Race, Riots, The Cross and The Christian
Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet," and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. " - Romans 12:18;13:9-10
It is shocking the lack of qualifiers that the Apostle Paul puts around these commands. There is no “if you agree” or “but first weigh the implications”. It is simply…weep, associate, live peaceably. We have seen and experienced over the past few weeks another round of traumatic events in our nation and it is touching the city we live in. My heart is deeply troubled and broken, like a weight in my chest as I watched like the rest of the world, unedited and uncensored, two more black men killed senselessly. One by police officers and the other by white citizens. Ahmaud Arbery was tracked down for 20 minutes before being shot in the middle of the street. I live in Richmond, Virginia. You may recognize it from the recent news and the trending topics on twitter. My house is downtown, in the city, along with our House of Prayer and Missions Base. As I walked outside this morning and stood on my porch, I noticed my usually bustling street; filled with lots of music, neighbors chatting outside and steady foot traffic, was eerily silent. Like the sound after a battle. Nobody was out. It was quiet. It was strange to me because I hadn’t checked the news yet. Then it made sense. Later, I drove down Broad Street just a few blocks from my house and assessed the damage. Some broken windows, a burnt-out bus, and a lot of graffiti. My heart was breaking and my mind was reeling. When I got home, I pulled up a sermon on my computer that I preached almost four years ago, after the death of Philando Castille and the Dallas riots in 2016. As I read the words I was taken aback…
“The black community is reeling from the steady flow of young black American men dying in front of the eyes of the whole world. They are expressing their anger, stemming from a generational wounding of injustice, and crying out to be heard. At the same time, believers that are serving in law enforcement around the country are experiencing a polarizing narrative that has made them targets for violence. Emotions are high. Tensions are palpable.“
It read like I wrote it last night! At first, I was discouraged, it felt like nothing had changed, and much hasn’t. Then a different sense came to my heart, something about this moment feels different. It feels like in a few short years, many, not all, maybe not even the majority but many in the church are ready to listen, ready to hear, ready to love, ready to repent.
To actually understand the black experience in America as a white person takes great effort and I would argue a direct work of the Holy Spirit because it does not come naturally. I believe that the gospel compels this effort for every white believer. The white community is largely blind to the reality of racism because we don’t experience it and ignorance can be bliss...false bliss. The black community is mourning from a generational wounding based on hundreds of years of shared experience as well as the near-daily realities of racism that they are confronted with. To understand it will take a great deal of listening, a great deal of empathy, and a great deal of humility. This is why Paul follows his divinely inspired command to weep with those who weep and live in harmony with one another with do not be haughty and never be wise in your own sight. To be “wise in your own sight” is to base your world-view and your perspective on only your experiences and the experiences of our largely homogenous friend groups and socio-economic circles.
Let me be clear, I am speaking to the church in America because I am a shepherd and a leader to her. I am not really interested in debating the ethics and effectiveness of protests and riots. I do not condone violence and destruction of property, but to make the conversation about this is to strain the gnat while choking on the massive camel.
How shall we think about these things?
Peter tells us that we have been made through the finished work of the cross, a chose race, royal priesthood, a holy nation. The word “race” in this passage is the word “genos” and the word “nation” is “ethnos”. We are as the blood-bought redeemed community, a whole new genos, and ethnos together.
The cross does not devalue or minimize the multitude of cultures and colors in the church but instead gives us intrinsic responsibility for each and every one of them because we belong to Jesus. Today if you are a person of fair complexion and you are in Christ, you have more in common with the black believer that might be marching in a protest as we speak than with your white Republican neighbor. You are of the same supernatural race, nation, and family. We share the same blood, the blood of a new creation. Therefore, we have a unique communion with the pain and suffering of each portion of the church that is experiencing injustice, pain, and mourning. Furthermore, the compassion that has been extended to us through the mercy of Jesus at the cross compels us to love not just those we agree with but love even more those who are opposed to us with a supernatural love. Right now members of our family that are black are in mourning.
Offense is like a seed that is buried in the heart. When that seed is watered it becomes infected and sprouts root. If it’s watered again and again it becomes a tree and that tree will bear fruit. America is experiencing the fruit of that tree and it is being watered again and again through social media, 24-hour news outlets, politicians, and pundits.
The gospel, instead, transforms us into peacemakers, standing in the middle of the battle with the message of reconciliation.
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” - Matthew 5:9"
Are you making peace in the way you are speaking on social media? Are you watering the seeds of offense through unhelpful commentary, inflammatory rhetoric, or a perceived need to justify “your side”? You only have a side if you have misplaced your identity as a Son and Daughter of the Living God. Are you watering the seeds of offense in your own heart by only watching, listening, and reading people who have the same worldview and experiences as you and do not have a heavenly perspective?
The church should be the safest place for a black person to express their grief, their anger, and their frustration and their hurt. We should be the first to weep with those who weep and comfort those who mourn. It is narrow-minded to pick and choose which justice issues we let our hearts break about. Systemic injustice is felt on a daily basis by people of color in America and Jesus cares deeply about it. Yes, there are very complex issues when it comes to systemic racism and poverty and those issues deserve robust discussion until there is a clear, biblical, and helpful path forward, and the church should be at the forefront of that discussion fighting for the poor and downtrodden… however, dear white brothers and sisters who belong to the family of God, there is a time and a place for that. The time is not while blood is still running in the streets and, dear friends, the place is not social media. The black community is in mourning and the only answer that can be given right now is the comfort that comes from the God who sees and hears, who became the sin of both victims and the victimizers of injustice on the cross so that through Jesus Christ all men can be reconciled to God and to each other.
If you are an African American or of African descent, we need to hear your voice, we need to hear your stories so that we can see what we otherwise may never be able to see and repent. I know you have been telling us for decades, yea centuries. I am sorry for our hardness of heart and our slowness to hear. Please tell us again.
I want to challenge each and every one of you to sit down this week and dialogue with someone who is not the same color as you. Not on Facebook, at your dinner table. Be slow to speak and quick to listen. Hear their experiences and how they are processing the events of the last week. Try to feel what it’s like to walk in their shoes. Empathy. Show them compassion and love. Ask them to help you see what you could have never seen. This won’t fix all of the systemic issues overnight, but it will honor Jesus, display His nature, and proclaim the gospel to a hurting and broken world. Giving your heart might be more important than giving your opinion right now.
