June 11, 2015
An essay posted on the Internet titled "The Black
Dilemma" includes incorrect attribution suggesting it came from The
Baltimore Sun. The Sun did not write, publish or have any other association
with it.
Copyright © 2015, The Baltimore Sun*
I certainly appreciate and
share the concern about the civil unrest that is being stirred up by the folks
in Washington and elsewhere who want us to believe that all men were not created
equal, as per our Declaration of Independence; in the image of God, as per
Genesis 1:26-27; and have taken it upon themselves to fan the flames of racism
for political gain and earthly wealth—all in the name of altruism and pursuit
of a perfect society.
But, dear reader, please don’t buy into the
idolatry that has created this golden calf of racism. Two wrongs do not make
anything right, they only exacerbate each other and carry us deeper into
falsehood and further separate us from the God who not only created us but has
redeemed us in Christ Jesus, His only Son, our Lord.
Neither you
nor I are any different than any other person on earth—past, present, or
future—in regard to virtue, morality, or godliness no matter the color of skin, nation or continent of origin, or culture
of upbringing in the eyes and heart of the One True God, as Paul again tells us
in Romans 3:22b-25a.
“For
there is no distinction: for all have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified
by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received
by faith.”
Furthermore, as Baptized
children of God and members of His body the Church, we and “as
many of [us] as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave]
nor free, there is no male and female, [neither Black nor White], for you are
all one in Christ Jesus.” [Galatians 3:27-28]
The
dilemma the United States of America faces today is not that it has mixed a bad
culture with a good culture, or black with white, but that its people as a whole and across cultures have
become godless with everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes.“ [Deuteronomy
12:8. See also Judges 17:6, 21:25; Proverbs 21:22, et al.] Or more to the
point, once again in Paul’s inspired words: “they [have]
exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature
rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.” [Romans 1:25] As a
result, God has given “us (as a nation) up to dishonorable passions.” And as
you can see from the rest of this portion of Paul’s letter to the Christians at
Rome, while it is a black and white matter of right and wrong, truth v. lies,
it is most definitely not a black and white matter of race. While the depth and
breadth and severity of the matter might well differ from culture to culture,
Paul’s list of depravity and debasement is hardly limited to one skin color or
another. He writes in Romans 1:26-32:
“For
their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise
gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one
another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the
due penalty for their error.
“And
since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased
mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of
unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder,
strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers,
haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to
parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
Though they know God's righteous decree that those who
practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to
those who practice them.”
Need I mention this week's Charlotte massacre suspect, Timothy McVeigh,
Charles Manson, Ted Bundy, Peter Singer, Margaret Sanger, Brigham Young, etc.? Or
on the other side of the coin, Herman Cain, Lt. Col. Allan West, Thomas Sowell,
Walter Williams, Condoleeza Rice, Clarence Thomas, the Tuskegee Airmen, George
Washington Carver, Booker T. Washington, e.g.?
But all historical and anecdotal evidence aside, as I preached to the saints here in the southwest corner of Kansas two weeks ago Sunday, each of us has enough of our sin that we best not become like the Pharisee of Jesus’ parable thanking God we are “not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like [that Bruce Jenner guy/gal, or those inner city rioters and looters].” There is no sin but our own than can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus—and that only if we do not acknowledge and confess it as our own most miserable fault and condition.
But all historical and anecdotal evidence aside, as I preached to the saints here in the southwest corner of Kansas two weeks ago Sunday, each of us has enough of our sin that we best not become like the Pharisee of Jesus’ parable thanking God we are “not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like [that Bruce Jenner guy/gal, or those inner city rioters and looters].” There is no sin but our own than can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus—and that only if we do not acknowledge and confess it as our own most miserable fault and condition.
So, my dear reader, as I also preached on that Sunday:
“Let’s
not forget those words of this crazy savior of ours who really is the Son of God
that tells us all:
‘For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.’” [John 3:17]
‘For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.’” [John 3:17]
“The
world includes Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner, and all those around us [again, no
matter the color of skin, nation or continent of origin, or culture of
upbringing] whose vanity we [like Adam and the Pharisee of
Jesus’ parable] often use to hide from God, and thus keep God hidden from us.
God has not only called us on our sin and called us out from it to know and
believe in Him, He has called us out to go and reveal Him, His love, and His
salvation to those we know who are still in hiding and therefore are hidden
from the love that God has for them in Christ Jesus; the love that forgives the
sins that it has uncovered, the love that calls sinners out of hiding to
deliver them out of that sin and leave it behind, the love that gives eternal
life to you, the love that desires to give that forgiveness and life not just
to you, but to every sinner so that they with you might no longer be lost and
hidden in the crazy blasphemy and vanity of sin.
“Dear
Baptized of Christ & Faith, go therefore back into the vanity and craziness
of the world in which we all live as God ‘s forgiven children, not hiding any
longer, but to forgive others as we have been forgiven to deliver us from the
vanity and craziness of sin and into the sanity and blessed peace of eternal
life—in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy
Spirit.”
Please don’t let the hatred of this depraved and
fallen world drag you back out of your Baptism and into its pit of competitive
cultures and mistaken identities. You are God’s beloved child. You are being born
again--along with all those Baptized into the body of Christ that is His holy
Christian Church on earth--to live in His love now and forever. As a member of
the body of Christ here on earth, you are also sent back into your world to
extend that love of God in Christ Jesus to those who have yet to hear and know
of His love and His deliverance from the depravity of this world and its
various cultures, all of which lead inevitably to death.
Yes indeed, dear Baptized, as a child of our Father in heaven, Christ lives in you and fills you with His Holy Spirit in order to continue to bring you with all His elect out of the blackness of our (that is, every man’s) sin and into the marvelous light of His truth that brings salvation from the culture of death and deliverance into His kingdom of eternal life.
Yes indeed, dear Baptized, as a child of our Father in heaven, Christ lives in you and fills you with His Holy Spirit in order to continue to bring you with all His elect out of the blackness of our (that is, every man’s) sin and into the marvelous light of His truth that brings salvation from the culture of death and deliverance into His kingdom of eternal life.
**http://www.amren.com/about/issues/
