Gracious activism

If we're following Jesus, we need to be activists:

• Speak out, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy. Proverbs 31:9
• You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself. Jesus, Luke 10:27
• They asked only one thing, that we remember the poor, which was actually what I was eager to do. Paul, Galatians 2:10

It's a theme that runs right throughout the Bible and is clearly a chief concern of our heavenly Father. However, our activism needs to be gracious and shaped by the character of the God we serve. I think in the area of social justice/activism, that means at least three things for my thinking:

1) Being gracious in thinking about the big picture: tackling issues one at a time.
I don't need to overwhelm myself with the possibilities for acting on behalf of others. There are hundreds of good causes, and areas of injustice to explore, lots of everyday decisions that I could change that would make a difference in the lives of others (such as Fair Trade, being generous to those less materially blessed, the sex slave trade, cotton production, how sustainable our fishing industries are, how far our food is transported, how agriculture subsidies affect poorer farmers, etc, etc). However, if I look only at the ideal, it's easy to feel drained and discouraged about how unjust our world is.

I prefer to start with how I currently live - my own current system of habits - shopping, transport, cleaning, food sources, energy sources, etc - and choose one area at a time to research and change. Over a year or two, I've done a lot of educating myself and making changes to our family habits - but it's rarely felt overwhelming.

2) Being gracious within each issue: thinking about habits, not every instance.
If I change what I do 90-95% of the time, that's almost as good as all the time and a whole lot better than never. That means that I can meet a friend at a cafe that doesn't sell Fair Trade tea/coffee, or gratefully accept a gift of clothes that were made unethically or eat some bacon served by someone else when I know it was treated in a way that doesn't reflect God's stewardship of the earth. My habitual practices try to make a positive difference, but it's not a test that I need to get 100% for.

3) Being gracious towards others.
I'm conscious of the need to be gracious with others. It's very easy to be self-righteous and critical of others who either are ignorant (by choice or because they're not aware of any injustices) or know but don't act on that knowledge. However, I don't think self-righteous pride honors Jesus and so it's good to not overwhelm others with lots of accumulated knowledge (I know this from experience - oops, and sorry to those who have experienced a rant from me). Far better to consider how I'd want to hear from some one else about an area I've never thought about - with patience, a gentle introduction, the option (but not pressure!) for further conversation/information and an acknowledgement that there might be other things that are more pressing for me now.