed at the side of the road, surrounded by police. What was your first impression of Jim? Of Malik?
Jim and Mary Beth are very generous in buying groceries for Malik’s family. But they’re not enthusiastic about this act of kindness. Can you identify with their frustration at the beginning of the story? Why or why not?
Jim is proud that his church provides groceries for Malik’s family. But Malik challenges him on it. Who’s right, do you think? Why?
Malik is particularly annoyed by two things associated with the groceries from Mars Chapel: selfies and hummus. Why was he so put off by those things? What might the church have done differently?
What responsibility, if any, does Mars Chapel (Jim’s church) have to provide for the family of Wilma Thompson (Malik’s grandmother)? Was the church living up to its responsibility? Why or why not?
What should Malik have done when he felt threatened at the convenience store? What would you have done?
What should Jim have done when Malik jumped in his car? What would you have done?
Do you know of anyone who’s had an experience like Uncle Keith’s, when he was pulled over by the police? How was that person affected by the experience?
Do you know of anyone who’s had an experience like Jim’s friend Sam, when he was mugged while fixing power lines in Edgewood? How was that person affected by the experience?
Think about your own community. Where do you observe racial divides like the ones between Edgewood and Stone Brook? What perpetuates the divide? What could be done to heal whatever racial divide exists?
What needs to happen first? Why?
Malik argues that much of Jim’s success in life has something to do with an inherent privilege—the system was set up to support Jim, even as it was rigged against Ma
lik. Does Malik’s argument ring true for you? Why or why not?
Jim argues that “choices have consequences”—that most people’s troubles are the result of their own bad decisions. Does his argument ring true for you? Why or why not?
Whom did you tend to find yourself agreeing with more—Jim or Malik? Why?
Whom did you identify with more—Wilma (Malik’s grandmother) or Keith (Malik’s uncle)? Why?
What did you hear from Malik or Jim that was most uncomfortable for you? What made it uncomfortable?
Mars Chapel looms in the background of Meals from Mars, and throughout the story there are little allusions to prayer. Where is God in this story? What role does faith have to play in difficult social issues like those in Meals from Mars?
The novel opens with Malik and Jim surrounded by police. Were you surprised by how that scene was resolved toward the end of the novel? Why or why not?
What do you think Jim was thinking as he stared at Malik in his hospital room at the end of the novel? What do you think Malik was thinking?
Imagine an ending for this story. What happens to Malik? To Jim? What happens to their relationship? Why do you think that’s how the story ends?
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
The following are helpful resources as you continue to explore issues of racial justice and reconciliation.
BOOKS
Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me
Christena Cleveland, Disunity in Christ
Michael Emerson and Christian Smith, Divided by Faith
Carl Ellis, Free at Last?
Timothy Keller, Generous Justice
Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow
W. E. B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk
Benjamin Watson, Under Our Skin
ALBUMS
Lecrae, Anomaly
Jackie Hill Perry, The Art of Joy
Dre Murray and Alex Faith, Southern Lights: Overexposed
Sho Baraka, Talented Xth and The Narrative
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book wouldn’t have been possible without the contributions of some special people.
Sho, thank you for editing and critiquing the initial manuscript. Thank you also for all your contributions to my last two books. Your friendship has been a gift, and your music has shaped a lot of my thinking.
Thanks to Don and David at NavPress. I’m grateful for your willingness to take a chance on me and this book.
Jason, God has used you in more ways than you know to keep me encouraged and keep me going. Our conversations over coffee have been crucial. I think it’s your turn to buy.
Matt, thanks for always being there for me over the years. You’ve seen me at my highest and my lowest and have always been there to cheer me on or pick me up.
Brian—wow! We’ve been challenging each other and trying to tackle life together for more than twenty years. You’ve pushed me to be better in almost every way possible, and your friendship is something I genuinely cherish.
Sam and Ty, I’m blessed to have brothers like you. You both in different ways have kept my ship afloat. I appreciate you.
I want to thank everyone involved with Restoration Academy. Without RA this book would never have existed.
Mom and Dad, thanks for praying for me, and thank you for putting a pen in my hands a long time ago and telling me to write.
Sara, the fact that you loved this story first fueled me to finish.
Doc Gordon, thanks for mentoring me and always being available. Your wisdom and love are invaluable.
Ron Carter, thanks for taking a chance on a naive twenty-two-year-old more than sixteen years ago, and for giving me a job at RA. And thanks for following up with me and encouraging me during my toughest season in ministry.
Adam Thomason, I appreciate you and our conversations. You continue to push me out of my comfort zones and challenge my paradigms. And that’s a blessing.
Jesus, thank you for being my shalom. I pray that you use this meager effort to make shalom.
To everyone I’ve forgotten, please forgive me.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
BEN SCIACCA currently serves as the executive director of Restoration Academy in Fairfield, Alabama. Ben has been involved at Restoration for sixteen years and has been invested in city ministry for more than twenty. He received his BA in history from Wheaton College and his master’s in educational leadership from Covenant College. He is the author of Kai’Ro: The Journey of an Urban Pilgrim, Kai’Ro Returns, and Urban Shepherds. Ben speaks at national conferences and provides consultation regarding urban education. He enjoys soccer, football, and disc golf. He, his wife Sara, and their four children live in the neighborhood where he serves.
TWITTER: @IAMJUDAHBEN
RESTORATION ACADEMY is a private, urban, and Christ-centered school in Fairfield, Alabama. For the last twenty-seven years, Restoration has been seeking to provide a high-quality and Christ-centered education to inner-city youth in the Birmingham area. The school currently serves close to three hundred students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. Restoration exists to provide a safe and nurturing education where youth can thrive. For the last ten years, 100 percent of Restoration’s seniors have been admitted to college. The hope is that these incredible students will graduate with the skills, character, and vision to be agents of change in the world around them.
LEARN MORE ABOUT RESTORATION ACADEMY AT HTTP://WWW.RESTORATIONACADEMY.ORG.