This week, a Latino community leader in a major Southern city told me about a white Christian woman in his city who contacted him asking for someone to help clean her house. He recommended a Mexican woman to her who went to her house daily, worked and cleaned faithfully. The white Christian woman paid the Mexican woman in cash under the table to no taxes were taken out and nothing was reported. The Mexican woman was then caught in an ICE raid and was detained and sent away for deportation. The Latino community leader was heartbroken about this and worried for her family left behind. He received a phone call from the white Christian woman who hired her and appreciated her work in cleaning her home. He expected the white Christian woman to express concern for the Mexican woman who had been detained and sent away for deportation and to express concern for her family left behind. But, what the white Christian woman in the Southern city said next floored him. With no concern for the Mexican woman or her family at all, she simply asked,
“Can you send me another?”
That was this week.
___________________
The last couple of weeks have seen major Evangelical conferences addressing issues of Race, Justice, and the Gospel of Christ in MLK50Conference and then Together For the Gospel, 2018. Major, historic sermons have been preached by Russell Moore, Charlie Dates, David Platt, and Ligon Duncan, among others. Reflections on past sins (both personal and structural) and how the past shaped the institutions and theology that we presently inhabit were discussed as well as how we can address these historic fissures and move forward together in the future in cruciform ways. These discussions have been good and needed. And, of course, there has been pushback with denials, accusations of “cultural Marxism”
Ligon Duncan at the recent Together for the Gospel, 2018, preached a message entitled, The Whole in Our Holiness (Video|Transcript). In that message, he makes an application to applying the Second of the Greatest Commandments to Historic Racial Division in the Church. He says,
Racial tensions in our churches and our nation would be in a significantly better state if the Reformed community in America in the 19th and 20th centuries had rightly applied the second great commandment. But tragically, the Reformed community—my community, our community—devised ways to delimit the second great commandment. On the other hand, our British brothers and sisters condemn our blindness. Charles Spurgeon refused to commune with slaveholders. The Scottish Presbyterians refused to tolerate slave-holding or racist theology. Moreover, our Reformed community would have recognized its serious errors if it had simply listened to the voices of brave and brilliant Reformed African American theologians like Francis Grimke.
And yet, in America, Baptists and Presbyterians decided that slavery was too divisive an issue and therefore shouldn’t be addressed in the church—for the sake of “unity.” For the sake of preserving the “Spirituality of the Church,” matters of “politics” and “social life” were ignored. In reality, however, these church leaders and pastors were evading the second great commandment. Their logic was like the lawyer’s: “Let’s not divide the church over this. After all, who is my neighbor?”
Regrettably, this theological legacy lived on. Brothers, if you get antsy when you hear preachers applying the second great commandment to the issue of race in the church and in America then these theologians have taught you well. In my shame, I admit they taught me well—and it’s taken more than three decades for God to break through the blindness of my own heart on this issue (EDIT: he then said, “forgive me brothers”).
This isn’t about some social gospel. Of all the things that may concern you, don’t be concerned that Ligon Duncan grooves with cultural Marxism. Racial reconciliation in the church is fundamentally about the dadgum second great commandment.
Marty Duren had a tweet thread earlier this week about spiritual myopia and white evangelicals:
Over the past couple of weeks, high-profile white evangelical pastors have preached strong sermons on race and justice. With these sermons (and convos around them) have come confessions to having overlooked the importance of justice as a part of the gospel of Christ. Confessions have come in sermons, articles, and social media. One pastor confessed to have preached a “truncated” gospel. While there has been pushback from some who continue to insist racial reconciliation is not an issue related to the gospel of Christ, support for these confessions has been deep and wide. That’s good.
Here’s the problem: Black pastors have been preaching justice as part-and-parcel of the gospel for a long, long time. They preached it during slavery days. They preached it during Reconstruction. They preached it after Reconstruction. They preached it during Jim Crow. They preached it during the Civil Rights era. They preached it after the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts. They have preached it since and to this very day. The problem isn’t simply that many white preachers preached a truncated gospel. The problem is we didn’t listen to the gospel as it was being preached all around us. Historically, too many didn’t preach *the* gospel because they were busy preaching *our* gospel, a gospel that conformed to our culture, preferences, and comfort. Many white American pastors didn’t preach against injustice because they’d never faced it and were not willing to listen to those who had and are. Our black brothers have—literally—for centuries been telling us these things are so. We *chose* not to listen to them. *White pastors* helped place the roadblocks. *White pastors* chose a truncated (and sometimes outright false) gospel. *White pastors* had the luxury of a “repent and believe” gospel that omitted or obfuscated the practical outworking of unity in Christ,brotherhood and sisterhood, equality, the obliteration of man-made categories, the breaking down of dividing walls, and the resulting peace in Christ. Too many white pastors were not willing to pursue peace with black brothers and sisters because it could cost them”peace” at home, at work, or at church.
But, ask yourself: what kind of “gospel” supports and protects chattel slavery, averts its eyes to the division of families, the rape of enslaved women, flogging human beings, the sale of mixed-race offspring produced by slave-owners, murder, manipulation, plunder, and man-stealing? That’s the gospel of Christ?
I am thankful more people are more fully appreciating the gospel and its implications, and that the conversation is expanding. But, we should be honest that it shouldn’t have taken us this long, and that it was not the Spirit of God that caused ears to be dull to hearing the messengers he placed around us.
We are still struggling with these things, often because we fail to listen to those God sends to us to awaken us to what has happened and what is happening around us. The foundations of Evangelicalism in America, including the Southern Baptist Convention, were laid in the ground of racial oppression and injustice and we did not adequately confront it. The Gospel of Jesus Christ and His call for us to Love our Neighbor as Ourselves is the only solution to the historic trauma that has been wrought upon our nation. We are a people who can repent, reconcile, and restore relationships and systems with the love of Christ. But, we have to care about people and love them sacrificially (Philippians 2:1-5). We have to listen. We have to disciple and confront and help people understand that God made all people in His image and they all have worth and value and how we treat vulnerable people directly correlates to our knowledge of God and our understanding of the gospel itself. Grace received must be grace applied, not just to ourselves, but to others.
We have to listen to others of different ethnic/racial backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. Voices have been speaking for a long time. Honestly, the protests of white pastors and church leaders when they say that they don’t want to hear about this anymore are irrelevant. There is so much pain out there, continuing division, and a lack of understanding of what people have experienced. We still have white Christians requesting another Mexican woman to come clean their house after the previous one was deported without stopping to consider or express empathy about what people are going through. This conversation is only just beginning. It isn’t overdone and talking about these things and how to solve them is not the source of the problem. We need to listen, both to God and to our neighbors whom God often speaks through.
We also need to know that there are still those asking, without acknowledging that we are dealing with real flesh and blood people, “can you send me another?”
Alan,
You say:
“The foundations of Evangelicalism in America, including the Southern Baptist Convention, were laid in the ground of racial oppression and injustice and we did not adequately confront it.”
I think it would be helpful for you to name some of the names of those staunch pro-slavery men in the early SBC. Can you help us?
https://albertmohler.com/2015/06/23/the-heresy-of-racial-superiority-confronting-the-past-and-confronting-the-truth/
Boyce and Broadus … I’m glad that Dr. Mohler had the courage to mention their names. I appreciated his article in 2015. Historically, I believe exact persons pushing terrible ideologies can be singled out. History has those answers. It just takes time digging into old musty books and libraries. This week I spent time in our SBC library in Nashville looking more into the family life of Drs. Basil Manly Sr and Junior. They were ardent pro-slavery men. Men like these pushed the ideology and successionism and the march to War. New estimates declare that 850, 000 Americans died in… Read more »
I would love to read that, John. Could you post the link if it is online?
Alan
I’ve read it. Fascinating read. Biggest take-away…William Johnson 1st SBC Prez founded the SBC on the premise slavery was a “civil” matter, not a “church” matter . Johnson further maintained that the SBC didn’t want to interfere with “Caesar” on this matter of slavery. Remember…”render unto Caesar.” You’ll Love his insights.
Ron, Regarding those persons and their sinful proslavery defense I would say the same thing that I have said numerous times regarding Martin Luther King, Jr. – warts should not be used as a reason to discount or disregard whatever good and godly deeds they have done – Nor should those warts be ignored so as to overly exalt them pretending they are somehow wart-less. We mustn’t forget that People have feet of Clay…we are, as our anscestors were, products of our times and culture. We only need to read the Bible to see how Our apostolic and old testament… Read more »
Tarheel, Good word my friend. Totally agree. Your statement is balanced, biblical & fair. My problem is with those that can highlight King’s issues, but give Boyce, Broadus, Edwards, & Whitfield a mulligan. Tarheel, I’m trying to secure a room for 30 @ a Restaraunt @ the Omni connected to The Dallas Convention Center. On Tuesday June 12, 5pm-6-30. Going to check it out next week. I may even be able to pay for meals up to 30. Don’t know yet ‘till I get more details. Was thinking ‘bout the 1st 25 who sign up can come, if there be… Read more »
Yeah. I always enjoy hangin’ with you.
Alan,
In what way should wounds be bound in your story? The Woman’s willingness to hire was a signal of her callousness. This person could not be paid above the table; the employer was looking for someone to find desperate people for her to exploit in full-time work, and the leader served that role.
But having compassion like the Good Samaritan, in what way should our compassion lead us to justice in this case?
You miss the point entirely.
I thought I had accepted your point: there is division, and we should have empathy. But the Samaritan did not feel pity and keep walking. What does just repentance look like for the woman in this story?
The story was meant to illustrate her blindness to her own hardness. She was only thinking of herself. Plus, I do not know if the Latino man knew if she was undocumented or not. He doesn’t run a service. He just knew her and recommended her. Discussing what the white Christian woman should do goes beyond the story as an illustration of a hardened heart. But, she could visit the family. Make sure the woman has an immigration lawyer. Travel to visit her. Speak on her behalf. Prov 31:8-9
Fair enough. I’d turn her into the IRS hotline, but I’m not her pastor. 🙂 I will say I have two concerns with the current state of our race conversations: The first is that some advocates seem determined to get people to confess a problem before discussing their solutions. But real people instinctively understand that problems require solutions, and illogically stop giving ground at the earliest possible point. “Excuse me ma’am, do you have a problem getting the dirt off your floors? “ is not really a question about dirt. It’s a question that must lead to a solution. It… Read more »
This is a good discussion, Jon. Thanks for your input. I largely agree with you on the overall form that the discussion must take. I have no problem putting forward solutions. I work on them all the time. The problem is that we often argue about the solutions before we acknowledge or ageee upon the problem. And, we argue about solutions to things that we technically should all agree with as a way to not really engage in any solutions. At this point in American history, having Christians actually care about and express love toward vulnerable immigrants/refugees and engage in… Read more »
I affirm and agree with 99.9% that was written here. I hope you will join with me as well if the resolution apologizing that we submit for SBC inaction, apathy and latent affirmation of Nazism in the 1930s can get to the convention floor in June. Racism is racism is racism.
Dr. Downey, I would be happy to see that resolution ahead of time. I wrote about that scandalous situation in chapter 3 of my book, When Heaven and Earth Collide. I posted that chapter here: http://alancrosswrites.com/the-subversion-of-christianity/
Alan – thanks for linking to your chapter. Only perused it but found it fascinating (I’m sure you didn’t write to merely ‘fascinate’ readers). Hope to get the book and read it soon. In the lead-in story of the OP, you tell the story of a white, Southern woman seeming calloused over the deportation of a Mexican woman. How old was the white woman? The reason I ask, is that many of us who are older, do not keep up with many of the ‘events of the day.’ Unless someone explained to her what was happening, she may have had… Read more »
Alan, “”We still have white Christians requesting another Mexican woman to come clean their house after the previous one was deported without stopping to consider or express empathy about what people are going through.” Sad. But not racism. Marginalizing the poor and oppressed, or just using them for one’s own needs without empathy is sin, but not racism. In the story, the color of the skin has nothing to do with the sin. Consider the story if we change the color of the white lady’s skin. Let us say she Mexican by heritage who married a rich American. Would her… Read more »
Alan, Can you please point me to a sermon that explains how justice and the Gospel [the kind of justice as mentioned by Marty Duren] goes together. To me, the Gospel speaks about justice in that because we are sinners, we have earned cndemnation from God, which is due to His justice against our rebellion, and that only through faith in Jesus as our Lord can we escape the justice due us. I just read Ligon Duncan’s sermon. It spoke about the obedience of love. The second great commandment speaks of loving your neighbor as yourself. It speaks about acting… Read more »