White people, 'our heritage' and the church of Jesus

Confederate statues and memorials have been in the news recently, and at least some of what has been said on the topic in Virginia has not been helpful.

On May 13, protesters gathered in Charlottesville to rally twice against that city council's vote to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. Protesters carried torches during a night-time event at the site of the statue in a scene all too reminiscent of the Ku Klux Klan rallies of the past, minus the white robes and hoods.

At one of the rallies, Richard Spencer -- who reportedly coined the term "alt-right" for a movement that supports white nationalism -- said, "What brings us together is that we are white, we are a people, we will not be replaced."

Meanwhile, the Republican primary race for governor includes a candidate, Corey Stewart, who has made the defense of Confederate statues and memorials a part of his campaign. On several occasions, I have received Facebook advertisements in which he says, "I will defend our heritage, culture, and laws."

In response to Stewart, I do not intend to debate what should be done with such public remembrances of Confederate leaders but to respond to the declaration he "will defend our heritage."

If the character and actions of Confederate leaders are "our heritage," does Stewart think that is a heritage black Virginians should celebrate? After all, the men honored by these statues fought and led many others to fight and die for the right of some people to own other people as if they were just pieces of property. Many Virginians are the descendants of slaves who suffered under that legal, yet oppressive, regime and its brutality.

If Stewart is thinking only of the heritage of white Virginians, should the state not also honor the heritage of the descendants of black slaves? Should there not be memorials to those trapped in slavery -- of whom there were more than 490,000 in Virginia in 1860?

How do those who follow Jesus by the grace of God respond to what appears to be the white-supremacist comments of Spencer and the white-centric comments of Stewart?

1. We affirm what is more significant about us as human beings is not our skin color -- though it is not to be minimized -- but the reality we are all created in the image of God and all equal in His sight.

2. We oppose efforts to elevate people of one ethnicity over those of others.

3. We become friends with people of other skin colors who can provide correctives to a tunnel vision based on our skin color.

4. We pray for and work for churches made up of saints of different ethnicities to reflect God's redemptive work in all people groups and to learn from one another.

5. We constantly remind ourselves what brings us together as a church is the blood of Christ, never our skin color.

“Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth” (Rev. 5:9b-10).

May God be glorified, the saints transformed and the world affected as churches increasingly display in their makeup and fellowship the power and unity of the gospel.

Photo credit: Paul Taylor

Lamenting to the God we can trust

"How long, O LORD?" It's the cry of David in Psalm 13:1. It's the cry of other biblical writers as well. It's the cry of those who continue to await God's help or see the flourishing of the wicked, among other reasons.

It's lament.

Lament is not exalted as a virtue in a Christian culture that instead magnifies Your Best Life Now and so many other unbiblical, unhelpful emphases that mark the prosperity gospel and therapeutic faith of our day. Yet, it's a biblical, virtuous practice. It's a practice it would be helpful to adopt if we would follow the example of the people of God described in Scripture.

In our small church, we have people who can lament with good cause. The reasons are manifold: The lostness of loved ones. Physical affliction. The departure from biblical faith and/or morality of family or friends. Infertility. The burdens borne by a parent or child.

Many of the psalms of the Bible are marked by lament. As such, they provide insight into why lament is good, says David Gundersen, a biblical counseling professor at Boyce College in Louisville, Ky. In a blog post in September, Gundersen wrote:

If the Psalms of Israel teach us anything, they teach us that we are sinful, that life is broken, that hardship abounds, and that the greater David who’s coming (through all his travail and tribulations) to establish his everlasting kingdom is still to come. On these grounds, and many others, they teach us that it’s good — not just OK — to lament. Because if we’re singing in the rain, the melody should often match the weather.

In this way, the Psalms show us a powerful reversal of the way we typically think about lament. We often assume that lament implies doubt. But in truth, lament is actually an act of faith. The person to whom you complain is the person you trust. Sometimes we complain to people because we know they’ll listen. Sometimes we complain to people because we know they’ll care. And sometimes we complain to people because we know they can help.

If all of this is true, then our conception of lament gets turned on its head, and we must boldly acknowledge a new reality: Psalmic complaint is a form of trust, because lamenting to God implies belief in his listening ear, his fatherly care, and his sovereign power.

May we lament with the knowledge we have a Father whom we can trust.

Coming to grips with decisions that harm others

As human beings and Christians, we live with this sobering reality: Sometimes the decisions we support, and potentially make ourselves, have devastating consequences for others. Or at least we should come to grips with this reality.

The decisions may be made with right and noble purposes. The consequences may be totally unintended. Nonetheless, such decisions can still result in great harm.

Take the invasion of Iraq in 2003, a military action many evangelical Christians and other Americans supported. The United States swiftly defeated the Iraqis and overturned Saddam Hussein's regime. In the aftermath, however, strife between Muslim groups arose, and eventually the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) moved into the country to inflict its genocidal campaign.

The effect on members of Christian and other religious minority communities in Iraq has been catastrophic. Since 2003, the number of professing Christians in Iraq has sunk from about 1.4 million to less than 300,000, according to estimates. The decision by President George W. Bush to depose a murderous dictator set in motion the dynamics that have resulted so far in the death or displacement of nearly 80 percent of the Christian population in Iraq.

Or take a recent decision, President Trump's executive order to halt temporarily the refugee resettlement program. If it ever goes into full effect, the White House's effort to make certain our country is more secure in the face of terrorist threats will leave some of those who have fled oppression, persecution or war unable to relocate to our country -- at least for a time. For now, courts have blocked both versions of the order from implementation. In addition, the administration plans to cut in half this year the number of refugees, many of them women and children.

This post is not intended to be an argument for or against either the invasion of Iraq or the order halting refugee resettlement. Instead, it is an appeal to followers of Jesus to acknowledge, not ignore, this reality that comes with living in a world deeply infected by sin: Decisions we think are helpful to our safety or flourishing may be harmful, devastatingly so, to our brothers and sisters in Christ, as well as other image bearers of God.

If we rejoice in the government order to pause refugee resettlement, for instance, because we believe it will make us safer but refuse to at least weigh in our own souls its effect on others who are seeking safety and peace, it seems to me we are not following well our Savior who grieved over human loss in His public ministry. May we open our hearts to lament when fellow image bearers suffer -- including when decisions that appear to benefit our lives wreck the lives of others.

Preach this to yourself: No condemnation

One of the most important exercises we as Christians can participate in is to preach the gospel to ourselves. Even as those who have been rescued by God, we can fail to understand fully -- or we can even neglect -- the message, the meaning and the manifold benefits of Jesus' life, death and resurrection.

My goal beginning with this post is to provide some reminders of what Christ has accomplished for us, His people, by His saving work. Faithfully recognizing the effect of the gospel can make all the difference in how we think and live as Christians.

One of the glorious benefits of the gospel is described by the apostle Paul: "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8:1, NASB).

This means God does not condemn those of us who have trusted in Jesus to save us from our sins. It is not that we will be condemned if we don't embrace the gospel of Christ. It is that we have been rescued from the condemnation we already were experiencing. Paul teaches this truth in other passages, and Jesus testifies to it.

In Rom. 5:18, Paul writes: "So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men." Our condemnation was the result of the sin of one man, Adam. As his descendants, we are under condemnation.

In Eph. 2:3, Paul says, "[We] were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest." God's wrath was upon us just by virtue of being human beings with a sinful nature.

God the Son explains in John 3:17-18 a reason He came to earth as a man -- and points to the condemnation all humanity lives under. He says, "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

As sinners by nature, we are condemned; we are under wrath; we are judged. That all changes when God saves us by His grace because of the powerful, gospel work of His Son. Now, we are no longer under condemnation -- forever. Nothing can reverse that verdict, and we are never to contemplate that God's attitude toward us is one of condemnation.

This is the kind of benefit we should regularly remind ourselves of.

(This is a revised version of a blog post from December 2014.)

Photo credit: Slavik Gurmeza

How do we speak in this tumultuous time?

These early days of a polarizing presidential administration bring great opportunity but also great risk for the blood-bought community.

What we say is especially important, but so is how we say it. In fact, whether or when we speak also is a vital consideration for followers of Jesus.

The week after the inauguration of President Trump appeared to act like a release valve for some Americans, including some Christians. Pent-up anger that had mounted during the previous administration poured forth on social media. While much of that seems to have subsided, the spate of presidential executive orders -- especially the one halting temporarily the refugee resettlement program -- and the Supreme Court nomination have managed to keep things stirred up.

In this cultural moment, we need to be sensitive to the communication and reception of the church's testimony regarding our Lord and Savior. We can speak and write in a way that strongly affirms God's holiness while tenderly expressing His mercy. That would hopefully -- thought not assuredly -- prove attractive to others, including those who oppose us. Or we can speak and write in a way that powerfully proclaims our convictions but seems to offer no compassion for other sinners. That would prove self-defeating for the church and our gospel message.

After all, we are people of the Book, and that Book tells us:

Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person (Col. 4:5-6).

As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ (Eph. 4:14-15).

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger (Prov. 15:1).

So how should we as Jesus' disciples navigate the choppy waters in the early days of the Trump administration and the societal dispute that has greeted it? Here are a few suggestions for myself and my brothers and sisters in the faith:

1. Clarify your allegiance. All our interactions should make clear our loyalty is first and always to the Lord Jesus and His kingdom, not to any public official and any government. No Christian should be a shill for the president or another office holder. No Christian should be blindly loyal to the president or another office holder. The faithfulness and effectiveness of our public witness depends on this.

2. Commend the good and oppose the bad. As Christians, we should be grateful for and applaud government actions that affirm such biblically based tenets as the dignity of human life, the exclusivity of male-female marriage and the free exercise of religion. We have already had opportunities to do this in the Trump administration. He signed an executive order Jan. 23 reinstating a ban on federal funds for organizations that perform or promote abortions overseas. For that we should express our gratitude. Yet, the White House announced Jan. 31 Trump would continue to enforce President Obama's executive order designed to protect LGBTQ employees from discrimination by federal contractors without religious liberty protections for those employers. For that we should call for a change in the policy.

3. Communicate with compassion. When declaring our viewpoint on social media and in other venues, we should do it in such a way as to demonstrate a desire to understand others involved in the conversation and to leave space for a continuation of our interaction. Some people may oppose us. Some may be uncertain regarding what they believe. All should encounter Christians who are willing to be criticized and questioned without responding in anger or defensiveness. Those who oppose us are image bearers of God like us. Those who oppose us may be our brothers and sisters in Christ one day.

Life after 44 years of the culture of death

What do you say after your country has completed 44 years of a legal regime that denies the sanctity of all human life?

Well, for one thing, you say you hope it doesn't last anywhere close to another 44 years.

Yesterday, Jan. 22, was the 44th anniversary of the Supreme Court's rulings in the Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton cases. In those opinions, the justices not only struck down all state restrictions on abortion, but they legalized the lethal procedure throughout all stages of pregnancy -- even to the moment of birth.

The results of those decisions have been devastating and far-reaching -- results that include: An estimated 58 million babies dead by legal abortion; untold millions of shattered lives among both women and men; and an encroaching cultural mind-set that labels some lives as not worth living.

Yet, there is encouraging news:

-- Americans in their 20s and 30s are more pro-life than the previous generations.

-- Abortions fell to about 926,000, their lowest level in 40 years, in 2014, the latest year for which statistics are available.

-- The pro-life -- and pregnancy help -- movement continues to grow.

Discouraging news also exists:

-- The quality-of-life ethic is gaining strength in other areas: Six states and the District of Columbia have legalized physician-assisted suicide, and 38 percent of evangelical Christians think it is morally acceptable.

-- Nearly one million abortions -- and numbers far less -- still constitute a blight upon our country.

-- The Supreme Court is at least two justices short of overturning Roe and Doe.

How do we as evangelical Christians respond at this cultural moment?

1. We defend, teach and practice the sanctity-of-life ethic proclaimed in the Bible, demonstrating we value every human being -- regardless of location, condition, development, skin color, ethnicity, citizenship or age -- as an image bearer of God worthy of care and protection.

2. We love, serve, and evangelize others -- even our opponents on abortion and assisted suicide -- so they might know the Creator who made them in His image and sent God the Son in the form of an image-bearer to rescue them.

3. We support and participate in Christ-honoring ministries that serve vulnerable people.

4. We pray -- including for God to continue to restrain behind His dam of mercy the ocean of judgment we have amassed.

Photo credit: American Life League

The alt-right and true Christianity

One of the disturbing developments of 2016 was the rise of the alt-right. This alternative version of the conservative movement is probably most noted for its promotion of white nationalism. If that were not bad enough, there is even a so-called Christian version of the alt-right -- one that calls for a biblically based response from true followers of Jesus.

I was already somewhat familiar with the alt-right, but my first contact with it came in mid-November. I retweeted a post on Twitter from Robert George -- McCormick professor of jurisprudence at Princeton University and a stalwart defender of the sanctity of human life, marriage and religious freedom. George tweeted a comment from an alt-right advocate to demonstrate the mentality represented in the movement.

The tweet was from "Henry Smith @FoundersRace," who said in a comment responding to criticism by George of alt-right ideology: "If we don't make America more White, you'll never get your way on abortion. Supporting White Nationalism is your only hope.‬‬"

I retweeted George, and soon thereafter someone identified as Levi Hennessy tweeted at George and me: "Alt-Right Christianity is rising, and it will restore true Christian theology." Several of his fellow alt-right travelers liked or retweeted him. I replied to Hennessy, writing: "Love you, Levi. Glad at Jesus' throne will be those 'from every nation and all tribes and peoples' (Rev. 7:9)."

In his tweet, Hennessy included a link to the website "Christianity and Race." In its "About" section, the website provided this view of Christianity or "Identitarian Faith," as it described it:

In recent decades Christianity has become a suicide cult. Theological leaders have reinterpreted the Bible into a document of ethnic and religious sadomasochism. Everywhere, Christians of European descent are being told by their church leaders and faith organizations to open their countries to Third World invaders, transracially adopt children, hand their country’s political authority over to less civilized minorities, tolerate and accept Islamic warfare against them, displace their children’s inherited privilege, bankrupt themselves giving “aid” to disparate corners of the globe, encourage their children to marry outside their ethnic group, and denounce their own ancestors as evil “racists” unworthy of commemoration or respect. In short, Euroethnic Christians are being commanded to erase their own existence.‬

As you might guess, the alt-right advocates fail to handle Scripture accurately in defending a view of Christianity that divides humanity by ethnicity. Without responding to each of their unfaithful interpretations, here are four big-picture truths in the Bible that stand against such a view of humanity:

1. Every human being -- regardless of skin color or ethnicity -- is made in the image of God.

2. Every human being -- regardless of skin color or ethnicity -- is a descendant of the first man, Adam.

3. Every human being -- regardless of skin color or ethnicity -- is a sinner because of his fallenness in Adam.

4. Every human being -- regardless of skin color or ethnicity -- is a member of a people group that includes those who will gather around the throne of God by virtue of the blood of Christ.

God the Son did not come to prop up humanity's divisions by skin color and ethnicity. He came not to reinforce walls but to wreck them. He lived and died as the perfect man to save a people whose most important identity would result from union with Him, not from any natural marks such as skin color. Jesus died for people of all ethnicities to make us into "a chosen race" (I Peter 2:9).

It appears the alt-right movement is a small one, and hopefully it will remain that way. Its members need the gospel of Jesus just like all the rest of us sinners. But their anti-scriptural, anti-gospel message is dangerous and evil. We should refute it with truth and grace just as we reach out to its devotees righteously and compassionately. We also should defend those whom the alt-right demeans.

As followers of Jesus, we must accept the challenge of this moment. We must not let those with loud and angry voices intimidate us into silence. We must speak the truth with love for all of our fellow image bearers, regardless of our difference in pigmentation or heritage.

Photo credit: Paul Taylor