Thoughts on the Church part 2b (racism)

Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Daniel Prude, Rayshard Brooks, These 4 names were unfortunately infamous during 2020 not for what they did but for what was done to them. All four were killed by law enforcement in the summer of 2020 and their deaths sparked protests, rioting, looting and violence. All four were African-American and when they were killed some of the worst comments online were from Christians.

I have a friend, who’s African-American and he and I texted through much of the summer about the comments that were being made. He was heartbroken how so many Christians, some who he called friend, could not empathize with what was going on. Their callous comments and argumentative tone hurt him and kept him from church for much of the year. He was not alone. Several others I talked to felt the same way. There was the mother of 3, the man with 2 sons, the mother and the grandmother who all felt hurt and dismay that people, who would confess to be Christians would ignore the basics of compassion and empathy. One man told me how hard it was for him to tell his kids that once again a person who looked like them had been killed by police. I struggle to understand this fear of encounters with the police. Last week I was pulled over and never once did I lothe my encounter with the officer; In fact it was a pleasant experience because I didn’t get a ticket.

I don’t know enough about each case to judge one way or another and really that’s not my job anyway. My job as a follower of Jesus is to pray for and have compassion on those who are struggling. My job is to “mourn with those who mourn.” (Romans 12:15). However, that is not what I saw on social media through much of the summer. I saw Christians get in arguments about the guilt of the individual, question the integrity of those who argued back and be gall around tone deaf about what was going on. Several times I pled with people behind the scenes to remove posts they made and responses that just continued to hurt people. I asked folks not to respond to clueless and hurtful people and to show grace to those who weren’t getting it. One of those times I had a hour long conversation with a mother who was fearful for her husband and three kids and was openly wondering how Christians could act this way.

The Church in America has had a long and dark past when it comes to racism. During slavery in the south, preachers would go to plantations and preach to the slaves that God wanted them in slavery and that they were to obey their masters because the Bible said to. Churches taught how Whites were superior to other races and were favored by God and that holding people as slaves was morally right. Religion was used to justify man’s inhumanity to man, not the first time it’s happened nor sadly will it be the last. 1.6 million people died changing this situation but it didn’t end there. In the ensuring years white Churches in the south would preach against the co-mingling of the races, against inter-racial marriage, about the necessity of segregation and the denial of civil rights to people based on skin color. Many Christian men found their way into organizations such as the KKK to fight off “progress.” Dr Martin Luther King once said that

“It is appalling that the most segregated hour of Christian America is 11 o’clock on Sunday morning”

Racism is a sin, it’s a sin against God , who created mankind in His image and endowed them with His spirit. What the Christians I saw online failed to recognize is that no matter what the circumstances of these cases were, Jesus loved Breonna, George, Daniel, and Rayshard and died for them. Sometimes we get so caught up in the issues surrounding one of these killings that we fail to empathize with a family that’s suffering. I didn’t know any of these folks who were killed but I know my friend who sees these things and it reminds him that people who look like him are getting hurt. I can show him stats that says that white people are killed by police more often then blacks but does that help my friend? Does that make me a good friend? Does that fulfill my mission to “morn with those who morn?” No of course not

Christians, we have to stop arguing about who is right, that’s for the justice system to decide. We have to start standing up for our brother’s and sisters of color and we have to sit with them when they hurt. There are a lot more nuances to all of this then can fit in one blog but when things like this happen can I suggest that we pray and empathize with those who are morning and make our churches a place where people feel loved no matter what color their skin.