When I saw what was happening in Charlottesville, my first reaction was not sickness as much as it was surprise. I was taken off guard because we don’t see this blatant display of white supremacy very often these days. I was simply stunned.
It seems that we see masked versions of racism in most cases. Not many people are on the news talking about how they hate black people. In fact, if you were to take an honest inventory of the people in your life, I bet (and maybe I’d be wrong), but I bet that you’d say, “I don’t know many white supremacists personally.”
It’s on the news, right? Not in our real world.
I wonder if that applies to all the things that we don’t *see* happening in our world? The friend that gets diagnosed with cancer: “I never thought it would happen to me.” The friend that experiences a sudden job loss: “I never thought it would happen to me.” Maybe someone you know cheats on their spouse: “I never thought HE would do that.”
It’s not just on the news, is it?
My Response
Not long after the news broke, there were a bunch of people calling for men and women, especially church leaders, to stand up and publicly denounce the evil that is white supremacy. I saw posts, not only calling people to speak out against this evil, but also condemning anyone who WOULDN’T speak out. “Your silence is deafening,” I read.
And it makes sense. We have to stand up for what we believe in. And we definitely need to raise our voice on behalf of those who don’t have a voice. But I also see a tiny hole in the rhetoric.
Disclaimer : One of the reasons I’m afraid to speak on this topic is that it is an ever-evolving topic. The more people I talk to, the wider this topic becomes and the higher my possibility for saying something stupid.
After all, I could just say nothing.
I could say nothing and my life would stay comfortably even-kiel. I can turn off the news and, most likely, I’ll never have to face an injustice like I saw on TV. I can drive in any neighborhood and never get pulled over. I could say nothing. But what kind of man would I be? How would I answer my grandkids when they asked how I responded to the alt-right?
Racism, in any form, is evil and is contrary to the gospel.
What we saw in Charlottesville is pure evil. Attaching the precious name of Jesus to any ideology that elevates one race over another is nothing short of heresy. Let me get that out of the way.
However, I have some other thoughts, too:
I believe racism is evil and contrary to the gospel.
I believe Christians ought to live 100% under the authority of the Scripture and the Holy Spirit’s leading.
I believe we ought to be appropriately vocal about our convictions and beliefs.
I think it’s possible that we are more vocal about racism because it’s one of the beliefs we hold biblically that is majorly respected in culture.
Let me unpack that. I grew up in a pretty fundamental Baptist church. I remember what it was like to hear my pastor rail on people who would “drink, chew, or go with girls that do.” Joking aside, those were the core convictions of a lot of churches when I was growing up.
Gosh, when I was in high school (which my students would also remind me...was a long time ago), coming out as gay was a BIG DEAL, because it was super rare.
I remember I was sitting in Starbucks working when the Supreme Court ruling was released that homosexual marriage would be legalized. Depending on your beliefs on the topic, you might think a social media status doesn’t fit so well there.
What about abortion? It’s been a hot topic issue for a long time. Have you told all your “friends” on social media what you think? Oh, you haven’t? Your silence is deafening.
Some conclusions
I don’t mean to cause more confusion. I promise. Let me continue laying my case:
I believe racism is evil and contrary to the gospel.
I believe Christians ought to live 100% under the authority of the Scripture and the Holy Spirit’s leading.
I believe we ought to be appropriately vocal about our convictions and beliefs.
I think it’s possible that we are more vocal about racism because it’s one of the beliefs we hold biblically that is majorly respected in culture.
Confusion isn’t helpful.
I don’t expect anyone to have all of their beliefs boiled down on every single topic by the end of today.
I think the most helpful thing that we can do when we’re making our decisions in life is to boil everything down to the lowest common denominator.
We have to have a reason for what we believe.
It’s not noble or helpful to believe something because it’s popular.
Some of us are rooting against racism because it’s in style right now.
If you tweet about racism being ugly because it’s popular and you feel pressured to speak publicly, you aren’t helping.
I do agree that silence makes us complicit. I also think that social media statements, unaccompanied by a life change, are Pharisaical at best.
Women, how excited would you be if you’re husband brought home flowers, gift cards and chocolate to express how thankful he is for you, but then went on cheating on you. But I brought flowers! What about that gift card?
Some of us won’t engage at all because the society we’re in calls for us to be silent until we “know it all.”
When did we step into the world where people are expected to know everything yesterday? We’re a learning group of people, right? Let’s keep learning. Let’s give grace where people don’t espouse right thinking yet.
“And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.””
Good news. Great joy. All people.
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
I want to make something extremely clear. Racism is evil. But we have to be very careful in our approach to that statement. Because we feel very comfortable tossing the baby out with the bath water… ”racists are evil! You're gonna hate heaven!”
Church! We can't forget. Racists are our mission field.
What do you think the body of Christ is doing in Charlottesville? How do you think they're responding? Let me be more pointed: who, in Charlottesville, is going to have an impact in this fight? How do we define impact?
I guarantee this: the ONLY people who will have an impact in Charlottesville for the gospel are the ones who are purposely postured to live a life worthy of the gospel. I don't mean to sound daunting. If you're not currently postured to show compassion to every person on this planet, I don’t mean to make you feel that you’re failing at life. But we do have to start somewhere.
When the Apostle Paul was writing to the Church at Ephesus, he had to address a pretty serious issue; specifically, the issue of embracing people who didn’t come from a Jewish background.
When Jesus came to announce the in-breaking of the Kingdom of God, it flipped the script. It has been described as an “Upside Down Kingdom” by Bible teachers like Tim Keller & Preston Sprinkle. This is in reference to how the lowest in the Kingdom will be exalted and how those in power will be left without influence as far as Jesus is concerned. He would constantly speak of “the least of these,” referring to the poor, hurting, broken, needy and powerless. Jesus seemed to be drawn to these types where others would be drawn to the influencers...those who have power and authority.
Simply put: Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross was powerful enough to secure the salvation of anyone who would call on His name.
So, in Ephesians 2:11-22, Paul is going to speak to the Ephesians churches (which is more than one local congregation by the way) about how they were to remember how they used to be far off from Christ, but that they had been brought near by the blood of Christ.
But check out how powerful the blood of Jesus is! It breaks down the wall that stood between us and Christ, but it also broke down the wall between me and you! That’s good news!
The announcement of the resurrection of Jesus is that all are welcome at the table!
You don’t have to have some religious pedigree.
You don’t have to have your act together.
You don’t have to have perfect church attendance.
You don’t have to DO anything...THE WORK HAS BEEN DONE!
So let’s be careful when we start to get into this high-minded, arrogant mindset where we start to look at ourselves more highly than we ought.
We need to take steps to eradicate racism. But it's only going to happen if we operate from a deep conviction and work together. This issue won't soon go away. But we can start here.