8.12-Against Racism

8.12-Against Racism

I went to my Saturday men’s group this morning hoping as usual to find fellowship, encouragement and a challenge to grow spiritually.  It did happen but not in the way I had planned.

I left for the meeting concerned about the planned demonstrations in Virginia.  I had heard that the White Nationalists and KKK and the Alt. right were planning some torch light demonstrations.  This concerned me because I have a daughter and two grandsons who are part African American.

This news story was mentioned by me and some of the guys before we got into our time of learning together.

I had a Christian brother explain today that Ham saw the nakedness of his father Noah and told his brothers and Noah cursed him for this.  Ham was the father of Cush, and Cush was the dark skinned people of Africa so God cursed these dark skinned people.

(see Genesis 9.20-28)

I immediately challenged his interpretation and said that this interpretation was given by some to say whites were superior to blacks and that this was not good teaching from the standpoint of Jesus Christ.  Jesus taught all were loved and equally loved by God and He reached out to Jews, Gentiles and Samaritan, the mixed race.  I said, “This kind of teaching and thinking is not Jesus Christ way. Period.”
The group immediately knew my strong disagreement.  This is true from my understanding of Jesus regardless of the reality that I have a daughter and two grandsons who are part African-American.
This small group of six guys went on beyond this encounter to try to keep learning together but it was an uncomfortable moment for all of us.
In my experience the man who said this is a loving Christian man and he said he works well with all races according to him.
I believe there is a tendency in all of us to blame America’s problems on “them” rather than the “sinful, selfish hearts” of all of us.  Those “liberals”.  Those “blacks”.  Those “uneducated whites”.  Those “deplorables”.  Those awful “Republicans”  or “Democrats”.  This is too arrogant and too easy to be the way of us as disciples of Jesus.

My friend Ron Holland wrote something on his FB that I liked.

“The SIN of hatred and racism has reached an emergency level in Virginia. People are dying. Blood is being shed because white terrorists are determined to continue the subjugation black people. It's not caused by violence "on all sides." It is caused by white people determined to hold onto their white privilege. It's white people who are willing and anxious to hurt, even kill, those who try to stand for justice for all people.

If we remain silent we share their guilt.”

God help us.
Larry Wishard

1 Corinthians 13.

13 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body ^[a]to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, ⁵ does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, ⁶ does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; ^7 [b]bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
⁸ Love never fails; but if there are gifts of ^[c]prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part; ¹⁰ but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. ¹¹ When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I ^[d]became a man, I did away with childish things. ¹² For now we see in a mirror ^[e]dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. ¹³ But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the ^[f]greatest of these is love.