Fear, in the negative sense, causes many to react in various ways. Some of us lace up the boxing gloves and fight. Others will lace up the sneakers and run. Finally, some will simply freeze and not know what to do.
If you are like me (and I hope there is at least one reading this who identifies), you can probably agree that we live in interesting times where perhaps one or all three of those responses to fear have gripped you recently.
Technically, we are all one race in the eyes of the Lord (Acts 17:26, Ephesians 2:8-22) and therefore what has been happening in our country; whether black against white or white against black (pick any ethnicity really) is particularly grievous to the Lord as we are ALL image bearers of Him (Genesis 1:27). Let me clearly and loudly say (as loud as this keyboard will punch out my righteous anger) injustice and mistreatment of our black brothers and sisters is heinous and deeply saddens me. Equally, the responses where violence is flipped and peddled as a legitimate tool against those who volunteer to keep law and order is senselessly void of logic and (more importantly) completely lacking the Love of Jesus; which is the true solution here.
So what is a way forward? How do CHRISTIANS run with the LIGHT and HOPE of the Gospel of Jesus Christ into that particular darkness? I called a friend of mine, Pastor Samuel Duren, to have a conversation. Truly Christ unifies and in that spirit we entered into a dialogue that I hope will prove helpful for anyone who desires to engage.
That video is posted here:
Let's be crystal clear... Ephesians 2:8-10 levels the playing field and means I cannot boast. Why? Because Jesus did (and does) the work that matters. It is His spirit that changes a heart, comforts the afflicted, heals the hurting and frees the captive. Now, Do you really believe those words? Jesus has never been about your comfort or ease. Actually, He does really well at removing those to see if, in fact, He is your everything.
Let's start a CIVIL dialogue with the clear understanding that ONLY the Gospel solves what we are all facing because it is rooted in the sin nature.
Comment below if you'd like...
Great discussion, thanks for sharing! Praying that God would use this difficult cultural situation in our country to draw His church together across cultural boundaries. We are one race and one body and our head is Christ. When our brothers who we love are hurting, we should be there to support them.
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