Wednesday, July 1, 2020

A (White) Pastor's Perspective on Racism




Hello, my name is Joel.  I am white and I am racist.  Hold on. Hold on. Don’t cancel me yet. There is a second part of that statement.  Give me a chance to explain.  I am a racist – and (no matter who you are reading this article) you are too.  Still want to cancel me?  Please - bear with me a few moments and read the rest of this article.

No, I am not a neo-Nazi, name-calling, bigot.  I do not wave around a confederate flag.  I do not use the n-word or any other derogatory language – although if I said that I never have, I would be a liar.  Sometimes I cannot keep up with the latest in what is derogatory or offensive; but trust me – if I knew it was derogatory or offensive, I would not say it.  Here is the thing:  I am just a human being – but one who knows who he is and has taken steps to overcome it (more on that in a moment).  You see, the tendency to see others who are different than yourself in a different light is part of the human experience.  It does not matter how much melanin you have in your body.  It does not matter if you are red, yellow, black, or white (or brown or any other shade).  Because you are human, you are racist.

Sociologists will tell you that racism is a learned activity.  I am sure there is truth to that.  I can tell you many stories from my childhood.  I grew up in a part of town that was “changing” (you know what I mean there).  All around me were scared white people trying to deal with what was happening around them.  “White flight” was happening all around us – and eventually we moved also.  My grandmother was the last remaining white person in her community.  I can assure you, there was PLENTY of sociological influence towards racism.  I can even remember my grandmother talking about how much she loved her neighbors – individually and collectively - even as she called them by the n-word - and no, she did not mean it derogatorily at all.  It just was.  You see, my grandmother (God rest her soul) had no idea that, despite the love she had for her neighbors, she was still a racist.  If you had accused her of it, she would have been mortified.  Ignorance in this area does not necessarily mean you deserve to be canceled.  It just means you still need to make progress.

Recently a friend of mine spoke to me about a Zoom meeting in which he recently participated.  In that call,  an African American pastor said “I truly believe that all white people are inherently racist.  It is part of their DNA.”

My friend was a bit surprised when I said “He was not wrong.”  But then I explained, because what that African American pastor failed to see or acknowledge is that there is nothing different about a white person’s DNA than there is his own DNA.  That African American failed to see that racism is just as much a part of his DNA as it is mine or anyone else’s.

You can deflect it and say your feelings are not racist at all.  Many people of all colors do this every day. You can deflect it and say it is all someone else’s fault – either my fault because I am white or the fault of all the white people who came before me.  You can even justify it and say your own thoughts, words, actions, and feelings are a righteous response to decades of actions by others – something that MUST be to overcome an insurmountable problem.

But at the end of the day, you are just deceiving yourselves – whoever you may be – whatever color you may be.  The truth is simple.  The first step to overcoming racism in our society is for all people of all colors to acknowledge and accept that we all have racist tendencies.  Having done that, we can then begin to take steps to overcome this basic human deficiency – a deficiency that exists because we are all unrighteous from birth.

And if you will bear with me, I would like to share a solution to my problem – and yours – on this topic.

I believe that there is only one thing that can overcome our universal tendency to racism, which means I believe there is only one solution to the problem of institutional or even personal racism.

Ironically, it is a solution that was put into place over 2000 years ago by a man of color who was living during a time in which some pretty intense racism existed.  His name was Joshua, although these days we refer to him by his Romanized name, Jesus – or as we often refer to him, Jesus the Savior, Jesus the Messiah, or simply Jesus Christ.  During his day, his own people, the Jews had a pretty nasty racial relationship with pretty much everyone – the Samaritans (half-Jews), the Greeks (non-Jews), the Romans (also non-Jews), pretty much they were the cream of the racist crop.

Racism, however, was only one of many problems that Jesus came to solve, because racism is only one of many problems caused by the unrighteousness that we were all born into.  We call that unrighteousness sin.  Sin is at the core of all of us and it separates us from a Holy God who wishes to have a personal relationship with us but cannot because of that sin.

The story here is not a short one, but to jump to the point, when Jesus gave his life on the cross (and was subsequently raised from the dead – and is alive even today), he made it possible for that sin condition within me to be forgiven so that HE could reconcile the differences between me and himself.  And in so reconciling me to himself, he made it possible for God himself to come and live within me.  And because he lives within me, he teaches me HIS ways – helping me (over time) overcome ALL my human deficiencies, including racism.  In fact, part of what he teaches me is that in Jesus Christ, there are no races other than one – the human race.  Here are some of the things that we learn from him through some of his teachers:

Romans 10:12 - For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.

Galatians 3:28 - 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.

Colossians 3:11 - Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

Ephesians 2:14 -16 - 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

Oh, did you notice that the same teaching that deals with the racism issue also deals with the #metoo issue as well as the issue of slavery?  That is right –we “White Christians” in the South got it wrong on the issue of slavery before because we did not listen to the teachings of the very one in whom we place our faith.  We also got it wrong in the 60s.  Yes, God is still working on all of us.  And there have been many apologies for that.  But here’s the thing.  I cannot promise we – even Christians - will not get it wrong again.  We all have to work together to keep that from happening.

To that point… because he reconciled me to himself, he teaches me that I, too, must reconcile myself to others.  He teaches me that I have to overcome all of those inner tendencies, putting them to death, and to actively seek reconciliation.  In fact, he has given EACH of us the ministry of reconciliation.

2 Corinthians 5:18 - All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.

To which he was referring not only to help others reconcile themselves to God, but to actively seek reconciliation with each other.

You see, the solution to racism is for each of us to first be reconciled to God and then to be reconciled to each other.  Racism will never be solved politically.  Racism will never be solved socially. Racism will never be solved forcibly.  Sure, one side might “win” a fight and suppress the other side for a time, but racism will only be solved within the heart.  And THAT will only happen when we are given a NEW heart upon our reconciliation with God himself.

Jesus has not taught me to be color blind.  Rather, he has taught me to see the beauty in ALL colors - to recognize the magnificence and creative flair of our creator.  Color (or even the lack thereof) is NOT the source of racism, sin is. 

Do you want to solve racism?
Put your faith in Jesus for your own salvation.  Ask him to give you a new heart and surrender yourself to his Lordship of your life.

If you have already done that, LISTEN to what your King has taught you. LIVE what he has already accomplished.  This is not US vs. THEM.  This is US vs. the forces of darkness that has kept OTHERS OF US in bondage and captivity.  We need to RESCUE those held captive by the forces of darkness – but we can never do that until we look at one another and say “WE ARE ONE IN CHRIST”.

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