racism

The Prince of Peace

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 1 Comment

“Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that” (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.)

It seems like every time I turn around, there’s more hatred and violence. There’s more racism and division. I know ultimately that it’s not a hate issue or a race issue. It’s a sin issue.

It’s the sin that indwells the hearts of every man, woman, and child. It’s the same sin that indwells my own heart, the sin that causes me to not do what I want and to do what I don’t want to do.

That same sin issue won’t go away by electing the “right” President. It won’t go away by passing the “right” laws or by deporting the “wrong” people.

The answer to all the hate, violence, racism, and division lies within the Prince of Peace, who chose to keep silent in the midst of His own injustice and suffering.

He chose the wrongful death so  that we could live. He chose to bear the weight of my sin and shame so that I wouldn’t have to be a slave to it any longer.

That’s what brings me comfort on nights like these when the world outside seems to have lost its collective mind. There are a lot of talking heads out there offering a lot of different ideas about what can solve the mess we’re in, but only one real solution: Jesus.

The sobering thought is that I am just as sinful and in need of grace as those who shout racist epithets and those who riot and loot. In the deepest part of my heart, I see that same darkness. I see glimpses of what I am capable of apart from the incessant grace of God.

So I’m praying for peace to the Prince of Peace and resting in the promise that the victory over evil has already been won and that one day everything wrong will be made right.

Mosaic

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 1 Comment

christ-mosaic

I had an epiphany of sorts today. It started at Kairos when Mike Glenn spoke about how the Church has been at times on the wrong side of race relations and how 11 am on Sunday is still the most segregated hour in this country.

I thought of a mosaic. Or you can substitute a stained glass window if you want.

How boring would it be if every single piece was the same color? The same shape?

What if every single person were exactly like me? Just a lot of carbon copies of Greg running amuck? That’s a scary thought.

Like Mike Glenn said, you’re not wrong, just different. You’re you, unlike anybody else who has ever lived. And that’s a good thing.

I’m personally glad that not everybody looks or talks or thinks like me. Even if some of those people do and say things that I don’t agree with.

I believe it’s wrong to look down on someone because he or she is different. That means different race, different body shape, different upbringing, etc.

It’s easy for me to criticize someone who sins differently than I do. It’s easy for me to crusade against those vices I don’t struggle with.

But God loves all these people. Even the people I have the hardest time loving. Even those who have the hardest time loving me.

I think everybody discriminates against something. It’s the old sin nature in all of us, the part that was broken by the fall. But Jesus’ love is powerful enough to make the brokenness whole again and to make us new creations who can learn to love all those He loves the way He loves.

In His Own Words

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

image

I thought it fitting on a day set apart to celebrate the legacy of one Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I shouldn’t try to speak for him, but instead let his own words speak for themselves.

I found this excerpt of a speech he gave in accepting the Nobel Peace award in 1964. I hope it resonates with you like it did with me:

“I refuse to accept despair as the final response to the ambiguities of history. I refuse to accept the idea that the ‘isness’ of man’s present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal ‘oughtness’ that forever confronts him. I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsom and jetsom in the river of life, unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him. I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.

I refuse to accept the cynical notion that nation after nation must spiral down a militaristic stairway into the hell of thermonuclear destruction. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right temporarily defeated is stronger than evil triumphant. I believe that even amid today’s mortar bursts and whining bullets, there is still hope for a brighter tomorrow. I believe that wounded justice, lying prostrate on the blood-flowing streets of our nations, can be lifted from this dust of shame to reign supreme among the children of men. I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits. I believe that what self-centered men have torn down men other-centered can build up. I still believe that one day mankind will bow before the altars of God and be crowned triumphant over war and bloodshed, and nonviolent redemptive good will proclaim the rule of the land. ‘And the lion and the lamb shall lie down together and every man shall sit under his own vine and fig tree and none shall be afraid.’ I still believe that WE SHALL OVERCOME!”