Negative, sensational, exaggerated, shocking headlines draw more "clicks". Sin and sensational spin sells, so the media keeps pushing predominately negative, racy, worst case scenarios instead of uplifting, inspiring positive news stories of heroes doing amazing good every day in our country.
Different studies report that 80%, 91%, and 93% (CNN & NBC) of Trump news coverage is negative, so is it any surprise that much of the nation (at least those consuming liberal mainstream media only) hate him with such passion that famous pop stars speak of repeated desires to blow up the White House during national protests?
Negativity never produces the desired outcome. There will always be
greedy, racist, selfish, sexist, hateful people in this fallen world.
But that doesn't mean all people of any particular race, gender, or
creed are any or all of those things, though a few may be. If we only
point out the negatives, we only encourage more negative behavior. If
someone calls a whole group of people "greedy selfish pigs", they will
be more inclined to return those hateful comments with greedy,
selfish behavior. If in anger, people call a certain segment of society
racists, bigots, and haters, they are not likely to respond with loving
compassion. But if the media and the culture would lift up all the
good that is happening in America, praising acts of generosity, valor,
courage, and compassion, then more people will be inspired to follow
those positive examples. Instead, the media and the marketplace, and schools, homes, and communities are filled with hatred, anger, and division
which only fuels more hatred, anger, and division. The media, with the
help of witless, emotion driven social media users, can easily make the
masses believe a hero is a villain.
"Why you fool, it's the educated reader who CAN be gulled. All our
difficulty comes with the others. When did you meet a workman who
believes the papers? He takes it for granted that they're all propaganda
and skips the leading articles.... He is our problem. We have to
recondition him. But the educated public, the people who read the
high-brow weeklies, don't need reconditioning. They're all right
already. They'll believe anything." - C.S. Lewis (That Hideous Strength)
Whatever you consume shapes your heart, your thoughts, your attitudes,
and your actions. Garbage In = Garbage Out. So let us fill our minds and
hearts with "whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just,
whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there
is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about
these things." (Philippians 4:8).
Don't look to the government, the
media, or the culture for truth, answers, or hope. Look instead to the
only source of truth. God's word gives a more accurate description and
big picture examination of what is going on in our world today than any
news outlet could. It also gives the truth we seek, the answers we need,
and the hope that saves. It teaches us how to truly live and find
peace.
Apart from Christ, sin increases exponentially,
boomeranging from one wicked deed to the next, back and forth. "But at
the cross of Christ, sin stopped. Love draws people. Hate crucifies
people." (Ravi Zacharias)
Jesus already accomplished the unity we desperately need. We are simply refusing to live in it.
27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slavenor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise. (Galatians 3:27-29)
12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slavesor free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:27-29)
We are not at peace with each other because we are not at peace with
ourselves. Evil is not out there. It is inside human hearts. Until the
heart is changed, hate will reign supreme. (Paraphrase of comments by Ravi Zacharias during the Revive Us 2 live broadcast)
True harmony, peace, and unity in diversity has already been
accomplished for all who believe. When will we receive the truth and
walk in it, throwing off the old self and walking in newness of life?
"If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are
above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your
minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For
you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality
[Original Greek is πορνεύω which means "illicit sexual intercourse" which is defined as any sexual activity other than one man and one women united by covenant marriage], impurity, passion, evil desire, and
covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God
is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them.
8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander,
and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing
that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on
the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of
its creator. 11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and
uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and
in all. [This verse clearly states all people of all races, tribes,
social standing, ethnicity are EQUAL in value through Christ.] 12
Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate
hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one
another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each
other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And
above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect
harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which
indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of
Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all
wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness
in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do
everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." (Colossians 3:1-17)
I'd like to commemorate this historic Inauguration Day by sharing a few thoughts I had throughout the day.
Early AM
I've been working through Beth Moore's study, The Patriarchs.
This morning's lesson was from Genesis 27 and specifically addressed Esau's hatred of Jacob and the way he consoled himself by
plotting to kill his brother (Genesis 27:41). This lesson seemed quite timely given
the plots already uncovered by investigative teams to set off bombs
during the Inaugural events and the arrest of at least one man (a friend
of the Clintons) who pledged to kill the incoming President. (By 1:00 pm, Fox News was reporting at least 90 arrests made within the vicinity of the Inaugural events.)
Beth Moore explains in the study guide that the Hebrew word used in Genesis 27:41 to describe Esau's feelings
toward his brother is "satam" which means to hate, to harass, to nurse
hostility and bitterness toward someone or to attack physically. This
word shares the same root as the Hebrew verb "satan" which means to
accuse, slander, harbor animosity toward another and with the masculine noun
"satan" which means "adversary, accuser", from which we get the name Satan.
Whether one's
bitterness and anger flow out of being treated unfairly, not getting
what one wants, or out of some false characterization of someone with no
evidence or hint of truth, when negative emotions are encouraged by the
culture and allowed to swell exponentially to the point that someone is
consoling himself with thoughts of murder, that person's behavior has
become clinically psychopathic.
Here's my concern.When we live
in a culture that tries so desperately to normalize abnormal behavior,
emotions go unchecked and psychopathic behaviors increase.
Satan
is the father of lies with murderous intentions (John 8:44). He is the
arch enemy, the epic accuser, and destroyer of all that is good. The
spirit of Satan is what pushes people to attack, accuse, slander, hate,
destroy, and plot murder.
Let us pray not just for safety for Trump, his family, and his executive team, but also for Satan's grip on our culture to be
loosened and for our hearts to be turned from hatred and fear to love
and faith. The battle is the Lord's, but we are commanded to pray,
resist the devil, and humble our ourselves in repentance before the
Lord. Pence knows that is what we need most, so he chose to take his
oath while placing his hands on 2 Chronicles 7:14 which reads, "If my
people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and
seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from
heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land."
Around Noon
My kids got to watch the Inauguration at school today, and even though
many different demographics with very different political views were
present in each room, they watched together peacefully and respectfully.
I wish more adults could be as mature as those K-12 students, but I
sure am grateful their school let them watch history in the making.
I was impressed with Trump's speech. He's learned a lot since his campaign first began and moved considerably toward calmer, more unifying speech. He's also been listening to a lot of committed Christians who have been teaching him God's word. That's what the evangelical team and Ben Carson have stated anyway, and it seems to show.
What were your favorite quotes from Trump's speech today?
Here are a few I liked (from memory so may not be quoted exactly):
"We aren’t transferring power from one administration to the other or
from one party to the other. We are transferring power from Washington,
D.C. back to you the people."
(Populist sounding maybe but necessary to swing the pendulum back from tyranny toward a true Republic)
"When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice."
(Even more so when we open our hearts to God)
"How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!"
(He was quoting Psalm 133:1.)
"We will no longer accept politicians who are all talk and no action –
constantly complaining but never doing anything about it."
(WITHIN their legal limits - not legislating from the bench or through excessive, far-reaching executive orders, please)
"Whether we are black, brown, yellow, or white, we all bleed the same
red blood of patriotism....we all enjoy the same freedoms and salute the
same flag."
(Rough paraphrase here, but it sounded like he was trying
to emphasize how we are all equally valuable as human beings and need to
unify as Americans)
"May God Bless America!"
(I don't know about you, but I sure have missed that phrase.)
I also greatly appreciate the way he acknowledged that while it is the
government's responsibility (and all American's) to build up, support,
and respect our military forces and law enforcement officers, ultimately
our protection comes from God Almighty. Now may we humble ourselves
before the Lord of Grace and pray for His sovereign protection which we
most certainly do not deserve. The Bible is filled with promises to protect those who call out to Him. (A few examples are Deuteronomy 31:6, Psalm 5:11, 20:1,
36:7, 57:1, 59:1, 63:7, chapter 121, 140:4, Isaiah 41:10, 2
Thessalonians 3:3.)
by Henry Van Dyke There is a better thing than the observance of Christmas day, and that is, keeping Christmas.
Are you willing...
to forget what you have done for other people, and to remember what other people have done for you;
to ignore what the world owes you, and to think what you owe the world;
to put your rights in the
background, and your duties in the middle distance, and your chances to
do a little more than your duty in the foreground;
to see that men and women are just as real as you are, and try to look behind their faces to their hearts, hungry for joy;
to own up to the fact that
probably the only good reason for your existence is not what you are
going to get out of life, but what you are going to give to life;
to close your book of
complaints against the management of the universe, and look around you
for a place where you can sow a few seeds of happiness.
Are you willing to do these things even for a day? Then you can keep Christmas.
Are you willing...
to stoop down and consider the needs and desires of little children;
to remember the weakness and loneliness of people growing old;
to stop asking how much your friends love you, and ask yourself whether you love them enough;
to bear in mind the things that other people have to bear in their hearts;
to try to understand what those who live in the same home with you really want, without waiting for them to tell you;
to trim your lamp so that it
will give more light and less smoke, and to carry it in front so that
your shadow will fall behind you;
to make a grave for your ugly thoughts, and a garden for your kindly feelings, with the gate open—
Are you willing to do these things, even for a day? Then you can keep Christmas.
Are you willing...
to believe that love is the strongest thing in the world—
stronger than hate, stronger than evil, stronger than death—
and that the blessed life which began in Bethlehem nineteen hundred years ago is the image and brightness of the Eternal Love?
Then you can keep Christmas. And if you can keep it for a day, why not always? But you can never keep it alone.
Six Days of the Week, NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1924 and 1952.
"Has
it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same
fork automatically are tuned to each other? They are of one accord by
being tuned, not to each other, but to the one standard to which each
one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers met together, each
one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they
could possibly be were they to become "unity" conscious and turn their
eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship." - A.W. Tozer
Only by looking to God will we regain unity in the church and in our
nation. No political leader can restore that unity, but at least one
presidential candidate is striving against that goal by plotting to
disrupt our worship. Thank God His power is infinitely greater than any
man's or woman's on earth.
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:1-6)
The Civil War in the U.S. and the abolition movement led by William Wilberforce in England was ignited when humble men looked to God for truth and direction. Freeing the oppressed is a Biblical mandate. It was never merely a human movement. God brings unity.
I
should add here that even the founding fathers who would not have
called themselves Christians, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin,
supported unity of the people by focusing on shared values and the
common morality placed in the hearts of all men.
But
when we rewrite the Constitution (using case law that interpreted an
IMPLIED Constitutional right to privacy to include dominion over one's
body as greater than the explicit right to life and superseding the
12th, 13th, and 14th amendments) to justify murdering the unborn (which
has now been expanded past Roe v Wade to include the most barbaric
practice of partial birth abortion at the end of pregnancy), we have
lost our moral compass.
When we allow the injustice
by one to justify the senseless murder of heroes and violent rioting in
the streets, we have lost our moral foundations.
When
we allow criminals to go free because corruption is too far reaching to
contain and indicting one would bring down the entire Obama
administration since all knew about the illegal email server and
continued to exchange classified information with her through that
server, we have lost the law that holds us together.
When
we continue to let our children have free TV viewing and pay for cable
TV after learning that in just the two years between 1997 and 1999,
violence increased 86%, sexual content went up 77%, and foul language
rose 58%, we have turned our attention away from the moral decency upon
which our country was founded and chosen to worship smut instead.
When
we dishonor our veterans, the flag, or the national anthem, we dishonor
the courageous heroes who suffered and/or died to protect us and
spitefully put the liberties which made America the beacon of hope for
all the world in jeopardy.
When we are more concerned with normalizing psychological ailments, even if it means putting women and children at greater risk of abuse or PTSD, we are steering those in most need of help away from resources that could bring them lasting healing and freedom and instead leading them down a path that is much more likely to result in suicide. We have traded true compassion for a selfish desire to be accepted by a lost and deceived society.
When we continue to support US leaders who
are arming ISIS and accepting millions of dollars from countries
supporting ISIS, who knew about pending terror attacks and refused to
let the FBI stop them - and then refused to acknowledge that ISIS was
behind it when ISIS took credit for it, we have lost sight of both the
truth and what is right. We have sold the lives of the innocent for fleeting money. Their blood guilt is on our hands.
When we suppress the poor
to keep them poor and to keep them from personal independence so as to
buy their votes for selfish gain, we have lost the fundamental value of
love for our fellow men.
When we would rather be
slaves to a corrupt government than take personal responsibility for
ourselves and our fellow man, we have turned away from the chief goals
of our founding fathers and have chosen socialism which quickly becomes
communism over liberty and justice for all.
21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools,23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature;27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.29 They
were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness,
malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness.
They are gossips,30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.32 Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. (Romans 1:21-32)
As racism has increasingly become a heated issue again in America, I've been trying to better understand what it means to have white privilege. As I have listened to personal stories and read documentaries, I hope I am now more aware of the verbal slights, false assumptions, and undervaluing that still takes place. I am asking the Lord to make me more aware and to guide me in defending and honoring those who are still being treated unfairly based on race. The sordid crimes committed against black Americans in our nation's history are deplorable, and I am so sorry to learn how much racism is still rooted in the hearts of more than a few Americans. May we each ask the Lord to search our hearts and expose those areas that are still full of pride and prejudice. (Psalm 139:23-24)
I want to be very careful not to minimize what the black community has suffered, for to do so would be unloving indeed. As we search for evidences of white privilege (as defined in contrast to the negative experiences unique to black Americans), however, let us not forget to consider other privileges we experience that others are denied. As with white privilege, some of our other privileges are the direct or indirect result of the oppression of others.
Colonial Oppression of Native Americans Let us consider the oppression of indigenous Americans during the time of early European colonization up until and after The Indian Removal Act of 1830. They were forced to leave the land they had rightly claimed and toiled so diligently to tame, settle, and make fruitful. Then they had to make the treacherous journey along the Trail of Tears to be displaced in a wild, unsettled environment better suited for different crops, animals, and modes of survival. The colonists reaped the benefits of all the natives' labors while the natives had to learn a new way of life in a foreign territory. The white settlers enjoyed colonial privilege while Native Americans paid the price.
(Hardworking taxpayers experience a small sliver of this injustice when they take great risks, make huge sacrifices, and labor tirelessly to provide for their families and local communities only to have over half of their income taken through layers of taxation to pay for wasteful government spending and to provide not only for those in legitimate need, but also for those who refuse to work.)
As illustrated in the legendary artwork of Willard Stone's Trail of Tears Trilogy (pictured below), Native Americans have commemorated and preserved the memory of all they have suffered. Interestingly, they do not merely consider their own sufferings but the sufferings of others as well. Instead of holding onto bitterness, they planted renewed hope as they built new lives for themselves. With fortified faith and unwavering determination, they worked together to heal, renew, rebuild and restore what had been taken from them. Through forgiveness, gratitude to God, wise stewardship, and diligent labor, they prospered once again and became some of the most patriotic citizens in America, with many serving valiantly in the armed forces. They have grown the economy, created and filled jobs, invested in their communities, and contributed large percentages of their hard earned income through taxes to the same government structure that once so severely mistreated them.
The Trail of Tears Trilogy
The first trilogy masterpiece Exodus, was commissioned in 1967 by the Cherokee Historical Society. It is a large walnut sculpture composed of two teardrops, one balancing the other on a base representing the contour of the earth, honoring the Cherokee experience during the tribe's forced removal by the U.S. government from their traditional homelands in the East. In describing the piece, Stone said,"I have tried to capture the tragedy and heavy load of sorrow and heartache being overcome by the Cherokee's courage and determination. I have tried to boil down and bring into focus the heavy load of life the whole mankind carries and put it into an individual mother and child."
The Exodus (walnut)
The 1967, the Cherokee Heritage Society commissioned the second part of the trilogy. Transplantdepicts a Cherokee mother and child after the ordeal of the removal. Stone described this piece as showing that "By faith, enough survived the Trail of Tears to seed the new land. By faith, they will sprout and make it better. For this they give thanks."
Transplant
The final part of the trilogy, Uprooted, was completed in 1980. In Stone's words, this culture represents the Cherokees "pulling away from the
ground they had been living on from the time they were born." It also
represents "any people who are forced from their land because of the
greed or lust of some more powerful race." It is carved in the stump
of a red cedar.
Uprooted (one side)
Uprooted (other side)
During The Great Depression, some Native Americans considered themselves to be the privileged ones because they could survive and thrive by simply living off of the land. Stone's self-portrait in pencil below shows the happy contentment he experienced as an early teenager while stressed-out, big city dwellers in the East were, as Stone commented, "jumping out of windows
or going insane". Growing up in rural Oklahoma after the Indian Removal Act, he enjoyed farming, hunting, fishing, swimming, roping goats,
roasting peanuts, playing games and having house parties. His people were less affected by the financial crisis because they were self-sufficient. While the colonists enjoyed unfair privileges through the oppression of Native Americans, the Cherokee people let the trials make them stronger which gave them the well-deserved privilege of resilience. When Stone's work gained national attention, he had to travel to Manhattan for art related events. He once wrote after spending a
few weeks in New York for art exhibits that he wouldn't trade one acre of
rural Oklahoma for all of Manhattan. Despite the oppression of the Native American people, they found joy, peace and contentment through forgiveness and resilience.
Willard Stone's Pre-Teen Self Portrait
(Note: I could have referenced various forms of racial tensions
following World War II instead, but since I have more personal
experience with Native American people, I used them as my primary
example.)
Other Privileges
While both African Americans and Native Americans have suffered oppression under the hand of white men, privilege comes in many other forms as well.
If you can read, you have literacy privilege unlike 13.9% of the world's population.
If you are living off more than $10 a day, you have more to spend than 80% of the global population, which gives you significant wealth privilege.
If you are NOT currently enslaved for labor or for sex, you have a degree of freedom privilege that 29.8 million people around the world do not.
Every child that is born instead of being aborted in the U.S. has been given what should be themost fundamental human right, life, but since life is now the mother's choice and not the child's, to be allowed to be born and live is now considered a privilege in America. At least 730,322 children (18%)
did not get to experience that privilege last year (down from 22.6% in 2006) because they were murdered in the womb. The abortion rate was 52% in Russia during 2006, so being born in America statistically increases your birth privilege rate by 289%. (These figures do not include the significant number of lives terminated by the morning after pill.)
If you had the freedom to choose your field of study and vocation, you have career privilege not commonly available in communist countries.
If you have the freedom to fully pursue life, liberty, happiness, and prosperity on your own volition, then you have opportunity privileges not generally available in socialist and communist nations.
If you are pregnant, have minority status and/or identify as LGBTQ while employed in the U.S., you have more job security privilege
than white males. Business attorneys consider you to be
untouchable. The odds that your job will be eliminated during a business reorganization are much lower than non-protected classes because
EEO laws are biased in your favor. While white males are easily let go simply because the management found someone they like better,
those with protected classes could be overtly negligent, devalue the company, and fail to meet
basic expectations without ever seeing a pink slip. (This is not to say that EEO laws are not necessary or that they do not have their rightful place in giving certain classes the equal opportunities they deserve. It only shows that the outcomes of such legal manipulation are biased.)
If you were not raised in the south or have somehow managed to avoid developing a Southern accent, then you have linguistic privilege. Southerners must work harder to earn respect and prove their
intellect when conversing with non-southerners because of false assumptions and prejudice against their accent and/or dialect.
If you have not risked your life to protect
Americans and the U.S. Constitution through military or law enforcement service, then you have the privilege of being excluded from negative assumptions and accusations. Far too many people assume veterans have impaired mental
faculties and are unfit to carry a gun
or to receive proper medical care. Others, including the NAACP, accuse the majority of full-time law enforcement employees (over 1.13 million), of being racist, even if they are black (the NAACP calls them "blue, not black"), and make them targets.
The
persecution of Christians is increasingly prevalent on university campuses. The ratio of
Christians hired or
promoted within universities has been falling in all fields of study
but most
dramatically in the humanities, while Christian students are ridiculed by professors and given lower grades if they do not adopt (or pretend to adopt) their professors' secular worldview (as I know all too well through personal experience). Even elite Ivy League universities where
the prized marketplace of ideas once flourished are now censoring speech
and prohibiting class discussion that contradicts the progressive
secular worldview.
This anti-Christian bias in academia has created secular
privilege for non-Christians. This bias has been growing for many decades. C.S.
Lewis was possibly the most well-read,
most gifted teacher on the planet during his lifetime with unmatched
intelligence and communication skills, yet he was ostracized
and denied promotion at Oxford University after his apologetic works
were first published in the 1940s. The documentary, Expelled,
uncovered evidence for this
widespread bullying practices that prejudice against people of faith in academia 8 to 10 years ago The oppression is still increasing today as
described here.
The Special Needs Community
If you have no physical or mental disabilities and no neurological or
cognitive impairments that limit your ability to integrate independently into
traditional daily life settings without accommodation, then the prejudices of
this postmodern culture against the special needs community give you perceived ability privilege.
Far too many people assume that disabilities limit one's value or contribution
to society. After only a brief amount of time spent interacting with the
special needs community, however, decent people should quickly realize that in
many ways, these people have much more to teach us and to contribute
than they ever realized. They have taught me better than anyone else how to enjoy
life fully without the shackles of self-awareness, how to innovate and grow stronger
through trials, the power of a smile to light up a room filled with gloomy
people, and the sacred value of loving without limits. While the culture may
prejudice against them, they have the privilege of displaying the glory of
God.
"Jesus
answered, “It was neither that this man
sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed
in him."(John 9:3)
Joni Eareckson Tada was paralyzed as a teenager during a diving accident and fervently prayed for healing. But when she visited locations in
Jerusalem where Jesus had healed people, she found herself thanking God for not
healing her because "that 'no' answer has left her depending more on God’s
grace, has given her greater compassion for others, has reduced complaining,
has increased her faith, has given her greater hope of heaven, and has caused
her to love the Lord so much more." (Tim
Challis) Tada came to see her paralysis as a privilege or a gift.
I could go on and on, for all of us likely have some form of privilege directly or indirectly because someone else is being treated differently. Those I have mentioned as being privileged could just as easily point to another person who has a privilege they do not.
How Should We Address Injustice?
There are a lot of different movements and specific methods prescribed by social justice warriors to address these many social injustices. University of North Texas sociologist George Yancey describes the four primary secular models used to address racial issues in his book, Beyond Racial Gridlock. These methods include:
Colorblindness
Anglo-Conformity
Multi-Culturalism
White Responsibility
Each model has advantages and disadvantages which are summarized succinctly in this post by Bruce Ashford, but not one has
brought about the unity and racial reconciliation we desire or
need for a number of different reasons both Yancey and Ashford describe. I am convinced the primary reason these methods have failed is because secular models will NEVER solve spiritual problems.
Prejudice is a symptom
of pride, and pride is the root of all evil. Pride is spiritual, not natural.
"As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always
looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are
looking down, you cannot see something that is above you....
....The other, and less bad, vices come from the devil working on us
through our animal nature. But this [pride] does not come from through
our animal nature at all. It comes direct from Hell. It is purely
spiritual: consequently it is far more subtle and deadly.....For Pride
is a spiritual cancer: it eats up the very possibility of love, or
contentment or even common sense." (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, Book 3, Chapter 8)
Comparison is what makes us
proud. When one person compares his plight to another and takes
pleasure in having more or appearing superior to the other, then pride manifests itself as prejudice. If one man finds the other has more
than he
does or if he is being victimized by the prejudice of
another, then pride brews angry competitiveness, enmity, and a
relentless pursuit to overcome the one who is superior in whatever
attribute or possession is being compared.
None of us is perfectly righteous or without some form of prejudice (Romans 3:23). In fact, we each carry so much guilt that we could not possibly carry the blame or the guilt for what we have each done or failed to do individually, much less pay back the guilt for all the wrongs done by our society collectively. Yet, that is what many keep asking us to do. Are we to wallow in guilt for the rest of our lives, enslaved to debts we cannot possibly repay without ever finding the chance to accomplish something worthwhile in life? Yancey's proposed better alternative is an attempt to combine the best aspects of each of the four primary secular models under a Biblical framework such that both individual and collective responsibility are acknowledged and
owned.
"That model will recognize that God’s original creational design
includes and invites unity-in-diversity, just as his plan for the new
heavens and earth involves a resplendent ethnic and cultural
unity-in-diversity. It will refuse to assign blame entirely on minority
or majority group members, but instead will call both to repentance and
entrust both with responsibility." (Bruce Ashford)
While Native Americans may have diverse spiritual beliefs, their careful observation and respect for nature have long drawn them into worship, and we can see how they have modeled much of Yancey's proposed reconciliation model Their willingness to throw off their grudges, forgive their oppressors, accept their new circumstances, express gratitude, and build new lives for themselves is commendable, but such a selfless response defies ordinary human nature, so it must come from God.
"Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you" (Ephesians 4:32)
Native Americans still preserve their cultural heritage while also seeking unity-in-diversity. We own a bronze of Stone's Boots and Feathers walnut relief sculpture pictured below and display it our home as a symbol of both my husband's heritage and mine (which are quite different) intertwined to create our sacred family and as a reminder of the struggle for unity and the beauty found within a society that values and upholds unity-in-diversity. Boots and Feathers depicts the artist's Native American daughter wearing a native headdress while trying on cowboy boots to illustrate their struggle to maintain their own cultural identity while adapting to the very different culture surrounding them.
Knowledge of the truth, which includes God's
absolute truth and the facts of both our past history and our response to current events, should compel us to confess our sin. Truth MUST then lead to repentance on every side. We cannot undo the sins of the
past, but we can confess and repent. Repentance, by definition, requires us to leave our selfish pride and prejudice and to seek God's will, not our own. The first and biggest step toward humility and away from pride is to acknowledge and confess our pride.
"If you think you are not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed." (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, Book 3, Chapter 8)
Repentance should then lead to change. God's work in our hearts will compel us through love and conviction to defend the oppressed and marginalized, to resist pride, and to continually surrender our will to His.
The Perfect Privilege that Provides Perspective
Let me back up for a moment and emphasize that confession, repentance, forgiveness and reconciliation are not possible by human effort alone. No matter how many times we apologize, no matter what social justice movements we lead, and no matter what reparations we make, we will never fully atone for it all or appease everyone who has ever been treated unjustly. Only someone with perfect wisdom, perfect righteousness and infinite love could avoid all these sins and love completely, fully, and unconditionally. And only that perfect One can bear the weight of all our sins past, present, and future and pay our debts in full. Only the promised Messiah could suffer to such an extent for those who hated and despised him and then extend forgiveness.
But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves.(Luke 23:34)
Christ never committed a single sin, yet He was tempted more than any of us. He deserves all our praise, yet He suffered more than anyone on our behalf.
If you've been abused, beaten unmercifully, despised, rejected, tortured, or oppressed, He understands, for He endured all those things too.
If you've been mistreated, disrespected, robbed, ridiculed, slandered, spat upon, or scorned unjustly, then you are sharing in His sufferings, and He can comfort you like no other.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. (2 Corinthians 1: 3-4)
If people flee from you, mistrust you, accuse you, or act repulsed by you because of your race, ethnicity, or heritage, He knows how you feel. He's been there and done that. If your family abandoned you, your friends betrayed you, or your closest friends denied you, be comforted in knowing He suffered the same for you. After the sin debt was paid in full, He rose again, and He will come back to raise up all who have accepted His free gift and welcomed Him in as Lord of their lives.
After two thousand years of experiencing divine encounters, watching prophecies fulfilled exactly, witnessing transformed lives, and receiving matchless grace, inspired teaching, and access to the perfect wisdom, everlasting hope, and life direction found through His inspired word, multitudes around the world still reject Him. Yet His loving compassion never fails. (Lamentations 3:22) He still stands ready to extend forgiveness, personal relationship, everlasting life, and a vast inheritance to all who believe, repent, and follow Him.
Any privileges (white or otherwise) we experience in this earthly life, whether freely given or unjustly taken, are worth nothing compared to the privilege we are all called to share as partakers of His grace.
"But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ," (Philippians 3: 7-8)
Note the stark difference between the privilege we have in Christ compared to the other privileges listed above. That difference hinges on choice. In the examples listed above, the victim does not choose to be oppressed or disadvantaged. Their suffering is placed upon them by someone else or by circumstances outside of their control. Similarly, the privilege we define as not having to suffer under the same conditions are abuses as someone else, is also not something we choose for ourselves. We can't choose our race, birthplace, gender, DNA, heritage, etc. We can only choose how to respond to oppression or privilege.
The inverse is true with Christ. He chose humility and the life of a
suffering servant. He chose to bear all our sins on the cross while remaining
perfectly sinless Himself.
Love compelled Him to suffer and die to save His oppressors from a debt
they could never repay.
Who can comprehend the depths and heights of such love? We are privileged beyond measure in Christ! Instead of telling us to check our privilege at the door like Harvard students were instructed to do at orientation, Christ instructs us to wear the privilege He won for us on the cross. That privilege is the only way we can pass through the door from this life to eternal life with our God and King who is Lord of all righteousness, mercy and love.
22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds;24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:22-24)
