Over the last few weeks I have been embracing intentional moments of self-examination. I think I have been able to pinpoint when my faith began to shift and my understanding of what it means to embody my confession that Jesus is Lord. I think it was when I realized that:

1. I was no longer the prodigal son, but the son who complained.
2. I was no longer the one leper that returned to Jesus but one of the nine that never came.
3. I was no longer one of the ‘least of these’ but one in danger of becoming a goat (and *not* G.O.A.T.).
4. I wasn’t one of the folks on the margins as a religious outsider but one in the center of power as a religious insider, and at times a citizen of Rome.
5. I also wasn’t the one living on the edges of town who received the invitation to the party, but one of the folks who was too busy to come.
6. I was no longer the one lost sheep but one of the 99.
7. I was no longer the woman Jesus met at the well but one of the village people she was avoiding.
8. I was also no longer the woman who washed Jesus’ feet with tears, but more like Simon the Pharisee.
9. I could no longer read the Scriptures as one of the victims of religious or socio-political oppression, but rather as one who has been privileged with position and a certain amount of socio-political and religious power as a white male living in these United States.
10. I was loved by Jesus all along, and still loved by Jesus just as I am and not as I should be.
11. I am in desperate need of God’s grace, a renewed mind and a transformed way of loving myself, my family, my neighbors and my enemies.

It seems to me that if the Church is going to be a prophetic presence in society then we must allow God’s Spirit to be a prophetic presence among us. It begins with me.