Posted on

We Can’t Heal, If We Can’t Hear

Uncertainty abounds all over the global village, from the Israel-Palestinian conflict to the Russian autocratic policies across Europe, to the economic wrestling with China, to the hijacking in Belorussia, to the struggling survival of the Sudan. We are confronted every day with tremendous uncertainty.

 

But it is not just distant uncertainty; it is the uncertainty that has captured our land. Geographic uncertainty as rural areas are feeling neglected, disrespected, and misunderstood. The death, isolation, and job challenges caused by the pandemic. A spike in mass shootings across the country. Unruly behavior from biting on airplanes, to spitting, throwing water bottles and popcorn at NBA Playoff games to storming PGA golf fairways. Challenges to our democracy and electoral processes. Calls from a former Presidential Advisor for a military coup. Increased institutional warfare leading to an “all in on outrage” as a strategy in Congress.

 

Uncertainty that has transformed how we view people. Increased racial tension with a spike in antisemitic incidents across the country and growing Asian hate crimes. Increased police scrutiny relative to violence against people of color. An uprising of political actions to hide the violent history against Native Americans and Blacks. Dehumanization makes it easier to see people as a “temptation”; someone to eliminate or consider as not worthy of equal rights or privileges.

 

We are subject to painful reflections about the hateful, subconscious beliefs with which some continue to drape our existence. To make it worse, as Jeremiah said in Chapter 12, “we have planted and haven’t seen a harvest.” We’ve been planting since 1619. Through the various military exploits of this nation, we’ve been planting. Through the transforming revolts of each era, we’ve been planting. Through the modification of constitutional legislation and amendments, we’ve been planting. Through marches and protests, we’ve been planting. Yet, we are still not saved.

 

And in our individual lives, we all have our own stories of struggle. How are you going to meet your financial challenges? How are you going to respond to the doctor’s diagnosis about you or a family member? Feelings of uncertainty about your job or job opportunities. Will you be able to avoid the foreclosure pending on your house? Or even the foreclosure already in process; will you be able to redirect it. And when the foreclosure evicts you, where will you live. How will you make your way? We are in some difficult times.

 

What will become of this nation as two sharply contrasting visions clash on the political horizon. The topography of their outcomes will set the direction for this nation. I asked myself, what should the Churches response be? It became apparent to me our response does not need to be complicated. Some people are looking for some theological mystery to be unraveled. As the songwriter says, “Gotta keep it real simple, get right back to ground zero. When it all comes down to this: Love God and love people.” Another songwriter adds, “What if we came down from our towers and walked a mile in someone else’s shoes. If the church wants to see a change in the world out there, it’s got to start right here.”

 

In the words of the honorable Bishop Arthur M. Brazier, “We can’t just be satisfied functioning within the physical and philosophical walls of the church building.  We have to apply Christian principles to the solutions of the great social problems of our time. Our faith calls us to see civic and political responsibilities through the eyes of faith and to bring our moral convictions to public life.  As believers we are called to be a community of conscience within the larger society and to test public life by the values of scripture.”

 

The church should serve as a moral conscience to society and should seek to respond to our social, economic and political as well as spiritual needs. Faith and Justice need to become as one flesh in service of God and social transformation. Our individual activities in this regard, can be a calling only if it is viewed as a mission of service to something beyond merely our own interest.  I believe we are to articulate and live out these views in ways that are theologically faithful, exegetically careful and personally sustainable.

 

Pastor Rick Warren in The Purpose Driven Life opens with, “It’s not about you. The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment.” Too often decisions are based on self-interest and justified by that belief.

 

But, as with most subjects in the 21st-century U.S., opinion soon polarizes along partisan lines. This country is becoming devoid of places where differences are valued. Even in our churches, the ideological divide has become more locational than denominational as people are more likely to live and worship among people who share their worldviews and to spend free time with them. The ability to hear each other is muted by the echo chambers of political and racial speak.

 

 

When did hate become so ordinary in the church? Love, empathy, forgiveness, mercy, and compassion is disappearing. We begin to grasp divisive rhetoric and use labels as shortcuts to conversational hearing. Labeling closes minds to hearing or learning. It ignores the nuances and details of situations, then creates misinformation.

 

Some are raising objections to any attempt to “fill in the blanks” of American history. Any conversation that challenges an interpretation of America’s national identity neglects the trauma inflicted in creating that identity. National identity is divided along critical axis of class, faith, or race. Creating the foundation of the threefold objection – one, that this country belongs to a unique set of people. Two, the church supported slavery’s legacy. And three, slavery’s legacy still shapes American life today—an argument that is less radical than it may appear at first glance:

 

  • The QAnon theory is more popular today among evangelicals than people of other religions, according to a study by the conservative American Enterprise Institute.
  • States are implementing educational laws that teaching history in schools “may not define American history as something other than the creation of a new nation based largely on universal principles stated in the Declaration of Independence.”
  • The Texas Governor is threatening to withhold lawmakers pay if they don’t come back into session and vote for the Restrictive Voting Bill.
  • “We birthed a nation from nothing. There was nothing here in America before white colonizers arrived, and Native people haven’t contributed much to American culture.”
  • Backlash on the 1619 Project, which outlines the theft of labor and land, because it centers its voice on the history of Black people instead of telling a story of a glorious longstanding idea of the past – men who founded a country then built it into a Christian nation.
  • Thirty per cent of Republicans endorsed the idea that the country is so far “off track that American patriot’s may have to resort to violence” against their political opponents.
  • Senator Ron Johnson has sent letters to acting U.S. Capitol Police chief casting doubt that Officer Brian Sicknick’s death was related to the attack on the Capitol.
  • Pastor’s teaching Critical Race Theory as anti-biblical because it addresses the effect of racial bias and erosion of advances made by Blacks in the ’90s instead of only assigning individual responsibility to their outcomes.
  • The Black body is always guilty of something; therefore, whatever the police do to them is self-caused and justified.
  • Blue Lives Matter, except when conservatives attack them.
  • The Black Lives Matter Movement is a Marxist hate group and not a quest for equality, justice and humanity.
  • Biden’s presidency is illegitimate because the votes from people of color, who voted in record numbers, should not be counted.
  • Asians in America were responsible for COVID and the attacks on them are understood.
  • Native Americans were savages and their extermination by the cowboys was heroic.
  • The January 6 insurrection was a “tour of people” who are, understandably, not happy with the country’s direction.
  • Christianity and America is God’s gift to White people.

 

So many people live in a state of misinformation. What they are invested in banning is simply a complete and accurate accounting of American history! Claiming all discussions reflect “a displacement of historical understanding by ideology.” How do you heal the nation if facts are distorted and no one is listening to each other?

 

“The only problem that can’t be solved 
is the one we pretend doesn’t exist.”

 

We can’t depend on the political landscape to heal our nation.  And let’s avoid any false moral equivalency between the two parties. Historically, one side defining good for its purposes and assigning evil to the opposition has led to further social violence. Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) shouldn’t have engaged in antisemitic rhetoric. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) shouldn’t have urged anti-racism protesters to be “more confrontational.” As reported by the Washington Post, Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), a star of the right, was observed accosting Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) as she was exiting the House chamber. Taylor later made negative comments connecting mask, Jews, and the Holocaust.

 

And yet Greene isn’t really that much of an outlier in the House Republican caucus alongside the likes of Reps. Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Louie Gohmert (Tex.), Lauren Boebert (Colo.), and other Freedom Caucus members who want a White’s only party.

 

“As believers we are called to be a community of conscience within the larger society and to test public life by the values of scripture.”

 

Posted on

Almost There, But Not Quite Yet – Part 2

In a culture filled with chaos and confusion, faithful and committed Christian communication is needed more than ever. Disruption is the new normal and the Church is called to lead on demonstrating to a watching world “unity in Christ.”

 

Unfortunately, politics, racism, and religion have replaced the Word of God in guiding some people’s beliefs, habits, attitudes, and actions. Thoughts, feelings and emotions that are believed to be at odds with ones integrity can cause people to lash out at others. Even if that integrity has been built on a false narrative. But even though “the flowers fade, and the grass will wither, the Word of God lasts forever.”

 

Most of us remain trapped in the narrow framework of the dominant liberal and conservative views of race in America, which with its worn-out vocabulary leaves us intellectually debilitated, morally disempowered, and personally depressed.

 

The Barna Group validated what we presented in Part 1. Their research uncovered, what every person of color already knew – “Church’s efforts toward unity in recent decades seem to be insufficient in helping to understand or rectify the challenges experienced by worshippers of color, especially Black individuals, for whom issues of race in the U.S. are front and center.”

 

“Our truncated public discussions of race fail to confront the complexity of the issue candidly and critically. The predictable pitting of liberals against conservatives, Great Society Democrats against self-help Republicans, reinforces intellectual parochialism and political paralysis.

 

We confine discussion about race in America to the ‘problems’ Black people pose Whites rather than consider what this way of viewing Black people reveals about us as a nation.

 

This paralyzing framework encourages liberals to relieve their guilty consciences by supporting public funds directed at ‘the problems’; but at the same time, reluctant to exercise principled criticism of Black people, liberals deny them the freedom to err. Similarly, conservatives blame the ‘problems’ on Black people themselves and thereby render Black society misery invisible or unworthy of public attention.

 

Hence, for liberals, Black people are to be ‘included’ and ‘integrated’ into ‘our’ society and culture, while for conservatives, they are to be ‘well behaved’ and ‘worthy of acceptance’ by ‘our’ way of life. Both fail to see that the presence and predicaments of Black people are neither additions to nor defections from American life, but rather constitutive elements of that life.” This description provided by Princeton Professor Cornell West highlights the need for a new conversation. A non-political and biblical conversation that emphasizes that we must always prefer people over any pleasures that might bring us joy.
These conversations must be grounded in equity. Not equity from the Republican perspective of identity politics or the Democratic perspective of diversity, but from the Kingdom party perspective of the Imago Dei. The Bible teaches about the value of work and the value of equal opportunity. The most productive and progressive society is one in which every member has full and unencumbered access.

 

Equity is not a program or initiative; it is a belief, a habit of mind. As I have stated many times: What you believe about someone determines how you label them. Those labels dictate how you (and others) choose to engage or disengage with them. Achieving true equity must be a moral imperative, and it serves as a central and essential component of any attempt to achieve the unity Jesus speaks of in the Bible.

 

Equity is not a guarantee that everyone will succeed. Instead, it assures that everyone will have the opportunity and support necessary to succeed. In an equitable system, the barriers that inhibit progress are removed.

 

From the balcony, solutions exist, and we are almost there, but not yet.
As believers, we are actively taking part in the kingdom of God, although the kingdom will not reach its full expression until sometime in the future. Jesus’ parables of the kingdom picture it as yeast in dough. In other words, the kingdom is slowly working toward ultimate fulfillment. It is not sporadically “breaking through” to bring us comfort in this world. Therefore, our efforts will need to be continuous and not a point-in-time solution.

 

It starts with forming or enhancing relationships with outgroup members; not pushing away from them.

 

“Forming relationships with outgroup members can have
myriad individual benefits, helping individuals widen their social circles, feel less stress and anxiety in intergroup contexts, and reduce their prejudices. But to benefit from the consequences of outgroup relationships, individuals must first build them.”

 

The believer is in a lifelong struggle with the flesh (Romans 8:13). Likewise, the church is a fellowship of persons who are both new creatures in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17) and still imperfect sinners. As we await our glorification and the destruction of our sinful natures, we must continue our process of sanctification, the daily process of growing into the very image of Christ. We accomplish this by “exercise yourself to godliness” (1Tim 4:7) – demonstrating love one to another, activating the fruits of the spirit, engaging in conversations and actions to unify, and being God’s witness here on earth for the world to see a better way. In effect, you’re saying to Him, Father, don’t let me waste this difficult time the country faces. Use it for my long-term benefit and to enhance Your glory through my life.

 

In the meantime, stay prayerful, God is up to something. We’re almost there, but not quite yet . . .
Posted on

A Surrendered Soul – Part 2

Christianity looks quite different depending on where and how you worship on Sunday mornings, what stories you read, what voices you listen to, and who you call a friend. People and values that shape diverse communities can conflict with each other. Determining what is actually of God and what is true only to your community requires remaining faithful to God’s nature and character.

 

In Part 1, we provided the definition of Critical Race Theory (CRT) used to refute people of color’s experiences within many Churches. I have studied several pastors who are preaching and teaching on CRT. They gravitate to 7 major assumptions to ground their teaching.

 

Before I unpack the seven, let’s go back to the balcony to remind ourselves of the prize – “setting our mind on God’s purposes, not man’s.”

 

We don’t have a lot of practice having “real talk” about race. Most times people are talking at each other. So it’s not easy for people to engage in thoughtful conversation. If human equality is a vital first principle of faith (Imago Dei), we must not scuttle it when confronting complex issues but instead place faith in God’s moral coherence and seek deeper wisdom.

 

Theology sets in the mind of people a particular psychological view of life. In other words, how you see God determines how you see people. Language is additive and can obscure and distract from a critique that should be taken seriously if we are to avoid the division currently splitting American society.

 

While social justice has taken center stage in the secular world, God is still at the center of the conversation for Christians of color. People of Color have used religious teachings to turn the other cheek, to show mercy, grace, and forgiveness. When we all come to a place of human respect, the Church can reach atonement. Until then, He is and will be the instrument to heal those who can’t find a “balm of Gilead.”

 

We know this topic of CRT in the church comes from the events of the organization BLM, which is not a faith based organization. But we must be careful not to paint everyone with a broad brush. Everyone must take time to understand the difference between the organization and the phrase that represents the sentiment of a movement. Conflating the sentiment with the organization of the same name can limit that which warrants broader discussion.

 

During the Civil Rights movement many prominent Black ministers who gathered to organize the marches and boycotts faced the same rebuke from White pastors as is occurring today. Some even thought that segregation was a biblical mandate but mainly that Christians should not concern themselves with material issues rather than simply focusing on conversion. How they treated people was of little consequence or concern.

 

God created and gave humankind the gift of free will — the gift of choice.
Our beliefs determine how we label people and situations. (Labels are the opposite of understanding). These labels serve to cement beliefs and dictate how we (and our community) choose to engage or disengage with people.
The congregation is a locus for change and transformation in society, so it will be interesting to unpack how CRT is used to analyze the tenents of fellowship within the faith community:

 

    • Loving one another (John 13:34)
    • Building up one another (1 Thessalonians 5:11)
    • Giving preference to one another (Romans 12:10)
    • Stimulating one another to good deeds (Hebrews 10:24)
    • Bearing with one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2)
    • Being hospitable to one another (1 Peter 4:9)
    • Praying for one another (James 5:16)

 

In the next issue, Part 3, will discuss each of the seven assumptions, comparing them to the seven tenents of fellowship above, to better understand the messages these pastor’s are communicating to their congregations.

 

Let me close this issue by saying, nothing good ever happens when people care more about our differences than what we have in common. That’s why the forces that seek to divide us will never succeed over the forces of love that keep us together. It might not happen when we want, but we trust in our hope, our hope that is Christ Jesus.

 

Until then, mankind needs a fresh start to remove the stones in our hearts. The only way it can be achieved is by surrendering to the Holy Spirit. Now is the time for a fresh start in Christ.

 

 

 

Posted on

A Surrendered Soul – Part 1

 

We find ourselves again at a critically important moment of needing to bring unity to very divisive patterns of behavior. It’s understandable; we are sinful people trying to live in community with other sinful people, and that can get messy.

 

In one sense, this is nothing new. Jesus knew unity among Christians would be important, so much so that He devoted time in prayer to the topic the night before His crucifixion. In John 17, Jesus asks His Father to bring unity to all those who will come to believe in His message.

 

Believing that racism is outside of God’s realm has long been part of mainstream Christian practice in the US. Sometimes we want to contrast gospel work with social work. Not all social work is indeed gospel work, but all gospel work puts us right in the middle of the public square.

 

An academic concept called Critical Race Theory (CRT) is being touted as a method of understanding this divide. Some churches teach CRT is opposed to the Christian Faith and communicate that CRT is “At the center of understanding the theological implications and tenets of addressing race.”

 

Those for or against this concept ground their narratives in Scripture. The messages could not be more different, yet both are based on an interpretation of the same Christian faith:

 

“There is neither Jew or Greek, there is neither slave nor free
. . . for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Gal 3:28

 

Let’s break CRT into digestible bites.
First, A “critical theory” teaches truth is achieved by taking a critical approach to ideas, beliefs, and practices.

 

Second, adding “race” is intended to offer a critical perspective on the causes, consequences, and manifestations of race, racism, inequity, and power and privilege dynamics.

 

The combined concepts lead to the definition:

 

“CRT is the Idea that the law is inherently racist and designed by Caucasians to maintain or further their standing in politics and economics over minorities. As with Marxism, the idea is to have improvements and reform; conflict is necessary to bring about a resolution.”

 

 
As members of the faith community, we must view this definition from the balcony to remind ourselves of what’s really at stake – setting your mind on God’s purposes, not man’s.

 

Does this definition provide a theological perspective of Christ-centered otherness, or is it an attempt to defend or refute strongholds? St. Anselm defined theology as “faith seeking understanding. For it is not the replacement of faith with knowledge; rather, it is faith that motivates understanding and leads us in the pursuit of knowledge.”

 

Biblically speaking, racism is the sin of ethnic partiality or prejudice (James 2:8–9; Leviticus 19:15). As Christians, we know racism is wrong in society, as we are all one race in Adam (Acts 17:26), especially within the church (Galatians 3:28). We should be concerned about racism and aim to think biblically about it.

 

Allow me to take you to the balcony to bring nuance to this charged conversation.

 

Everyone sees things from their perspective and creates a set of beliefs to support their argument. On Sundays, 9 in 10 Christian churches nationally are predominantly of one race group, according to LifeWay Research. Is it the preaching style, musical preferences, or something else?

 

How should the church respond to the racism that many believers have endured from within their faith community? And how does the watching world respond to the Great Commission when viewed through the lens of our actions?

 

Three of the words could be viewed as problematic in this CRT definition and cloud a thoughtful analysis:
  1. The capitalized word “Idea” is code for I don’t believe this principle, and neither should you.
  2. The reference to “Marxism” puts the definition (and issue) into a frame of materialism and capitalism.
  3. “Conflict” is a code for disagreement with the status quo.

 

Instead of adopting secular methods and applying secular thinking to fix spiritual problems, Christians should look to the whole of Scripture to address relational behavior within the body.

 

We must be thoughtful about our actions and conversation, so we can deal with the underlying issue: the sin of self-interest and Satan’s efforts to continue to breed prejudice, mistrust, and chaos.

 

We understand the original Biblical idea that life gets better through difficult times, and we keep going because there is hope. It’s when we are tested that we learn who we really are. There is no better time than this Lenten season to access how we view our fellow brothers and sisters.

 

Take some time to do your own research on the subject of CRT. Then you can effectively engage with Part 2, as we will explore the assumptions made and how their interpretations may cloud or clarify a Christ-centered resolution to race within the church.

 

Most importantly, you will discover if you are operating from a soul surrendered to the will of God or the will of self-interest. . .

 

 

Posted on

10-33. We’ve Lost The Line

The usage of the police code 10-33 means “Emergency All Units Stand By”. It’s designed to make the communication between police crews easier, faster and clearer. So today, I hope this article helps you clear the noise and filter out the rhetoric that assumes life is a zero sum game. Now more than ever, the Church is needed to demonstrate how to love one another; to love those we may consider to be our enemy, and renew our commitment to be like Jesus.

 

During the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:9, Jesus taught, “You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family.”
Enjoy.

 

 

Guest Author: William Uray

 

“It is so tempting to blame those
with whom we are in conflict.
Blaming makes us feel innocent.
We get to feel righteous & superior.
And blaming also nicely deflects
any residual guilt we might feel.
We are overlooking whatever part
we may have played in the conflict
and are ignoring our freedom
to choose how to respond.”

 

 

The most difficult person we ever have to deal with in life isn’t who we imagine it to be. It’s not the person on the other side of the table. It’s the person on this side of the table. It’s the person we look at in the mirror every morning. It’s ourselves. The biggest block to our success in life is ourselves. It lies in our very human, very understandable tendency to react: to act without thinking. As Ambrose Bearce once quipped, “When angry, you will make the best speech you will ever regret.” So what’s the alternative?

 

To get a clear perspective, you have to go to the BALCONY in order to see the third side. Imagine you’re negotiating on a stage and part of your mind goes to a mental and emotional balcony, a place of calm, perspective, and self-control where you can stay focused on your interests, keep your eyes on the prize. A place that allows you to see the third side of the situation. Let me give you an example of one of my favorite negotiation stories. It’s the story of a man who left to his three sons 17 camels. To the first son, he left half the camels, to the second son, he left a third of the camels, and to the youngest son, he left a ninth of the camels.

 

The three sons got into a negotiation — 17 doesn’t divide by two. It doesn’t divide by three. It doesn’t divide by nine. Brotherly tempers started to get strained. Finally, in desperation, they went and they consulted a wise old woman. The wise old woman thought about their problem for a long time, and finally she came back and said, “Well, I don’t know if I can help you, but at least, if you want, you can have my camel.”

 

So then, they had 18 camels. The first son took his half — half of 18 is nine. The second son took his third — a third of 18 is six. The youngest son took his ninth — a ninth of 18 is two. Nine plus six plus two adds up to 17. They had one camel left over. They gave it back to the wise old woman.

 

This story is a little bit like many of the negotiations or conflicts we engage in. They seem impossible to resolve and no apparent end in sight. We start off with 17 camels. Somehow we need to step to the balcony, change our assumptions, and find an 18th camel. And if you think that’s hard sometimes, you’re right, but it’s not impossible.

 

The most fundamental way in which the third side can help is to remind you of what’s really at stake – “setting your mind on God’s purposes, not man’s.” What I learned is that one of the greatest powers we have is the power not to react but rather to go to the balcony and keep your eyes on the prize. So that’s the power I wish for you in your life – the power of the balcony.

 

SOURCE: William Ury, The Third Side: Why We Fight and How We Can Stop

 

 

 

Posted on

The Black Church Is A Spiritual Virtue

 

 

“Back then, Black churches were a small piece of peace.
Church was a world where, even with its imperfections,
the offer of equality and common humanity was the sustenance needed to make it through the rest of the week
in a society that deemed them less than human.”

 

Today you will read the “heart cry” of Dante Stewart that encapsulates the hurt, pain, and disappointment of many. As you read this, prayerfully consider how we bring unity to the body of Christ.
Guest Author: Dante Stewart
I can remember when it first happened — when my dungeon shook and my chains fell off. I had recently gone through a horrible experience and felt there was nowhere to turn, no one who could give voice to my ache, my pain, and my rage.

 

I feared that many wouldn’t understand.

 

At the time, I was immersed in White evangelical church life. I had been the one selected to lead a group through John Piper’s Bloodlines because the church wanted to be more “diverse.” I was probably the first black person to preach there.

 

That usually came with a badge of honor — the “first” usually means you’re breaking barriers (or so I thought). Then Trump happened. Then the shootings of unarmed black people. Then … the white responses in the church I was in.

 

I was confused.

 

“How could they be around me and my wife and say this about black people?”
“How did they not know us?”
“How could they believe this?”
“Why aren’t we speaking about this?”

 

Confusion compounded by the employer who used my abstention from the National Anthem as an opportunity to lecture me on NFL protests and oppression.

 

Confusion compounded by the colleagues who said, “there’s no need for Black History Month,” and another, “there’s no such thing as black theology.”

 

Confusion compounded by another colleague who reported me for inappropriate touching after I side-hugged her while bidding her a good weekend. Maybe at that moment I forgot all the lessons my mom taught me about being careful around white women. Did she know that they see her as innocent and me as a danger? Maybe she believed the lie that Amy Cooper believed: that her whiteness is a weapon to keep a “n— in his place.”

 

And then my confusion turned to rage as the comments continued.

 

“You are losing the gospel.” 
“I’m not racist.” 
“You’re a social justice warrior.” 
“I have black friends.” 
“All lives matter.”
“Black men need to stop killing black men.”
“It’s a sin problem, not a skin problem.” 
“Jesus came to change hearts not societies.” 

 

Black rage in an anti-black world is a spiritual virtue. Rage shakes us out of our illusion that the world as it is, is what God wants. Rage forces us to deal with the gross system of inequality, exploitation, and disrespect. Rage is the public cry for black dignity. It becomes the public expression of a theological truth that black lives matter to God.

 

Rage is the work of love that stands against an unloving world. Rage is the good news that though your society forgets you and works against you, there is Someone who loves you and believes you are worth fighting for.
⠀

 

If you’re more concerned about the responses of black rage than you are about a system that justifies and rewards black death, you don’t love black people — you just love when they stay in their place. And that’s not love, that’s hate.

 

So, I wept — I wept because I felt so powerless, so vulnerable, so unloved, so hated.

 

In “A Letter to My Nephew,” James Baldwin wrote:
Please try to remember that what they believe, as well as what they do and cause you to endure, does not testify to your inferiority, but to their inhumanity and fear.

 

His words hit me with the sort of mercy, a grace as if Almighty God was speaking, when he wrote, “You don’t be afraid. I said it was intended that you should perish …”

 

But I did not. We did not. We are still here. It was at that moment that a fire came over me. It was then that my dungeon shook, the chains of fear fell off, and the bones began to rumble, and the sinews that made flesh black began to come to life. It was not just the question, “Lord, can these bones live?” No. It was, “Lord, where will these bones go?”

 

I needed to give voice to God’s action in the black experience, our suffering, and our resistance. I needed to bear witness to the struggle for our freedom. I needed to give voice to being both black and Christian. I did — and I never looked back.

 

James Cone said after the Detroit rebellion, “I could no longer write the same way, following the lead of Europeans and white Americans.”

 

And don’t we feel this? With white racial paranoia. With Trump. And now with black suffering in COVID-19, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd. Terror. We saw the responses to the cries of our people as many of our women, children, and men became hashtags. They praised “black forgiveness,” called us to speak of love, when their people gave us death. Our people’s blood cries out from the ground.

 

What does theology have to say in the black freedom struggle today? What does faith say in the face of black death? What is good news for black people in America’s racial caste? Cone was right: “I had to find a new way of talking about God that was accountable to black people and their fight for justice.”

 

I am black; I am Christian. We have been through hell in this country — and we’re still going through it. But I too am America; this is my country. Being black in an anti-black world becomes the greatest spiritual, moral, and political task of each generation.

 

The journey has been long and a struggle for many of us — trying to speak of Christian faith and being black in America — but it is also empowering. We know that we come from a long tradition of black people who refused to accept the tragic belief and practices of white supremacy — the belief that we are second-class citizens, that we deserve exploitation and punishment, that we deserve disrespect and death, that we must be respectable and cater to the demands of whiteness. No. We will not.

 

Many will believe we have exaggerated the scope and depth of injustice. That’s okay. We’re fighting for hope, we’re fighting for love, we’re fighting to live. This world as black people experience it is not the world as it should be. All of us must give voice to the hope of a better day. There’s no other way.

 

To love, to struggle, to fight, to pray, to embrace, to remember — these become our sword and shield. To protest violence against black people is a spiritual virtue, moral obligation, and political practice. In a world that wounds the souls of black folk, it represents the Spirit of God at work resisting the evil of white supremacy and murder with impunity. It’s holy work. Through rage and heartbreak, we work. Until we are free, we can never rest.

 

SOURCE: Sojourners, Black Range In An Anti-Black World Is A Spiritual Virtue, May 29, 2020

 

Posted on

R U Looking 4 A King?

Scripture transcends ideology, identity, party allegiance, and is full of clear specific instructions on how we should treat each other. Today, I’ll let scripture speak for itself and in the words of Ray Charles, “do what it do. . .” Those who are serious about finding and following a king will heed Christ admonition that “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40).
Read them carefully and consider how to apply them in your life:

 

Leviticus 19:11 Do not steal. Do not lie. Do not deceive one another.

 

John 13:14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.

 

John 13:34 A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

 

John 13:35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

 

Romans 12:10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.

 

Romans 12:16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

 

Romans 13:8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.

 

Romans 14:13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way.

 

Romans 15:7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

 

Romans 15:14 I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another.

 

Romans 16:16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send greetings.

 

1 Peter 4:9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.

 

1 Peter 5:5 Be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

 

1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

 

1 John 3:11 This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.

 

1 John 3:23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.

 

1 John 4:7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

 

1 John 4:11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

 

1 John 4:12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

 

1 Peter 4:8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

 

James 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

 

James 5:9 Don’t grumble against each other, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!
Hebrews 13:1 Keep on loving each other.

 

2 Thessalonians 1:3 We ought always to thank God for you, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing.

 

1 Thessalonians 5:15 Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.

 

1 Thessalonians 5:13 Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other.

 

1 Thessalonians 5:11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

 

1 Thessalonians 4:18 Therefore encourage each other with these words.

 

1 Thessalonians 4:9 Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other.

 

1 Thessalonians 3:12 May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.

 

Colossians 3:13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

 

Colossians 3:9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices

 

Philippians 4:2 I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord.

 

Ephesians 4:32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

 

Galatians 5:26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

 

Galatians 6:2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

 

1 Corinthians 12:25 There should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.

 

Galatians 5:15 If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

 

1 Corinthians 11:33 When you come together to eat, wait for each other.

 

Romans 1:12 That is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.

 

Ephesians 4:16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

 

Philippians 2:3-5 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.

 

We change our moral and ethical behavior by letting Christ live within us, so that he can shape us into what we should be. The scriptures call us to love as we have never loved before. This requires radical humility (next issue’s topic).

 

 

Posted on

The Toxic Source Of Inconsistency

Dr. I. David Byrd

 

An expected result of teaching God’s Word is demonstrating, distinguishing, and defending what we teach. In other words, live what we teach and teach what we live. 1 Corinthians 11:1 says, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” The great commission’s high calling is for believers to serve as a Godly example by living out our walk with God.

 

As the world “waxes worse and worse”, we must ponder – is our witness is losing its impact. If people listen more to what we do than what we say, the central question becomes, what are we doing that is driving the world away from the Church? Research shows people are leaving the Church in record numbers. What are they saying to us. Could they be telling us that they are not interested in being a part of what they see from the Church? What attitudes, beliefs, assumptions, or patterns of behavior are we projecting that have become our strongholds and turns people away? Once separated, the enemy has the opportunity to plant all kinds of false truths in their minds.

 

Some believe coercive force is to be used to restrain other people’s activities. Jesus demonstrated that proximity and the Word’s power are more than enough to change humankind’s hearts. Three examples of this:

 

In John 4:4-26, Jesus brought the Samaritan woman at the well to repentance using the Word and demonstrating to those ready to stone her that they too were sinners in need of grace.

 

In Mark 7:24-30, when the Syrophoenician came to speak to Jesus, the disciples dismissed her, labeled her, and advised Jesus to send her away. Yet, Jesus took the time to talk with her. And because of her faith, her daughter was healed.

 

In Luke 24, Jesus responded on the road to Emmaus by using scripture – “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” The Bible says they responded, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

 

The Word is enough to transform hearts and minds on its own. It doesn’t need our coercion, legislation, force, dominance, or judgment to help it. The only help it needs from us is to tell people about it and let them see us living it. Besides, we can’t put anyone in heaven or hell anyway. Only God can provide saving grace. When we come to this knowledge and understanding, our personnel theology will be an example of Christ to this wayward world.

 

I still believe the Church can be the example of Christ.

 

Posted on

Feeble Evangelical Efforts at Educating Away Racism

Guest Writer: Dr. David D. Daniels

The silence about institutionalized racism from White Evangelicals is deafening and deadly. These pro-life followers of Christ would seemingly be at the forefront of the protest against racial injustice and the campaigns to eradicate racism, but they aren’t. For the most part, they stun us with their silence.
In “Untangling the White Evangelical Mind,” Mark Matlock identifies “ignorance” about race as the reason for the silence around race among these conservative Christians. According to him, “this ignorance entails whites believing they know more than they do about Black people’s plight and the United States’ racial realities. Therefore, their ignorance hinders them from critically hearing the topic of racism.”
So, is white ignorance about racism why, for nearly 45 long years, the White Evangelical movement has vociferously and vigilantly campaigned against the senseless killing of innocent unborn and yet been deafening silence on the senseless killing of innocent Black people? So, is white ignorance about racism why the senseless killing of innocent Black people warrants no righteous indignation or even quick mention in the prayers or sermons of White Evangelicals? So, is white ignorance about racism why their pro-life movement skips over the senseless killing of innocent Black people as a topic worthy of denouncement and efforts to end this injustice? In practice, does the silence of the White Evangelical movement implicitly legitimate pro-death policies targeting Black lives?
When Black Evangelicals and other conservative Black Christians explain to White Evangelicals the contradiction of being pro-life about the unborn and pro-death about Black lives, white ignorance is the cause of their inconsistency being incomprehensible? When White Evangelicals are told how race mars and kills Black people, are they, then, incapable of recognizing how race defines, privileges, and benefits them because of their ignorance about how race serves them? Is white ignorance or the lack of education regarding racism really the problem? For those who advocate the “education solution” to racism, it is.
For “education solution” proponents, reading books about race, racism, anti-racism, and white supremacy dispels ignorance. For them, White Evangelicals can read their way out of their complicity with racism into being in solidarity with anti-racism. Book sales related to publications on race shot up exponentially in June of 2020. Yet, the percentage of White Evangelicals committed to struggling against systemic racism has not. Reading alone is insufficient in confronting racism.
Others in the “education solution” camp propose interracial “friendships.” Like Matlock, they believe that interracial relationships will foster changes in attitudes about race where debates about the travesty of racism fail. While interracial relationships might change micro-aggressive anti-black behavior in some converts to the reality of racism, do these converts join the ranks of those engaging in the dismantling of racial structures and erecting structures of racial justice? If not, interracial relationships alone are inadequate in confronting racism.
What role can Christian education offer pastors and principals, you may ask? It can do a lot it appears. Christian education can introduce congregations to the “sin of racism.” Racism is more than a violation of the civil rights laws, a drain on the economy, a waste of human talents, and a crime against humanity; racism is a sin against God. For Christians who take the Bible and their faith seriously, this should shock them out of complacency about and complicity with racism. Anti-Black micro- and macro-aggression is to be denounced publicly from trafficking in racial stereotypes to racial bias in policing and hiring to racial disparities because racism is understood as a sin. White Evangelicals are known for denouncing sin, except, historically, the sin of racism. Unfortunately, they do not denounce racism today in any substantive terms.
So, why has the “education solution” proven to be ineffective? Most likely, it is because “education alone” must be joined with other approaches. For Christians to depend on education in reading about race, hearing about race through interracial relationships, or learning about racism as sin from sermons or Sunday School underestimates racism’s gravity and pervasiveness. Racism being sin shows that sin fails to be educated away. It is a heresy to teach that the sin of racism can be educated away.
Just recall for a moment that the police killing of George Floyd on 25 May, 2020 ignited the current outrage about racism. A best-selling book, an award-winning televised interview, a mesmerizing viral sermon, a paradigm-shifting set of congressional hearings, or a renowned educational curriculum on race was the cause. A death sparked these current protests. The death of George Floyd sparked this particular national reckoning about race. Along with Breonna Taylor and others’ death, his death opened many eyes about the American racial reality. Black people had to be killed before some White Evangelicals “realized” that racial injustice existed in the United States.
Since this is the case, the “education solution” is obviously inadequate. Yet, it is immoral for White Evangelicals only to begin to realize that the system of racism is deadly after police blatantly kill Black people. For the sake of the gospel, White Evangelicals must find a better way to break their silence about structural racism and enter into solidarity with anti-racism without needing the shedding of more Black blood. Education can not be their sole strategy. So, which multi-facet and multi-dimensional approaches might they borrow or develop to break the silence about race, dismantle the system racism, and institutionalize racial justice?
We welcome solution based responses from you, the reader, that can begin to move the country forward in a positive way.

 

Posted on

Where Do We Go From Here . . .

The iphone camera has exposed the painful reality and experiences that people of color have been shouting about for years. Those of us who have been in the trenches for decades fighting racism in America wonder how long the soul searching will last. There is a system, and then there is individual bias. There are structures that perpetuate racism and then people who give in to that system. We eventually will need to move beyond the rage and began to think about what’s next? To determine what we can do as a group and as individuals to change the conditions of hearts and minds. The Church must step up to lead change in communities; following the footsteps of Jesus and stand in unity surrounding the things that matter to God.

 

Christians commanded to “Love the Lord your God. . . and to love your neighbor as yourself.” It’s challenging to love others well if you don’t love God first. But loving God is only half of the story. His love needs to transform the way you view yourself. When you see yourself the way God sees you, you can love others the way God loves you. 2 Cor 3:18 teaches, “You become what you behold.” We must open our eyes to see what to do. Because when all is said and done, more has been said than done.

 

I once heard Vernon Jordan use an analogy of tearing down an old building to replace it with a new modern and useful one. He said that “the wrecking ball that knocks down the building takes only hours, but the clearing of the debris takes much longer.” How do we clear the rubble?  By implementing cleanup crews against injustice, hate, apathy, and economic imbalances. We pick up the weapon of truth, the recognition of courage. The Church can embrace the responsibility to clear the rubble.

 

We have reached a tipping point where Christian leaders are posting to social media that they now want to listen to the pain and listen to the issues people of color are facing. Jesus first listened, engaged in conversation to understand the change needed, and then changed the conditions of the individuals and the community. That third step is the  “miracles” because it took great faith to execute. That is the step that will be the most challenging and require the self-sacrifice that Jesus calls us all to make. It’s the cleaning up of the rubble. Those that are affected have made their message clear, “if the social structure doesn’t care about them, why should they care about the social structure.” When you devalue someone’s experience because it is not your reality, their anger and actions are in direct proportion to their experience.

 

White Evangelicals often have differing views of the Gospel than people of color. The cultural causality tools used to provide context may account for the differing theological views:

 

    • Freewill individualism that minimizes and individualize the race problem as ones on fault;

 

    • Capitalism that despite years of politicians insisting otherwise, the laws of economic gravity have always run in reverse. Opportunity doesn’t trickle down, it cascades out and up;

 

    • Ideologies that further self-interest over the good of the group;

 

    • Economic productivity that the only long term solution to poverty comes when people have skills and discipline to get economically productive jobs and keep them;

 

    • Choosing to ignore the institutionalization of racialization in economic, political, educational, social, and religious systems. Often thinking and acting as if these problems do not exist;

 

    • Moral vision based on people needing external structures or constraints in order to behave well, cooperate, and thrive;

 

  • A belief in relationalism founded in the personal determination of “who is my neighbor.” Believed to be spiritually and individually, not temporally and socially based.

 

The challenge to everyone is to live like Jesus. Cleaning up the rubble will require us to consider the needs of others. To overcome not being comfortable talking to people of other races. To move from evaluating everything in terms of potential threat or benefit to the self, and then adjusting behavior to more of the good stuff and less of the bad. Therein lies the miracle; the change of heart that leads to a shift in thinking that results in a change in actions.

 

The solutions are not a call for you to be ashamed of the past nor a call for you to say racism is wrong, but it is a call to take specific actions. It’s no longer acceptable to say you believe in equality but act in ways that perpetuate inequality. To stay on the same path, you either lack the courage to take action or don’t care.

 

To the small, medium, and mega multicultural churches, this is a heartfelt call from a place of love and request for a more racially unified church that no longer compromises what the Bible teaches about human dignity and equality. The images used in worship and preaching must reflect the diversity of your congregation.  Jesus and the angels with blonde-haired and blue-eyed who came from Africa portrays a false narrative. The pictures of those in need of service always being people of color is misleading. Diverse leadership is not starting/expanding campuses into communities of colors and installing a Pastor of that ethnicity while maintaining a white decision-making structure at the main campus.

 

We violate God’s intention for the human family by creating false categories of value and identify based on identifiable characteristics such as culture, place of origin, and skin color. We first have to be reconciled meaning, I have to feel and see dignity in you, not just accept you because the Bible tells me to or because it is comfortable. Seeing dignity does not come by overlooking differences through emphasizing a shared human identity that ignores race. We transcend racial differences in the context of our primary identity as one in Christ.

 

To use the words of Divided By Faith, “The choices and actions that people make to deal with racial divisions do matter and can make a difference. Good intentions are not enough. But educated, sacrificial, realistic efforts made in faith across racial lines can help us move toward a more just, equitable, and peaceful society. And that is a purpose well worth striving toward. That is the message of the Gospel.”

 

Heavenly Father, we need you at a level that is beyond the ordinary. We need you at a supernatural level because you have allowed it to be clear that we have human limitations. So we cry out to you for wisdom, knowledge and understanding. 

 

In Jesus’ name. Amen