The amount of violence, anger, and grief the world has experienced in the last few days is crippling.
Alton Sterling is dead. Philando Castille is dead. Five police officers are dead, and seven are injured.
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Our country is aching and coming apart at the seams. There is so much to be said about our black brothers and sisters who are hurting and the police force that needs not only support but also to acknowledge the patterns of injustice they are showing. I want to applaud so many in my largely white community for standing up and grieving with those who we often have a hard time relating to, and I want to yell at the few who won't stand up for those who are hurting and tell them to quit putting blinders on and to consider their fellow men. These are the feeble ways I've thought of that I can give a voice to this overwhelming situation. But in reality, I have no idea how to approach any of this.
In some ways I'm still figuring out my own convictions, still trying to spot the many areas in my life where I am too quick to judge and too quick to use my white privilege without even realizing it. I want racial reconciliation to run rampant through this country and our broken culture, but I don't know how to make that happen through my own biases and pride. While all of these thoughts swirled through my head last week, the Lord was gracious and lead me to a passage that silenced my own inadequacies. My words will always be flawed and ignorant in one way or another. Christ's words will always speak truth.
Let's move from my words to His.
Colossians 3:1-4 (ESV): "If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on the things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."
Come to these verses when you don't know how to respond to the news and the hard topics of right now. God's promises heal our souls, and these words bring such sweet healing. We seek what is above because what is below destroys us, as we've experienced through tragedies this week. Pray that he will control your mind, your words, and your actions as you navigate the hard conversations that are inevitable right now. Remember also, that you've already been raised with Christ. Racism, which is absolutely still alive all around us, is tragic and evil, but don't let that bring you to absolute despair. He is still on the throne and he is still good.
Colossians 3:5-11: "Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming, in these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self, with it's practices, and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all and in all."
These verses say that every man in Christ is free, and I hate hearing that, because it sure doesn't feel that way. Verse 11 doesn't make sense to me because there seems to be a gaping hole of inequality right now. How can there be no difference between races and cultures like Colossians says when the headlines are filled with death after death, injustice after injustice? How is what verses say true?
The truth is this. Freedom in Christ isn't guaranteed to manifest itself physically, but spiritually. Dear Jesus, give freedom to our oppressed brothers and sisters, white or black. If they can't have physical freedom, show them that their souls can be free.
Colossians 3:12-13: Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other, as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
This situation of race, violence and injustice brings up so much scary opportunity for discussion, and so much promising opportunity for Gospel conversations. If you're wondering how to work towards racial reconciliation, this is a good place to start. Hold yourself accountable to these commands. Make yourself act in patience and bear with those who you truly can't relate to in any way. Listen to people who are hurting, even if you disagree with them. Come alongside them in prayer, and be broken over their tragedies with them. We need those who are different to support one another. Not because we have all the same experiences and opinions, but because we value life and true freedom more than our own pride and comfort.
Colossians 3: 14-17: And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body, and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
I like to picture these verses as what the beginning of racial reconciliation looks like. It begins with love. Not love that's easy to come by, but love that takes hard work, love that is motivated by Christ and the peace he brings that crosses cultural norms. Unity in Christ and with one another is what Colossians 3 calls us to, and that is so unbelievably hard. The insanity in this world feels hopeless, too huge to fix or even begin to cover up.
But we have Christ, we have his word, and we have his ever-moving hand to guide and protect us. In verse 14 we read about love, and how love binds all things together in perfect harmony. The love of God isn't going to shut down the protests and shootings and make everything okay in the blink of an eye. What it will do, though, is go behind the scenes quietly and save souls. God is in the process of raising up his own to bring change from the inside out in hurting communities and a hurting nation. What this takes is bold people who are willing to pursue holiness and love like Colossians 3 commands us to. It takes humility and the willingness to serve certain people more openly than you have in the past. We have to start speaking words of kindness and understanding to our black friends and to our friends who are brave and just policemen. We're all hurting, and division is the last thing we need, but the only thing we seem to get more of. These topics are too heavy for any of us to bear, so run to Christ. His power is stronger than these tragedies, and His love is capable of bringing together those who at one time could only live in division. I can't wait for the day that we get to sing and give thanks with brothers and sisters who are wildly different than us, all for the glory of God.
