Since last Tuesday, I have started to write this post several times, only to go to sleep each night and wake up to more hurt, more chaos, and more wounds. The mornings following led me to rewrite, restructure, and rethink what to say. I’ve spent time listening to friends of mine in the black community, trying to understand and attempt to be a comfort to them in a season of pain I cannot begin to comprehend.
As a white male, I am saddened to see those made in the image of God being treated as less than image bearers. I’m angry that I have friends who live in the same country, even the same city, as me that must live under a different set of social norms because of the color of their skin. Men and women who are highly educated, brothers, and sisters in Christ, with whom I hold deep friendships. Even if they weren’t any of those things, they are still made in the God’s image, worthy of value, compassion and, in this case, my lament.
I’m not going to spend time reviewing the details of the murder of George Floyd. At this point, everyone has either watched the video for themselves, have read the details in a headline, or had a friend tell them about what took place in Minneapolis on Memorial Day. I have only watched the video twice. The first time, learning about the incident and being shocked. The second, in preparing this post, and being angry. In seeing it, I am reacquainted and sickened that racism remains alive in our culture and, as a believer, I am disappointed in the lack of response from the church as a whole, myself included. My hope is this event would encourage each of us to take the ministry of reconciliation given to all believers seriously.
Imago Dei
“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness,” (Gen. 1:27) This is the Word of the Lord in creating man. Man. Not black man, not white man, not brown man. It isn’t an educated man, a middle-class man, or any other label we can place on individuals. God created all of humanity in His image. In this image, He gives worth and value. The Psalmist would write that, in the womb, the Lord has knit each of us uniquely together, being fearfully and wonderfully made.
The founding fathers of the United States of America would argue for this truth in the Declaration of Independence in 1776, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Unfortunately, when the founding fathers penned these words, they were flawed. They permitted slavery and treated some people as less than. At the same time, they were tapping into the biblical truth: all men are created equal and should be treated as such.
It has taken years for this truth to be brought back into the public conversation. It seems we continue to forget the history of those that have come before us, and thus are destined to repeat that history. Great men and women such as Freddrick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, and Harriet Tubman led the abolitionist movement of the 1800s. Then during the Civil Rights Movement of the mid-1900s, the baton was passed to another generation with names such as Rosa Parks, John Lewis, and of course, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Today men and women such as Dr. Eric Mason, Dr. Russell Moore, Jackie Perry-Hill, Matt Chandler, and Dr. Charles Dates call for racial unity in the church to name a few. They call for all people to have the right to be treated as a human being, equally made in the imago Dei.
Deeper Issue
For too long, the issue of racism has been allowed to run unchecked within the world, the nation, and even within the church. 60 years ago, some churches would preach the gospel and, in the same breath, affirm racist actions, use racial slurs to devalue their fellow man, this negated the very gospel they tried to declare. Sadly, these churches still exist today. At the very least, churches have members who support racism in their hearts.
Let me be clear. This angers the heart of God. As with the Israelites that were oppressed by the Egyptians, God hears the cries of the victims of racism. And as it was with the Egyptians, God has a holy and righteous judgment and wrath that He will pour out on those that would harm and demoralize His creation that He has called very good. God will deliver justice on behalf of the disenfranchised.
The church must take a stand to say that enough is enough. Not to say that a racist is beyond the saving reach of the cross of Christ. What it does mean is that as with any other sin, racism cannot be condoned or permitted to linger within the body of Christ. As with other sins, it must be uprooted from the hearts of believers and put to death so that the words of the Apostle Paul would ring true, “Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised, uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.” (Col. 3:11)
Final Thoughts
So where do we go from here? I wish the answer was easy, but at least it is simple. Listen well, defend the oppressed, be quick to forgive, and show compassion. I don’t know what tomorrow looks like. I don’t know if this post will preach only to the choir, or fall on deaf ears. My prayer is that each of us would take a long look in the mirror to ask ourselves if we are being part of the problem, or part of the solution. Then, depending on the answer you give yourself, repent or continue to run with endurance.
Sloan Stephenson 