Ecclesiastes chapter 3 tells us there is a time for everything, including a time to be silent and a time to speak. When it comes to most issues of the moment, at least for broad consumption, I choose to be silent. Not because I don’t have an opinion, we all have those. Rather, that’s often the majority of what I have. Don’t get me wrong, I do plenty of research and reading to have an informed opinion but at the end of the day, it’s just that, an opinion. The world, and certainly social media and public platforms, don’t need another useless opinion thrown onto an already raging inferno.
I prefer to keep my public spaces – socials and this blog – full of steady hope, kindness, and encouragement. I want them to be a calm, consistent respite from the bitterness, hostility and fear that is so prevalent today. I believe the world needs more of that. That is not just a public persona. It is pretty much who I am or at least who I have grown to be. Real life me makes plenty of mistakes, sometimes speaks when she shouldn’t and for sure says the wrong things more often than she would care to admit. Sometimes real life and online me is silent when she needs to speak.
I have spent a good deal of extra time praying for our country and leaders in the last few strange months. I have continued to do so with a focus more on racism in the last couple weeks. After a lot of prayer and time spent reading Scripture, I’ve decided that this is a time to speak. This is worth taking a clear stance. White people, this must stop. Church, we can and should do better.
I was reading my Bible to help me discern what God is asking of me and debating some Scripture references to go with this post. I thought about how we are all made in God’s image. In fact, I’ve had repeated conversations with my children about that, and how God loves every one of us. Jesus died for all of us and would have done it for any one of us. Paul says in Romans the same Lord is Lord of all. Certainly, those are strong points.
I thought about references to taming the tongue, faith without works, being transformed by the renewing of your mind, and loving your neighbor. James 2:8, “If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing right,” jumped out at me at first. But it seems to me that we struggle with this today because we don’t know how to love ourselves either. Many of us don’t treat our bodies or minds the way we should. We have little concern for obeying God’s commands. Why should we expect anyone to treat others any better? If we don’t know how to love ourselves the way God intended, then we’re not going to know how to love our neighbors.
Then I moved on to 1 Corinthians 10:24, “Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.” Then picking up at versus 32, “Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God – even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.” I lingered here for a while thinking about how we should do things for others so that they may be saved. That’s the motive. I want us all to know God and be saved. That’s how God wants us to live. He doesn’t want us to throw roadblocks and keep others down so that we get more. That’s actually kind of sickening to think about. That’s exactly the opposite of how we should be living. The only “more” I need is Jesus. Everything else is temporary at best.
I kept reading in 1 Corinthians and got to chapter 12 about one body and many parts. I’ve heard dozens of sermons on that particular text, usually about how Christians should be using their gifts and abilities in service of the church. Someone greets. Someone sings. Someone teaches and so on. Absolutely accurate, but as I read it this time I got stuck on verse 13, “For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body – whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free – and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” That is so much bigger than the body of any one church. That’s humanity, all people making up and being needed in God’s bigger kingdom. Different parts of the same body needed to function as God intended. Unique, but none more important than the other. That’s pretty clear to me. As Christians, how can this body work effectively in God’s kingdom if we’re playing a role (no matter how inadvertent or insignificant we think it is) in systematic racism?
Still, I read on because I knew what was coming up next. Love. I can’t be reading anywhere near 1 Corinthians chapter 13 and not take a minute to read the “love chapter.” You know it. You’ve heard it at all the weddings and read it on all sorts of farmhouse décor signs. I don’t write about love all that much. I think because it seems obvious. To me, the Bible is a giant love story. God loves all of us so much that He sent His son to die a death He didn’t deserve as a way to pay for our sins.
He continues to love us despite our mistakes. He wants us to choose Him. Not because we are forced to believe in Him or obey Him but because we choose to. A God who loves us that much surely wants us to treat each other better.
As someone who unequivocally believes in one almighty God and His goodness, then I must look at myself to see how I am treating others and see what part I’ve been playing in the problem. I must do better. I must love all of God’s people better. Really love – the way Paul describes it in 1 Corinthians. Without this love nothing else I say or do will matter. And nothing will get better.
Love does not rejoice in iniquity. Love rejoices in the truth. To that end, I am committing to better listening to and more learning from my brothers and sisters of color. I want to do my part to end the institutional racism that has continued to drive a wicked wedge between God’s people. It is not that I am treating people poorly, but the real issues are much deeper and more ingrained into my very existence.
I can make more of an effort to understand and repair brokenness. I can do better to bridge the divide and make sure that I am reflecting the love of God to all people. That means being more aware of what others need to thrive. That is the whole body functioning properly. That is the love that never fails.
