Racist--Who Me?

I have black friends!  I’ve hired black people!  I’ve never burned a cross!  To paraphrase an Atlanta native – “If you’ve said one of these things, you might be a racist.”  And truth be told I’m a racist and I’ve been on a journey to grow since I became a Christian.  In fact, my faith has been the main driver of my realization that my behaviors and thoughts have been racist. 

Let’s set some context so we’re all on the same page and use the definition of a racist as follows from the Cambridge Dictionary – “someone who believes that their race makes them better, more intelligent, more moral, etc. than people of other races and who does or says unfair or harmful things” – I’d like to emphasize the “says” portion of the definition and state that these are driven by our thoughts.

Now some background on my journey.  I've been a direct participant in racism through word and deed when younger, whether I was telling a joke, insulting someone on the court/field or when angry and filled with rage blaming someone for just being of a certain color skin.  In hindsight these actions were driven out of fear that somehow acknowledging “them” as equals or admit that “they” might actually be better than me.  After all, all I heard my whole like was how “they are” different and not as smart as “us” nor able to do what “we” can.  This wasn’t a direct education, but generally spoken of and implied by action and deed of my family and friends.

As I got older, took “real” jobs, and wanted to advance a career I changed my words and actions, but this was not out of a true change of heart, but rather out of “political correctness.”  I was a Christian at this time, but it was early in my sanctification process so didn’t truly understand what “love your neighbor as yourself” meant and how I was supposed to live out my faith.

Only as I made a conscious decision to study, learn, and grow in my faith did real change happen, and this wasn’t an easy or pleasant path.   The first step I had to realize in this journey is that as a child of God, I'm OK. Who I am, all that I have, and all that I will be is from God alone. Mentally recognizing this was relatively easy compared to the changes that still needed to happen in my heart.  Taking down the walls around my own heart, letting my ego go, recognizing that, and being free enough to rely on my faith alone, stepping up, speaking out and doing what God has defined as "right" is hard.

The change is hard because as you let go you can expect personal attacks from friends, coworkers, and even family. They don’t always call you out for not using slurs but say subtle things like “you’ve changed.”  You might not get invited out to a game, for a beer, or just to hang out anymore. It’s guaranteed your life will change.

When I look at what’s going on today (not just around the country but also with people I know), the denial of racial issues or statements such as “Racist – Who Me?” lead me to ask – “Really are you kidding me!”  Of course, there’s racism going on and I’m not going to specifically accuse anyone of being a racist, but please read the following topics and honestly think through the possibility that you’re racist.

Black Lives Matter

When you say or think things like “All Lives Matter” or “Blue Live Matter,” etc., I want to ask you – when was the last time you said “All Cancers Matter.” or in October during Breast Cancer Awareness Month say “Prostate Cancer Matters” you don’t.  So, you need to ask yourself “Why?”

Removal of Confederate Monuments

You say, “They’re just representing history, they don’t represent slavery or anything bad.”, really?  Haven’t you cheered when at the end of World War II, statues of Hitler and Nazi symbols were taken down? What about when the Berlin Wall fell, a sign of the end of Communism you cheered.  When you saw statues of Saddam Hussain being ripped down on TV you cheered.  All those statues and symbols represented history as well, why is it OK to take those down but leave Confederate statues up?  Why can’t these symbols of evil history be removed like the others?

White Supremacy

White Supremacy shows itself in many forms, not just the obvious white-hooded portrayals of the KKK we see in movies, TV shows, and history books. White Supremacy is not only historical. It is happening here and now.  The chart below can give you some context for what I’m trying to describe.

Reading the Covert portion will be painful and should cause self-reflection, but that’s a good thing. This is what we are charged to do as Christians.  Just read Acts 10:34-35 and John 13:34, where we’re told to “love one another: just as I have loved you.”

Even the image of Jesus we know has roots in racism. Yes, the tall, long-haired white Jesus is nothing like what Jesus looked like. This image was created in the 13th – 16th centuries by artists like Leonardo da Vinci (the famous “Last Supper”) and Michelangelo (the “Last Judgment” in the Sistine Chapel), then brought throughout the world as Europeans colonized the rest of the world.  Scripture tells us that Jesus “had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him” (Isaiah 53:2). Based on scripture telling us that Jesus was nothing special to look at, how odd do you think a tall, white, long straight-haired Jesus would have been in Israel during the time of Jesus?  Our Savior’s image has been changed to fit our white sensibilities so we would find him acceptable to us.

If you feel bad after a bit of self-reflection on these things, that’s OK because right now is the perfect time to begin your journey of change and understanding.  You’ve heard our church discuss these topics in sermons and offer classes to increase understanding. Now it’s time for you to take the next step in your journey. 

Even though it may seem hard, realize that racism/being a racist is a sin like any other sin and your faith provides forgiveness, the God-given, gospel-centered strength to move forward and change.  There is proof of this in the Bible, like 2 Corinthians 4:8-10 – “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.”

Thoughts on Minority Representation, Our Society, and the Church

I never really grasped the importance of minority representation until recently.

Let me explain.

For Christmas last year my kids, who are Black, received a children’s book about the Obamas. It’s a nice little book about how the Obamas have worked hard for equality, stewardship of the earth, and a healthier America. One day, my son, a curious boy, pulled the book off the shelf and started asking questions about it. “Who’s that on the cover? What did he do? What’s a ‘President’?” At first, I didn’t think much of these questions, but as I began talking about how Barack Obama was African American (“chocolate,” as our son says) and held one of, if not the most, powerful positions on the planet I saw my son’s eyes grow larger and larger. I came to realize just how energized he was by the fact that someone who looked like him was so important. He didn’t even know what “President” meant (he still doesn’t), but he knew it was something special, and what made it more special was that Obama has the same color skin as him.

The more I thought about it, the more I was also like, “Yeah, it is super cool that Obama, a Black man, became President!” I started probing deeper into President Obama’s life and legacy. Eventually, I stumbled on John McCain’s 2008 presidential election concession speech (and here). I’m not sure I had ever heard the speech before, but it was interesting in light of recent events. In case you need reminding, there was a time when certain conspiracists, Donald Trump foremost among them, spread the lie that Obama was not born in the US, and was not, therefore, eligible for the Office of the President. There were also people saying that Obama was a Muslim who wanted to destroy the US. Terrible, terrible racist things were said. Unlike some politicians these days, McCain stood up for Obama throughout his campaign, opposing some of his own supporters to their faces when they tried to spread false information about his opponent. McCain now looks like a man standing among playground children for having done so (also see this). In his concession speech, McCain—again, he had just lost—emphasized, “This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight.” I don’t see McCain as a flawless man mind you (nor his concession speech), but to this day I’m struck by how he highlighted the significance of the 2008 election for millions of Black people across the US (even as his audience booed every time they heard the name “Obama”), all still feeling the sting of this country’s racist legacy. I’m struck by how McCain, a decade before my son was born, affirmed my son’s pride in the accomplishment of another Black man.

Whether its Barack Obama, Kamala Harris, Raphael Warnock, Cory Booker, or Tim Scott, you don’t have to agree with someone’s politics to celebrate what they might represent—in this country, a light flickering in the dark history of violence and discrimination. In no sense do I want to turn the figures I just mentioned into “tokens,” signs of “how far we have come” or something like that. We have work to do that feels insurmountable at times. The murder of Ahmaud Arbery (among many others), delight at the purposeful butchering of Kamala Harris’s name (also here), and the Capitol insurrection, even “Jewish Space Lasers” (look it up; also this) show us how hate rears its head from top to bottom in our society.

In America, there has been a trend among White people to paint over differences in color and gender, to pretend we don’t see them. We want to say, myself included, “it doesn’t matter what your skin color is or whether you’re a man or a woman; Americans judge fellow Americans on the basis of merit, not skin color, background, religion, sexual orientation, etc. The past is the past. We don’t deal with those issues anymore.” As the long, arduous year of 2020 has shown, that’s simply not true.

I fear we make a similar move in the church. Hear me out. In the church, we like to cite Galatians 3:28—“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus”—as proof that since we are all united in Christ we shouldn’t care about “trivialities” like minority representation in the church. “That’s a fleshly concern,” I’ve basically heard people say. Or, we like to say, “Black or White, it doesn’t matter. As long as they love Jesus, it’s all good!” It’s a kind of “I don’t see color or other differences” Christianese response. We can then slide further into something entirely unbiblical—a reflexive opposition to difference, outright or subtle.

In Revelation 21, the Holy City, New Jerusalem, descends from the heavens prepared as a bride. There isn’t a temple in this Holy City and there isn’t a sun or moon. God’s glory provides the light. On whom does the light shine? Revelation says, “the nations.” In fact, Revelation 21:26 states, “The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into [the city].” In the Ancient Near East, “the nations” could denote all sorts of human “groupings”—ethnic, political, social, etc. Most importantly, what Revelation 21 shows us is not the total dissolution of differences, but God’s celebration of difference. As theologian William Storrar writes,

The one new humanity in Christ is a community of unity in diversity, a holy nation made up of people of all nations who, in embracing their new identity in Christ, retain their social and cultural identities as Gentiles and lose only the oppression and distorting effect of sin and their separation from God’s covenant people… The Bible affirms both equality and difference.

Honestly, I don’t know what that looks like most of the time. Sometimes I see glimpses. I live in a broken world that struggles to recognize difference in a way that isn’t pandering, self-satisfying, or goes beyond a meaningless gesture. The good news of Revelation 21 is that whatever this recognition of difference is supposed to be, it will be perfected and pleasing to God. How great is that! Think about it. There are right now brothers and sisters in Christ who were racists praising God in the heavens because they were set free from that racism, an ironic twist on their earthly lives.

We, still earth-bound beings, are all united by Christ, but, once again, we also live in a broken world where we have to fight hard against our biases and fight hard for racial and ethnic equality. Part of what it means to fight hard (biblically) for racial and ethnic equality in our present is to recognize and celebrate that unity in diversity.

Do we even try to live with the knowledge that God has set us free to embrace unity in diversity? I fear we, the church, as individuals or entire churches, often repackage unity in Christ into a type of Christian “tokenism.” That is, we can easily use unity, forgetting in diversity, as evidence of our “profound” spirituality, a sign of how “non-racial,” “post-racial,” or whatever you want to call it, we are. So, we use unity in Christ to push away wrestling with minority representation in the here and now because that wrestling makes us uncomfortable. Maybe, just maybe this happens in our own church.

Take heart! Christ will come again and set right all things! But we would be fools to forget how our future hope of perfected unity in diversity is impacted by our sinful minds, our family histories, and the way our society oppresses and demeans the marginal. More than fools, we may be in sin to deny sin’s presence. May we remember that unity in diversity matters: it matters to God.

Lift EVERY Voice and Sing

So, this particular blog is coming from a direction of music. Big surprise coming from the “Music Guy,” huh?  I want to talk a bit about statements we often hear, like “music is universal,” “people can be unified through music,” or “people are introduced to other cultures through music.” All these are true. Still, I think we often miss an opportunity to truly embrace other cultures in our Christian faith because we never really stop to consider how God, through the power of the Holy spirit, is working in and through the music of a diverse array of people groups. And so, we never truly, as Christ followers, see the value in another group/culture/ethnicity as expressed in their music. So, let’s take a moment to do so.

In the Black or African American community (whichever descriptive title you choose to employ), there’s a song dubbed to be the BLACK NATIONAL ANTHEM, entitled “LIFT EVERY VOICE AND SING.” The song was written as a poem in the late 1800s by James Weldon Johnson and then put to music by his brother Rosamond Johnson. The initial purpose of writing the poem (I’ll refer to it as a song from hereon out) was to celebrate the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. For the anniversary on that particular year, Johnson’s song was taught to hundred of young people in a children’s choir. Despite having all the elements of a perfectly written hymn, it unfortunately wasn’t valued as anything significant in the wider body of Christ, namely among White American Christians. After the performance, the brothers forgot about the song and went on with their lives. But, the song was adopted by the NAACP as the National Black Anthem, some twenty years later. It has remained circling around the Black community for all these decades. 

But here, things get really interesting. To actually know the song is to know the story of James Weldon Johnson and to recognize how the song lays out God’s actions in history, including how these actions relate to every community, culture, and people group.

I’m going to say a little bit more about James Weldon Johnson in just a moment, but we must first talk about our openness to receiving the experiences of the afflicted through music. We are taught in the Bible that one of the ways to give praises to our God is through the singing of Spiritual Songs, Hymns, and Psalms, as Psalms 96: 1-2 says:

Sing to the LORD a new song;

    sing to the LORD, all the earth.

2 Sing to the LORD, praise his name;

    proclaim his salvation day after day.

3 Declare his glory among the nations,

    his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

The deeds of the Lord are seen through His Grace, His Mercies, and His Miracles. They are also expressed when He avenges the blood of those whom he is mindful of—the afflicted, whose cries He does not forget (see Psalm 9:11-12).

Naturally, most songs are written in light of a personal experience or struggle, and thus they reveal God’s faithfulness, including His redemptive plan, His unconditional love, and His comfort.

For the Christ follower, whether we experience the same struggle of a song writer or not, when we hear of, recognize, and understand God’s deeds—even His responses to a particular (afflicted) group of people, our hearts should be should compelled to be both empathetic and sympathetic. More importantly, we should be joyful in seeing how God has orchestrated a given situation so His Glory would be revealed.

“Lift Every Voice and Sing” reveals the Holy and Righteous Deeds of our God as laid out in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It speaks of a Faith forged in the fires of a dark past, a Faith that can only exist in knowing how Jesus Christ encourages and helps us endure. For example, as the song says, “the Hope that the present has brought us” is revealed when God’s people (the Church) look back and see how God has brought them through and kept them. The lyrics of the song are as follows

Lift Every Voice and Sing, till earth and Heaven ring,
Ring with the harmonies of liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise, high as the listening skies,
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,
Let us march on till victory is won.

Stony the road we trod, bitter the chastening rod,
Felt in the days when hope unborn had died;
Yet with a steady beat, have not our weary feet,
Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?
We have come over a way that with tears has been watered,
We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered;
Out from the gloomy past, till now we stand at last
Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.

God of our weary years, God of our silent tears,
Thou Who hast brought us thus far on the way;
Thou Who hast by Thy might, led us into the light,
Keep us forever in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee.
Lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee.
Shadowed beneath Thy hand, may we forever stand,
True to our God, true to our native land.

When we sing “God of Our Weary Years, God of our Silent Tears,” we are acknowledging God’s sovereignty when things seem at their worst. And, when we sing “Thou who has by Thy might led us into the light keep us forever in our path we pray,” we recognize that our path is according to His Plan, a Plan for our good, not evil, offering a future and a hope. This resonates with Jeremiah 29: 11-13, which says, “Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”

The song reminds us how our feet are easy to stray from the place of freedom when we first came to know Jesus. Also, We can become so drunk with the lust of worldly things that our actions are no longer guided through the power of the Holy Spirit but through the flesh. 2 Peter tells us that without being intentional in this manner we become blind, narrow-minded, and even forget we were saved. But, through the power of the Holy Spirit we can stay the course. Psalm 36:7 speaks of God’s steadfast love and being shadowed in the refuge of His wings. The song also reminds us that as Christians we must first and foremost be true to our God, our Lord, and Savior Jesus Christ through faith. Likewise, we can say that the song encourages us to simply remember the truth of the past—the truth that regardless of the struggles and trials, there will be restoration and glory given to God.

Interestingly enough, although James Weldon Johnson was raised as a Christian with two parents who were believers (his mother directed a choir for years and his father was a preacher), James states in his autobiography that when he wrote the song he considered himself to be more of an agnostic. He loved reading the Bible and thought it was the greatest book ever written. He also enjoyed going to church hearing different preachers, even doing some teaching and preaching as a young man. But, as an agnostic, he just thought, as he described it, “The teachings of Jesus Christ to be the loftiest, ethical, and spiritual concepts the human mind has yet to borne.”  Yet, it’s interesting when James Weldon Johnson recounts writing this particular song, he said that the first line came rather easily. He then had to grind out the next couple. Then, when he came to “sing a song” (lines 5-6), the “spirit” of the song took hold.  He goes on to state that the words flowed through both agony and ecstasy until he reached the third verse. He was so overwhelmed; tears would not stop flowing. He describes it as a “transporting” experience.

Again, after completing “Lift Every Voice and Sing” and seeing it performed, Mr. Johnson and his brother Rosamond completely forgot about the song, moved to another state, and continued on with their lives. But, God had a plan. All the while the song was continuing to grow in reputation and usefulness until 20 years later it was being sung across the United States and had been adopted by the NAACP. Now it’s cataloged in many African American hymnals as a song to be sung any time of the year. It was a song Johnson wrote somewhat casually, even if through agony and joy. He forgot about it, and yet the song continues to be sung to this day. I would suggest to you that the reason is due to the message of Gospel presented in the song. The same hope communicated in the song still remains today: that God will come and take us home one day. This is exactly why we “Lift Every Voice and Sing ‘til earth and heaven rings” (the song’s first line). Through the struggle of a particular group, every person who comes to know Christ will see God’s faithfulness and His redemptive love.

So, “Lift Every Voice and Sing” is a song that should be sung not just during Black History Month, but at every point during the year because it’s a story about the deeds of the Lord. It’s a song representative of many groups, from biblical times to this present age and beyond.