The lost part of the narrative

I recently listened to a discussion featuring a black minister who addressed why the black church in America is not leading the Black Lives Matters protest.  This was hosted by Christianity Today and was for the most part an insightful conversation.  However, there was a major missing component to the conversation.

There was a fair and reasonable critique of the evangelical church and its successes and failures in regard to the race relations in the United States.  It spoke positively about the efforts of many evangelicals in the matter of racial harmony in America.  It was spot on many points except for one glaring absence.  There was total silence about the decay of the black community and the associated lawlessness.  There is no justification for police brutality motivated by race or any other reason.  But the occasion of police brutality must not be used as a smoke screen to ignore the self inflicted wounds suffered in black America.  A young black man’s life is in much greater danger from another young black man than from a police officer.  According to the FBI, a black man is ten times as likely to be murdered by another black man than by a white man.[1]  I’m not terribly interested in chasing statics about who is hurting whom, but I do want to share one more story.  Recently, in Birmingham there was a protest in response to the death of George Floyd.  One of the speakers, a preacher’s kid ironically, used the platform to advocate for vigilante removal of a statue of a Confederate hero.  The removal of a statue by due process is civil society at work, by vigilantly mob is another thing altogether.  Not surprisingly, the gathering at the statute turned into a riot and recorded for all to see was a mob breaking into buildings, destroying private property, and a reporter being mugged.

The white church in America needs to use what is left of its position and influence to call for justice and reform of society.  The black church in America needs to use what is left of its influence to call for justice and reform of society.  The lost part of the narrative is the commitment to nonviolence that was at the core of the civil rights movement and gave it great moral authority.  The reason that the old civil rights movement was almost irresistible was that, under church leadership, the non-violence commitment allowed for no other interpretation of events.  The nation at large had to acknowledge that the nonviolent protesters were simply expressing a wrong suffered.

It is concerning to see the speed with which some in the BLM movement have allowed it to become a movement of vigilantes and violence.   Bad cops hurt innocent people, but then again so do mobs.  Without securing the high moral ground this may deteriorate into group warfare, which can only lead to ruin.  With the same vigor that we condemn police brutality we must also condemn mob violence. That lost part of the narrative, the voice of correction in and from the church, tells us much more than we want to hear.  The silence of Christians white or black in the face of injustice tells us they love their agenda more than the Kingdom of God, whether that injustice comes at the hands of a cop or mob. 

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[1] https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2016/crime-in-the-u.s.-2016/tables/expanded-homicide-data-table-3.xls

Engaging in Black Lives Matter

Forgive me if this is going to seem terribly and painfully naïve, but I am at my core a simple soul or as some say a simpleton.  I am not a black person and have no personal understanding of what it means to be black in America today.  I don’t think many people today understand what it means to be black in America over the last 400 years.  The issues of race, slavery and America are highly convoluted, political and touchy issues.  As such, some people (but not all) will exploit this issue for their own self-serving agendas.  It seems that there is no space for any disagreement that is not labeled in the most extreme terms.  I recently read of an athlete that interpreted, “I’m tired of listening to your rap music,” as a racist statement.  Perhaps it was a purely racist statement meant to hurt, maybe it was simply a statement of musical preference.  But this illustrates the point that in our current context almost everything is interpreted emotionally.

Here’s the point, the emotions are running high and are real.  They may be the legitimate reaction of a lifetime of pain or they may be the overreaction of a herd mentality; however, the emotions are nonetheless real.  The Daughters of the Confederacy are hurt when they see statues taken down. The emotion is real.  I will not debate whether that emotion is legitimate or not I am simply saying it is real.  Have you every tried to tell a person with depression that they have no reason to be depressed?  How effective was logic in battling depressing? Emotions do not generally submit to logic.  Is porn logical?  Absolutely not, it is in every way stupid.  People do not beat any emotional struggle or addiction by logic. 

In the charged atmosphere we are in now, any act that can possibly be interpreted as racist will provoke an emotional reaction.  A Confederate battle flag on the top of a 1969 Dodge Charger may have nothing to do with racism.  It may have everything to do with teenage hormones excited by Daisy Duke, but my guess that today that latter interpretation would be impossible.

Equally impossible is to effectively resolve what is going on simply by the sway of argument, debate, and/or political power.  This conflict reaches into the very core of what we believe about this nation and its history.  With powerful emotions rooted in different understandings of a long history we can’t extricate ourselves by reason alone; in fact, we can’t extricate ourselves at all. However, we can build a better future.  But I believe the window of opportunity for this better future is closing and if we miss it we will miss a great opportunity for the Kingdom.  We may spiral into a situation where the chasm between people is so vast that we will not be able to reach across for many generations.  Consider the situation in the Balkans. 

So, here is my simpleton’s opinion.  We need to pray for each other’s healing over the hurts and wounds we have.  The hurts are real even if they are not legitimate.  Legitimacy is not the issue. The healing only God can bring is the issue.  The most terrifying thing Jesus said to disciples is recorded in Matthew 18:35.  Having told the parable of the unmerciful servant, which concludes with the king turning the un-merciful servant over to “the torturers” for what appears to be perpetual torture, Jesus utters a horrific judgment.  “So shall My heavenly Father also do to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.” 

I cannot demand that black people forgive all the real and imagined evil they have suffered.  I cannot demand that white people forgive all the real and imagined evil they have suffered.  What I can do is ask God to heal my hurt and help me to forgive and offer to pray for and with others that their hurts can be healed as they forgive. We can argue till the Resurrection who did what to whom and we will likely accomplish nothing.  Much more effectively we can reach out to those on the other side of this growing chasm and ask for their help in praying for us and offer to pray with them and for them. 

We better hurry, we are only one knuckle-head away from vigilante bloodshed and from that, turning back is much more difficult. 

 

Can we return to the Golden Age of the Church

Acts 4: 23-37

This passage is perhaps one of the most beautiful pictures of the church. Having come all the way from the threats of the priestly delegation Peter and John returned to the church unharmed and, in fact, emboldened.  This beautiful picture and moment of the church will not last, but if there is a golden age of the church it is this moment.

In this golden age of the church we see that the church is deeply rooted in Scripture the church is speaking the word with boldness. There is great unity in the church, which apparently resulted in great generosity within the church. New leadership is developing. The message of the resurrection and the abundant grace of God were being shared with great boldness. The word that is translated “boldness” in verse 31 could be translated with “dynamic great power".  We also see the Holy Spirit manifest Himself in the life of the church. The Disciples were empowered, united, generous, the “abundant grace of Jesus was upon them” and they were proclaiming this good news. This moment was the Golden Age of the church. It was before the corruption of Ananias and Sapphira and before the physical persecution that we see in the next chapter. This was before the misunderstandings, division, death of martyrs and the rise of false leaders that will come later in the book. Before the heartbreaking history of the church over the last 20 centuries we see in this moment what the church could possibly be. The Golden Age of Acts 4:23-37 may have only lasted a few weeks or months, but it was real.

We have lived our whole lives with a different kind of church experience. We have suffered and sacrificed much for the church.  Sometimes we have also suffered much because of the church.  We have invested and we have seen our investment squandered and opportunities wasted.  What we have seen has not been a golden age but a sort of local “dark age”.  It is sometimes easy to grow a little or even very cynical about the church. We know the life of the church is a mixed bag of good and bad.  This mixed bag is what we see in the rest of the book of Acts.  For our part, with the rampant evil of our world and the refuge of the church being so painful we have a hard time seeing the good.  Having been an eyewitness to the troubled dysfunction, pain, and pettiness so much we sometimes feel as if there is no other side to the church.

We will likely not enjoy another golden age on this side of Heaven. In fact, there is plenty of reason to be cynical about the church if we choose to be. But cynicism is a choice we make, it is not the inevitable reality of the world or of the Church’s brokenness. Cynicism is an attempt to avoid experiencing past hurts again.  It is a choice we make based on personal wounds, what we believe about reality and how we interpret the experiences of our life.  The person most cynical about love and marriage will not be the indifferent bachelor, but the jilted, passionate lover.  The person most cynical about the church is not the lukewarm agnostic, but the profoundly disappointed enthusiast.

However, we don't need to despair because we don't live in the Golden Age of the church.  Cynicism about “institutional religion” is not the only option that is available to us.  Rather than be disappointed by our failed experience with the church and passively slide into suspicion we can make a proactive choice.  I can, for my part, be a golden age of the church.  Or to use a more appropriate image I can choose to be a light on a lamp stand or a city on the hill. 

Really Great News

I wanted to take this moment to share some really great news.  This great news is occurring at the intersection of Covid-19, God’s providence, politics, your partnership and the spreading of the Good News. 

Some weeks ago I told you about the work of Mid-India Church Partners.  I love this ministry because they do the right thing the right way and look on every circumstance as an opportunity.  Some of you helped with funding some motorcycles for their evangelists and again some of you helped by providing funds to feed people displaced by Covid.  The motorcycle project is not yet fully funded, but the emphasis has shifted to the emergency of Covid. 

I recently received a newsletter from India with an update of what is going on.  For security reasons I can’t share that newsletter.  Persecution is still a real danger. (Below you will find the address for the mission should you want more information or to verify what I am sharing.)  In this newsletter there were pictures of food distribution and the report of feeding 500 families that had recently been forced to relocate.  The mission is sewing about 200 masks a day and distributing them.  This is especially important because if the police catch you in public without a mask they beat you!  There were also pictures of masks in bulk being given to hospitals, police head quarters, and other government offices.

I personally believe this distribution of masks is especially important.  India is growing more hostile toward the Christian faith.  Persecution has been ramping up.  Now with this shut down it is the people of Christ who are caring, sharing and giving to people in need and even the authorities.  Remember, “All politics are local”.  At some point in the future the Prime Minister may order a crack down on Christians.  But it will be the local law enforcement officer that will determine how vigorously to follow those orders.  It may be that at some point in the future an officer will recall, “When I needed masks for my family, food for my parents and help in the community it was the Christians that were there to help me.  Maybe this order to round these people up can go to the round file cabinet in the corner.”

My imagination can run away to see that God’s providence, our generosity, and Covid-19 might be part of a great expansion of the Gospel.

If you can spare $10 would you please consider sending it to Mid-India Church Partners?  They are not the only mission doing the work of the Gospel, but it is the one I know best.  If you know of someone doing similar work, be generous with them. If you don’t know where to send that extra $10 to $5,000 then I would ask you to follow this link and be a part of something grand and eternal.

Midindia.org 

An overly simplified meaning of being a disciple.

This description is far too simple for anything beyond the most brief of overview, but looking for the ultra simple explanation of being a disciple it may not be too bad.

What does it mean to be a disciple?  Our lives are being lived on the trajectory that we choose.  We will allow that trajectory to be represented by \.  At some point in our lives we encounter the trajectory, represented by /, of the goodness, beauty and power of God in the person of Jesus Christ and the redemption He offers.  In that moment we may choose to continue on with the trajectory of our lives, where we call the shots, make the decisions and determine what we will love and adore.  We have faced the question, “Who is in charge?” and we have answered that with a very clear, “Me”. After that encounter with God we go our separate way from God, we can represent that encounter with an X.  At the intersection of God’s and our trajectory there was a moment in which we are called to follow.  A call we have rejected.  However, if we choose to answer affirmatively the call to follow then our lives experience a change in trajectory.  It becomes more of a Y.  The trajectory of our life now parallels, indeed is in His.  So much so, that Paul said, “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, but I am not really the one doing the living, the day to day life I live in this material world, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave His life for me.”  ^{Gal 2:20 paraphrased} We are walking with Him along the arc of His will and purpose.  That moment of intersection is the moment we answer His call to us, “Follow Me,” with the commitment, “I have decided to follow Jesus.”

A possible help for your congregation.

Last week, I asked that you participate in a survey about Covid-19 and church giving.  I want to thank all of you who have done so.  If you have not yet, please follow this link and take this survey.  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RJTCBTT

Of the results that have come in a great many have expressed concern about the financial impact of the temporary shutdown on giving.  The prognosis for churches seems to range from the mildly difficult to very serious.  I remain confident that out of this the Lord will bring good.  We have our part to be good stewards, but we can do that with confidence in God’s direct provision and in providential opportunities.  I may have come across one such opportunity this week.  I was having a conversation with Mike and he was telling me about how his company did a solar project for a large SBC church not far from where he lives.  It turns out that solar power can be a benefit for a church.  The roof is there all week soaking up the sun, but the building is used less often than a conventional business.  Depending on a multitude of factors, a church’s roof might be put to use to produce income for the church.

Let me admit that I am a moron when it comes to all things electric.  Once you get beyond an on/off switch you have pretty much left me behind.  But when it comes to an opportunity for a church to develop a revenue stream using an existing roof it makes sense to me.  Rather than provide my list to Mike or send everyone a brochure, I will simply say if you want more information send me an email and I will get you more information.