Let the Shepherd Lead

For a number of days, I have struggled with whether or not I should respond to the events occurring in our nation. The killing of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery deserve responses. Protests both violent and peaceful also deserve responses. Yet I have not been sure that I am the correct person to offer such a response. After all, what could I say that would compare with a recent protestor’s motto “Matter is the Minimum.”

I have grown up with all sorts of privilege. My stay-at-home mom filled my life with wonderful experiences and opportunities each day. My dad worked every day making sure that we could afford whatever our hearts desired, including school field trips, special extra-curricular classes, clothes, cars, and college educations. After my mom  returned to work, I would sometimes joke that I had no chance to misbehave because she worked in the school district, my Auntie at the employment office, and my Grams at the law office. Even that joke reveals the kind of privilege I was afforded in the small town where I grew up.

But as a believer in Jesus Christ, the greatest privilege I have ever been afforded is the transforming power of the gospel. Somehow I received by grace what I could never earn, and scarcely understand – salvation and eternal life. This privilege came from the poster-child of privilege, God in the flesh, Jesus Christ. Christ did not allow His privilege to give Him permission for prejudice, but chose instead to use His privilege to identify with sinners like me, dying on the cross to pay a debt I could not pay. Truly He lived out the teaching in Luke 12:48: “Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand more.”

After I shared this message on 6/07/20, I was quoted on Facebook for a sentence offered in my pastoral prayer lifting up our nation and those hurting most. I said “There is one race: the human race. We, as Christians, are uniquely positioned to share this good news with the world.” That Facebook share helped me to see that as a pastor, the people I shepherd want and need me to respond. This is my attempt to define what really matters for us as believers at this time.

1. Listening Matters: Genesis 1:28 tells us that we are made in God’s image. This means that no matter the color, no matter the background, no matter the age, no matter the stage of embryonic development – human life matters. If so, we should listen carefully to those, who in protest, insist “Black Lives Matter”. We listen by trying to understand what compels a person to make that statements. For that matter, we should also try to understand why officers would feel compelled to use such violent tactics. In these disturbing days, Marvin Olasky says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, as Psalm 19 says, but the streets declare the sinfulness of man” (Reforming Journalism). Are we listening ?
2. Redemption Matters: Romans 3:23 says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. In the biblical worldview, not one of us is innocent. We all have broken relationships with God and with other people. We all have become addicted to the most destructive substance in the universe, sin. Some will say that George Floyd was a criminal or a meth addict almost as an justification for his killing. What if Christ had said that of us? Criminal conduct is no excuse for gospel negligence. Every criminal, including those who have broken God’s law, is someone for whom Christ was willing to die (Romans 5:8). That is reason enough for us to care about every person’s redemption. But Christ also calls us to care enough to offer a cup of cold water to those suffering. Caring matters.
3. Identity Matters: Some say, “I don’t see color,” trying to iron out the differences among people. But our color, background, age, preferences – everything that is a part of our story is important, but not necessarily our identity. In 1 Corinthians 6 Paul lists a number of sins that defined members of that church before Christ. Verse 11 offers six transformative words: “and such were some of you.” Every part of our story, while important, does not have to become our identity. My belief that someone’s past does not have to become their future motivates me to share and preach the gospel week-by-week. Christ can transform anyone, giving us a new eternal identity.
4. Privilege Matters: 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”  When Christ saves someone, he transforms each life into a masterpiece of God’s grace “created in Christ Jesus for good works” (Eph. 2:10). The privilege of  salvation should motivate us to glorify God by serving an sharing with others the plan of salvation. This motivating desire aroused by our privilege explains why for generations Christians have founded and served in ministries that help society. It is the driving force behind the motto “treat every person the way you want Christ to treat you.” We have been given much, and much is required of us. Privilege matters as it motivates our service.
5. Relationships Matter: I remember as a young seminary student a professor challenging us to read Philemon, asking if Paul advocated for or against slavery. As It seemed plain to me that Paul was against slavery and any kind of racism. In class I offered that as my response. The professor, with a twinkle in his eye, commented, “slavery was the occasion for the letter, but relationship is the point.” Paul wrote to his friend Philemon on the behalf of a runaway slave who converted to Christianity. Listen to Philemon 15-16: “For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while that you might have him back forever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother – especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.” Relationships matter, and if we are to overcome the difficulties in our nation, the answer is not more laws or more instruction but in better relationships that allow us to call on one another as brothers or sisters.

So what should we do as we face these troubling times? May I offer five simple encouragements: Listen More. Care for Others more. Talk about Christ More. Serve More. Build More Relationships that Matter.