Reflection on Our Current Moment in History

Beloved Brothers and Sisters,

I pray this finds you well and rejoicing in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.

I must begin by confessing that these words are coming too late. I must confess that, in writing only now, I have failed members of the body of Christ by not yet openly standing with them. I must confess that I have not acted, spoken, or listened enough nor soon enough. My only prayer is that I would be forgiven of my wrongful negligence and, more and more from this day on, actively pursue the reconciliation we are gifted in and through Christ Jesus our Lord.

My heart is heavy. I find that heavy is simply a word I can use to serve as a placeholder for a pain far deeper and more inexpressible in my soul. I find that, even despite the undeniable sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, I see my mind battling with rage, resentment, and wrath in recent days. Simultaneously, I find that my heart is driven to lament and to a depth of sadness on behalf of my brothers and sisters far greater than I have ever experienced in my life. 

For the last several days, I have been regularly marching in the protests that have followed George Floyd’s death. If you feel you cannot trust what you watch and read, I pray that you can trust me. At the the first protest I attended, the tension created among protestors by the police was entirely palpable and entirely avoidable. As my eyes stung with tear gas despite our protest remaining peaceful, I prayed in lament for our brothers and sisters who have spent their entire lives battling far greater injustices than I experienced in that moment; with them having had no choice but to do so. I lamented that it had taken me so many years, although I am still young, to submit myself to my brothers and sisters of color in this way to finally gain a clear glimpse into their cries. 

I fear that, for many in the PCA especially, or White Christians more generally, you have already stopped reading. I only pray as I write this that the Holy Spirit has captured your attention and is currently speaking through that which I am typing. I pray that you continue reading.

It seems to me that, for many in the PCA, and White Christians more generally, the last four years—and 2020 in particular—have exposed a great deal of our idols. On one hand, I rejoice in this fact. I rejoice because I believe God exposes and breaks our idols to call us into deeper relationship with him. At the same time, I feel fear because, in every instance that our idols present themselves clearly, we have the choice to submit ourselves further to Christ or harden our hearts against him in further submission to our idols. I fear this because, as White Christians, both have been done historically in the name of Christ. This breaks my heart.

So far I have been intentionally vague, because I believe what I have said applies to many different historical injustices in our nation. In these last months, it has become more clear to me than ever in my life that three idols dominate the White American church: mammon, self-serving nationalism, and, ultimately, pride. More specifically, and heartbreakingly, these idols have drawn large proportions of the White American church into supporting, consciously or not, the systemic oppression of our black and brown brothers, sisters, and neighbors within our society.

It is fascinating to me, for example, that armed, White protestors in Michigan can storm a government building in the name of opening up the economy and receive no backlash en masse from White Christians (not to mention, frankly, the Republican Party to which they have in large part unquestioningly aligned themselves). At the same time, White Christians are quick to denounce with disgust the whole aim of Black Lives Matter protestors—of whom an overwhelming majority have been peacefully seeking equality in justice—due to even the smallest acts of vandalism committed by a relatively small number of individuals. To be clear, neither armed occupation nor vandalism resemble Christ, and yet what can we learn from these varied responses? It seems clear to me that White Christians are quick to turn a blind eye to un-Christlike behavior which supports that which they worship (secretly or not)—that is, an ultimately consumeristic, White-dominated worldview—and quick to denounce what opposes that which they worship—that is, the possibility that the national system they idolize (secretly or not) is not as perfect as they believe; that it does not treat all of its neighbors as Christlike as it should; and that maybe not all of what White Christians believe is true about the world is actually true.

This breaks my heart especially because I often hear that the PCA, in particular, boasts in the fact that it adheres to the best doctrine. However, (not knowing to whom to contribute this quote) “what is orthodoxy without orthopraxy?” One of the most beautiful things about the Bible is that it makes claims about the True Reality (capitalization intentional) of things. It tells us what is true about God and our relationship to him, but it never stops there. What is True about Reality is always intended to drive us into proper engagement with that Reality. Take Colossians. Chapters 1 and 2 speak of the glory, power, excellence, sacrifice, and preeminence of Christ. It is those things that lead us into chapter 3, which tells us that, if those things are true about Christ, we must therefore “put to death what is earthly in us…and put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, kind and compassionate hearts, bearing with one another…” etc. Take Ephesians. We were once alienated, separated from God, but by grace we have been saved through faith, and this is not of ourselves. Therefore, we must “walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which [we] have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Can we honestly say in good conscience this has been the guiding attitude of the White American church?

It seems much clearer to me, if we can be honest with ourselves, that we have given our idols too big a foothold in our lives. That for too long, we have let our own cultural values determine the extent to which our Christianity calls us to love our neighbor, and more importantly, our brothers and sisters who do not look or think exactly like us. We believe we have the “purest understanding,” and yet we have ignored humility. We adhere to our doctrines, and yet have ignored the doctrine of unity. This is bigger than Republican and Democrat—they both (unsurprisingly) are riddled with their own evils. This is about faithfully playing our role as the hands and feet of Christ to usher in the Kingdom of God, where our citizenship ultimately belongs. This is about Christ, our Lord, to whom our ultimate allegiance belongs and should not be challenged by the things of this world. Throughout Scripture, it is more than clear that God despises all injustices. We do not get to choose what kinds of justice we “do” (Micah 6:8) and what kinds are “not our problem.” Are we, for example, willing to dedicate the same energy into standing up for the unborn as we are for our afflicted brothers, sisters, and neighbors who are already alive? When our brothers, sisters, and neighbors are experiencing affliction, we seek to satisfy their desires because it is not only the heart of God to do so, but the command of God to do so (see Isaiah 58, as one example).

Brothers and sisters, my heart is so filled with love and with great pain. I cannot express the extent of my longing for unity in the Church. It breaks my heart to see it divided, and I know it is the work of Satan himself. If we truly have the purest doctrine, can we be honest in the fact that we should constantly hold at the front of our minds that we have an enemy who wants nothing more than to destroy us in every way? Can we be honest in stating that our enemy knows exactly how to manipulate our pride and other besetting sins so as to divide the body? Lord Jesus, save us from our pride! I am filled with such great love and longing, and that is why I am moved to write this. When is the last time White American Christians have submitted ourselves as a whole to our Black brothers and sisters? Do they not share the same mind of Christ that we have? And yet we suspect them to be liars? Lord Jesus, forgive us. Our Black brothers and sisters, forgive us. “But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.” Can we, in good conscience, say that we have faithfully pursued such unity and humility? Or have we let our idols and pride dictate our conduct for too long…

My heart breaks. It is my only hope in my continued and fervent prayer that these times lead us to greater unity. I pray the the power of reconciliation afforded to us by Christ’s sacrifice and the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit binds us together. As Peter writes, the Lord puts us into fiery ordeals in order to prove us. May we be proved faithful. May we be proved loving. What a shame it would be if, at the return of Christ, we should be caught asking, “Lord, when did we see you naked, thirsty, sick, and in prison?” and to hear him say, “What you did not do for the least of these my brothers, you did not do for me.” May we, starting now, even if we are far too late, begin manifesting in a mighty way, by the power of the Spirit, what it means to submit, to be humble, to love, to sacrifice, to serve, to lay down our idols, to seek the things that are above, to not be conformed to the image of this world, to let good and kindred and this mortal life go, to seek treasures in heaven, to do justice, to love mercy, to align ourselves with the oppressed, to satisfy the desire of the afflicted, to be meek, to be peacemakers, to seek the building of the kingdom, and to be ambassadors of reconciliation.

Lord Jesus, come quickly. Be with us now and forever. Keep us from stumbling so as to present us blameless before the presence of your glory with great joy. To the only wise God, to our Lord and Savior, be blessing, glory, honor, and majesty forever and ever. Amen.