Frances McDormand, the Power of the Gospel and Inclusion Riders

Frances McDormand was the talk of the Oscars. She won the best Actress award this year for her role in Fargo.

I haven't seen the movie. I'm not familiar with her work.

It was her two word Oscar speech closer that stole the show.

After a brief "thanks" to people in her life. She invited all the other female nominees to join her by standing. Talked about stories to tell. And then closed with two words "Inclusion Rider".

This phrase has been all the rage since.

An inclusion rider is something actors put into their contracts to ensure racial and gender diversity in films they work on. If you value that stuff - it's a way of ensuring your values are reflected in your work.

I was so excited when I learned that Frances is a PK. A preacher's kid. Her father was a Disciples of Christ pastor. She's also a pastor's sister. Her sister is also an ordained Christian pastor.

The more I read the Bible, the more I'm convinced God wants Christians to add inclusion riders into our lives.

National and ethnic inclusion are perhaps the biggest themes in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.

Much of the Old Testament is prophetic critique of Israel's nationalism. Much of the New Testament is Paul writing in defense of non-Jews being included in churches and being treated with respect and dignity as fellow children of God.

I've heard talk recently of celebrity Christians (the ones who headline Christian conferences) adding inclusion riders to their speaking engagements. "If the podiums are diverse, I'm not speaking." So far I haven't seen any really big names talking about it. But I'm hopeful.

My own experience has been that Christians are both and the front and at the back of most social change. We are the ones organizing, leading and nurturing kingdom change. We are also the ones fighting it tooth and nail.

Perhaps an Oscar winning preacher's kid can lead the way on this. Stranger things have happened.

What if Christian speakers did put inclusion riders in their contracts?
What if Christians refused to attend conferences where podiums were exclusively (or almost exclusively) white and male?
What if we challenged the nominating committees in our churches if the list of nominees doesn't reflect the congregation?
What if we challenge our leadership if our congregations don't reflect our communities?
What if we challenge ourselves not the accept the sinful, broken status quo; but continually strive for God's kingdom with all it's beauty in our churches, our neighborhoods, our families?

What if....

Thanks Frances for leading the way.