Did black evangelicals let white evangelicals say nigger? pt. 2

Solutions for a dismembered body of Christ

As a pastor, with an extremely multi-ethnic church, I have thought long and hard about how we got here, and how we get out of here. “Here,” is the situation I wrote about in part one of this post. I've read, prayed, discussed with other pastors and influencers, spoke about, debated, have been encouraged and discouraged. Primarily, by the pump fakes of solutions offered. Many of the "celebrity pastors" have chosen sides, or at times have been too afraid of the consequences of loudly admonishing everyone, reminding us of the real enemy, Satan. All of this led me to ask God two questions: Why are you letting this happen? And how do we get out of whatever this is?

Here is the first answer I felt like I got from the Lord. Ephesians 5:11 Don’t participate in the fruitless works of darkness but instead expose them. I felt like the Lord was saying he is exposing the deeds of darkness in his people. And so should I. Not just one particular side, but all sides. This led me to not choose a side to exclusively defend or attack because the unspoken rule is, whatever side you are on, it is sinful to expose that side. You must attack, and only attack, the opposing side. 

So, if you are on the side of, let's say, "woke," but you mention that statistics on the black community do show significant issues that blacks need, to be honest about, you are vilified by that side. You have clearly been listening to Candace Owens and company too much. And if you are on the "anti-woke" side, and make any reference to the validity of some forms of current systemic racism, or that you don't think CRT is that big of a deal, you have let the leftist media narrative affect you. You need some Voddie Baucham in your life.  But the reality is, we have all been letting the satanic right and left agenda affect us.

We need a solution. And it needs to be rooted in Biblical realism, not American idealism. Sadly, many will not be up for that kind of solution. They are too triggered, too tired, and or, it is just too hard after all the hurt. In some senses, they are skeptical of anything that has to do with changing the current racial climate. At least in the American church. If, for no other reason, they've never seen it done before. And that is a deeper issue. We don't know how to apply the bible outside of our individual selves.

We have unbiblical categories of what the church (gathered believers) should do versus what individual Christians are commanded to do (I will address this more in the next article). We ask questions, selectively, like, "What is the role of the church?" This question is often posed to challenge ideas and activities that are not the preference of the questioner. We pit Jesus against Paul, where we marvel that Jesus died, but focus primarily on what to believe, and how to live from Paul. Things Jesus taught about loving our neighbors either become assumed or object lessons, mostly applied by new believers as they are growing in their theology. Many of us, though, are unwilling to admit the real problem; that changing this destructive, racial, climate we're in, is not too hard. It's that we're too hard-hearted.

Earlier, I said that I asked two questions of the Lord. Ephesians 5:11 was the first answer. Here is the second. It is called the "Sturdy Stool," a 4 step process that, if applied, can change the entire landscape as we know it. And yes, I know the risk of calling a solution, stool. In this cynical age, I set myself up for people referring to this process as a different kind of stool than the one intended. But, and I do not mean to be arrogant in saying this, I don’t think any of them will offer a better solution that is biblical and doable. This stool is strong enough to hold all of us if we are willing to sit on it.

I will explain what each step is with biblical support. By support, I do not mean the scripture is necessarily giving us direct imperatives to do each step. But that the process is created from things that have been said or done in scripture. It is an application of truth. In the next post, I will explain in more detail how to do each of these in our current cultural moment. For now, I just want to introduce you to the process

#1 Collective Reunification

In the last 10 years, many of us were shocked to see how quickly the unity we thought we had in the gospel crumbled. Voices from all directions were blaming one another for causing division. However, in order for something to cause division, there has to be proof that there was unity in the first place. Otherwise, “the something” that’s causing division is not causing it but is revealing the division that was already there. This is what happened to the church. There was no unified position on racial dynamics. Apart from a few conversations here and there, it was largely, don’t ask, don’t tell.

Or, to be fair, it was largely assumed that there were no issues until issues introduced themselves. That's when the "unity groups" formed (a false sense of community that was really communiformity). And then it was neo-babel. Everyone went with whomever they could agree with. The “for social justice” camp went over there. The “against social justice” folks went up there. The people that wanted to stay away from it all went in a different direction than the other two. And it wasn’t a, “we don’t believe the gospel any more,”. It was a, “we don’t believe in you anymore.” And you, was anyone that wasn’t in your unity group.

So, if theology, sociology, ecclesiology, eschatology, and political ideologies, can’t unify us, what can? Many of you are thinking Christology. The gospel unites us. This is true. But that’s always been true and look at where we are now. It’s not that the gospel can’t do it, it's that the people that believe the gospel, don’t believe in the gospel for real change. We need something different to be unified around, and that unity is something Jesus said when he taught us to pray, and something Jesus prayed for us. 

Matthew 6:9–10

9“Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy. 10Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

John 17:20–24

20“I pray not only for these but also for those who believe in me through their word. 21May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us, so that the world may believe you sent me. 22I have given them the glory you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one. 23I am in them and you are in me, so that they may be made completely one, that the world may know you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me. 24“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am so that they will see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the world’s foundation.

There are two realities here that overlap into one theme. God’s name is seen as holy, reverenced, glorified. And Jesus gave us his glory, so that we may see the glory the Father has given him in eternity. Because many of you reading this are pastors, Christians, theologians, etc. I’m not going to get real exegetical here. But the main reason for not doing so is because many of you will agree with the above verses, and that is precisely the problem.

In part one of this article, I highlighted a blindspot among white evangelicals to focus on what they believe instead of how they behave. An intellectual agreement, in their mind, assumes functional obedience. We know this is not true. But it’s also not a white evangelical only problem. All of us do this. No genuine Christian will say glorifying God is not at the top of the list of their responsibilities. And that’s true intellectually. But in practice? No, it’s not.

If the vast majority of the church functionally cared about God’s name being revered as holy, and that he be glorified by our actions, would there honestly be this much division? Is what we're seeing in the church the unity that Jesus was praying for when he asked the Father that we be one? One in what? Is what we’ve seen in the church the last 12 years the reflection of Jesus being in us and us being in him?  Would there be so many excuses made for the sins of our ancestors, or the myriad of accusations of racism, or the dismissal of concerns by brothers in Christ, or the idolatry of trust in political outcomes, if there was genuine concern and conviction over God's name revered as holy?

What many of us call the glory of God is more our interpretation of his glory. It’s the glory that we want for him not necessarily the glory that he commands from us. His name has not been seen as holy, at all. At least not in the conduct of many of his people in the American church. If Jesus said, “You fool” makes someone liable to go to hell, we have said and thought much worse of our brothers and sisters who see things differently.

The reunification that we need is a functional commitment to God’s name being more important than ours. His glory needs to be defined by what he says in his word more than what we say with our words. Doxology is how we need to be unified. Not an intellectual doxology, we all have that. We need one where we genuinely grieve that God is not being glorified and that God’s name is not revered as holy because of the conduct of his people. We need to stop letting ourselves off the hook by saying "we're not perfect." We know fam. Only Jesus is.

1 Corinthians 10:31–32

31So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. 32Give no offense to Jews or Greeks or the church of God…

This verse is the proverbial ball and chain around the leg of many in the church right now. It's because we're unified in things that cause division. We pride ourselves on giving offense to everyone that doesn't hold our views on how to live in light of the gospel. If we were cut to the heart like the Jews in Acts two, we could change all of this.

How we do get here?

In the next article, I will explain how we can practically make this happen. For now, it’s important to understand the reality. We are not unified by his glory. Sure, we all profess to believe in the gospel, but our treatment of one another has been more like Peter scolding Simon than it has been Paul adjusting Peter. Once this leg of the stool is established, we can move on to the next critical step.

#2 Collective Conviction

Many, in the last 12 years, have called for a collective conviction. This was in hopes to establish some form of collective responsibility. In theory, the idea is spot on, but in practice, it focused on the wrong kind of conviction. Many black evangelicals, and others sensitive to the concerns that were being voiced by them, were using the term white privilege (I covered this in part one). The idea is that white people have benefitted from the sins of slavery and racism, and have accrued financial and social privileges as a result. There is some truth to this. The challenge, however, was the solution. What are white people supposed to do, if anything?

Suggestions quickly became demands, and they pointed to some form of collective guilt, that should lead to some sort of renouncing that privilege by giving up some measure of their financial stability to blacks who were never able to be stable because of America's racist past. White people (generally, but my focus is more on white evangelicals) that did not agree, called the ideas Marxist, unbiblical, and another gospel. They started to blame blacks for the failures of Marxism historically, which eventually became blame for the failures of "the left," which is a code word for democrat; and demanded that blacks take collective responsibility at the polls and stop voting democrat, etc. Those on the side of "woke" threw the collective conviction on those who voted for Trump, which became a code word for white supremacist, a code word for conservative, or the right, a code word for Republican. So now, everyone is demanding everyone take responsibility for what their political party has done. It was and is a mess.

Sadly, as each side was trying to force conviction on the other, the one conviction every Christian should've shared, no matter where you land politically, was missed.

Romans 2:24

[24] For, as it is written: The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.

I am almost certain that I missed it, but I did not see a clear, consistent, concern, that the glory that Jesus gave us, and the reverence for God's name as holy (which is largely seen in the conduct of his people) be presented as the most important thing Christians should be convicted about. What a vast difference from when Jesus told his disciples, "one of you will betray me," and they were so focused on themselves that they asked him, "Is it I, Lord?" Had Jesus said this today, most of us would've said, "It's them Lord isn't it?"

In Acts 2 when Peter was preaching to the Jews at Pentecost he said these words. "Let all the house of Israel, therefore, know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified."  He was speaking to Jews who came from very far and hadn't been around Jesus as much as some others. Some probably heard about him but weren't in close proximity to feel responsible for his death. Peter knew that, and yet he put the blame on them, not the Sanhedrin, or the Romans. The Jews who were listening understood they had not glorified God by crucifying and killing Jesus by "the hands of lawless men." Collective conviction was their response. "Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 'Brothers, what shall we do?'"

Brothers, what shall we do? We need to be cut to the heart. Over what? That God's name, the gospel, and things like biblical morality, have been blasphemed among non-believers because of the conduct of professing believers. We need to be honest. The world is not angry at us because we stand up for righteousness. They are angry because there's too much unrighteousness in our stance. And I believe God is disciplining us because of this. Here are two examples to explain what I mean.

At a Ligoneer's conference some years back, Voddie Baucham said that MLK Jr. was a "neo-Marxist and a socialist, and a pastor, and tremendous orator...he was wrong on the gospel, and he was wrong on worldview, as a liberal Marxist socialist..." His point was a larger one about Obama, but his description of MLK Jr. is of the most significance. Voddie Bauchman could be 100% accurate about MLK. But if we are trying to cultivate a collective conviction about God being blasphemed because of the church, then we should be asking another question. Why did God have to use a neo-Marxist who was wrong on the gospel to bring collective conviction to the nation instead of sound doctrine theologians like John MacArthur who said they were there also? We'll critique MLK but not realize that God using MLK is a critique against us (assuming you feel that MLK wasn't sound biblically, or even Christian as some have stated). I don’t hear any of our platform epistemologians critiquing themselves for how the church has behaved. But they’ll critique MLK for what he believed.

The second example is similar. How did a secular, socialist Marxist organization like Black Lives Matter inspire so many believers to care about justice, while the church was fighting over the definition of justice? Are all those believers Marxist? Perhaps unbelievers even, or at least deceived by the devil? Was their sensitivity to the injustices they see invalid unless it was the injustice of abortion? If God is truly sovereign, why did he let a secular organization like BLM seemingly demonstrate more care and unity for people than the church has over the sinful treatment of image-bearers that are mostly black? Is God trying to tell us something? I believe he is. And I don’t think he is saying BLM is right. I think he’s saying we are wrong. We are too political and sociological for our own good. We need a collective conviction but it can’t be around Black Lives Matter or Trump. The collective conviction must be that God has not been revered even by his people. That our unity is in everything but his glory.

Are we capable of having a collective conviction about how God is viewed, talked about, portrayed, and dismayed in the culture because of us?  Yes, we are. And it may be, apart from serious persecution, our last chance. In the ’80s, there was a song called, "We are the World." It featured 45 of the most popular singers and entertainers in the world, to raise money for African famine relief. The song itself generated $50 million dollars. It was a movement established by a collective conviction about famine.

We need a “We are the Church” movement, with a collective conviction about God’s honor being restored, and his glory as the priority. We should be cut to the heart like the Jews in Acts two. The only thing that can stop us, is thinking we already live according to this conviction. Some definitely do. But many of us don’t

How do we get here?

In the next article, I will explain how we can practically make this happen. For now, it’s important to understand the reality. The collective conviction that we need is not skin deep. Once we establish a collective unity around the glory of God. And we establish a collective conviction around that glory being blasphemed by unbelievers; then we can logically move towards a collective responsibility.

#3 Collective Responsibility

The greatest example of this is found in 2 Kings 22, with its counterpart found in 2 Chronicles 34. It was in this narrative that I saw that conviction, biblically speaking, is a community project.

2 Chronicles 34 begins with this sentiment.

[1] Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. [2] He did what was right in the LORD's sight and walked in the ways of his ancestor David; he did not turn aside to the right or the left.

God wanted it known that Josiah was a godly man and deserved no punishment from the Lord. At 16 years old we learn, “Josiah began to seek the God of his ancestor David, and in the twelfth year he began to cleanse Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherah poles, the carved images, and the cast images.” Josiah went on a tirade tearing down all the idols and altars that were not honoring to the Lord.

When he was 26 years old we learn that he began to repair the temple of the Lord. In the construction, a priest named Hilkiah found the book of “the law of the Lord written by the hand of Moses (Deuteronomy).” He gave it to Shaphan, the court secretary, and he brought it to Josiah, and read the whole thing out loud. Here’s what happened next.

2 Chronicles 34:19-21

“[19] When the king heard the words of the law, he tore his clothes. [20] Then he commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micah, the court secretary Shaphan, and the king's servant Asaiah, [21] "Go and inquire of the LORD for me and for those remaining in Israel and Judah, concerning the words of the book that was found. For great is the LORD's wrath that is poured out on us because our ancestors have not kept the word of the LORD in order to do everything written in this book."

Josiah understood something that many of us don’t seem to grasp. He grieved that his ancestors, not him, have not kept the words of the book. Josiah understood that he inherited a culture of disobedience, and possible judgment from God because of that disobedience. Josiah never took responsibility for the disobedience as if he had done it, but he understood that those who came before him set in motion things that he and his contemporaries had to make right. This is what collective responsibility looks like. And this is what I saw misapplied in the church for the past 12 years.

Black evangelicals (it wasn’t just blacks, other white evangelicals were too. I’m just using the dichotomy of black & white because we’re most familiar with that narrative) were demanding white believers take collective responsibility for having privilege. White evangelicals (some blacks too) were angrily pushing back often mocking those who made the request, as unbiblical and Marxist. In reality, both were wrong.

It is Biblical to take collective responsibility, just as Paul criticized the Corinthian church for their lack of collective obedience to the Lord. But in the case of historical evils that have reverberating consequences in the present, collective responsibility is not about what color you are, but that many who professed to believe in the same God you do, did not keep the words in the book related to loving one’s neighbor. They behaved in such a way that the reputation of God has been badly marred. And the discipline of the Lord, not the punishing to the third and fourth generation, is what we’ve inherited.

This is an extremely important distinction. It’s not white people that need to take responsibility for the financial and sociological privilege, it’s every believer taking responsibility for the way our ancestors (Jonathan Edwards, George Whitfield, and others may have been genuine believers) didn’t live as privileged to “be called God’s children.” And they didn’t leave us a good example to follow or lay down a solid foundation in this area. Apart from a somewhat shabby 1995 SBC resolution on racial reconciliation (more on this in the next post), not much has been done in this area. Except, for the occasional gratitude that blacks have been willing to come into white evangelical spaces.

The main concern, though, is not repairing race relations. It’s much deeper than that. We are concerned with the damage done to the glory and name of God, to which racism is only an aspect. There is biblical precedent for this and some very practical steps to see this through. We need a, “We are the Church” movement, that collectively humbles ourselves, not for things that we did necessarily, but that our ancestors did that we inherited.

How do we get here?

In the next article, I will explain how we can practically make this happen. For now, it’s important to understand the reality. We, like Josiah, need to be grieved for what those have done in the name of our Lord. And I don’t mean for all time. America is our context. America preached true religion and then allowed slavery, racism, and greed to make orphans and widows. America said it was a Christian nation. Then, by the glory of God, let's repent like one.

#4 Collective Opportunities

The fourth and final piece to the sturdy stool, is, for me the most surprising. It’s probably because in the last 20+ years I’ve heard nothing but "body of Christ" descriptive language. Yet, this reality has been the most neglected. Some have assumed that 1st Corinthians 12 has been reduced to being solely about spiritual gifts. That is a sad reality, if true. God says so much more in that portion of scripture. In fact, I would say the most significant practical application for getting us out of this debacle we are in, will happen when this fourth step is applied.

There are broader implications than the six verses below. And how they all come together will be further discussed in the “how do we practically get here” article that is forthcoming. But again, I just want you to understand the reality at play here. Or, the surreality that has been the underlying (f)ecclesiology (pronounced fuh-klees-e-ology, the "f" here is for fake).

1 Corinthians 12:4-7, 14-17

[4] Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. [5] There are different ministries, but the same Lord. [6] And there are different activities, but the same God works all of them in each person. [7] A manifestation of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good:

There are a variety of gifts, ministries, and activities that God has given his people. The fact that each of the three entities is described as coming by a different person of the Godhead is telling. This is a trinitarian reality. And all the gifts, ministries, and activities are given for the common good. Some of those will primarily be used in and for the church. Others will be used to draw others to the church. But, they are all from God (more on this in the next post).

In verses 12-21, God describes his people as a body with different functions, but all connected just as the gifts, ministries, and activities are. Many of you are yawning. You know this already. But there again lies the problem. We know it theologically but not practically. Read the verses below, is this not the exact opposite of what has happened to many in the church?

[14] Indeed, the body is not one part but many. [15] If the foot should say, "Because I'm not a hand, I don't belong to the body," it is not for that reason any less a part of the body. [16] And if the ear should say, "Because I'm not an eye, I don't belong to the body," it is not for that reason any less a part of the body. [17] If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?

Here's what happened

White evangelicals acted like anyone who thought there were unresolved racial dynamics in the church was not a part of the body. They didn't say, “because I'm not an eye I don't belong.” They said, “because you're not an eye like us you don't belong. Because you think police killing blacks is more important than abortion you're a Marxist (mind you, no one is treating Marxist like they are genuine believers). Because you want to focus on equity instead of immigration, you are anathema to the Lord.”

Black evangelicals acted like anyone (primarily white evangelicals) that does not make the eradication of racism their top priority, does not care about the poor and misfortunate. If you don't agree with systemic racism and reparations, then you do not understand the gospel you supposedly preach. This is antithetical to the three verses we read above (1 Cor. 12:14-17). It's basically saying, "you are not a hand like us so you are not a part of the body.

All sides seem to be missing the point of verse 17. The different body parts are going to have different priorities because they are different ministries and activities. The goal isn't for everyone to care about the same thing. That would be like the whole body having the same function. The goal is to let everyone care about everything for the glory of God so that his name is revered as holy because his people are bringing righteousness to bear everywhere. Everyone doesn't have to prioritize racism. But let those that do, do so for the glory of God. And the rest of us should cheer them on.

Everyone doesn't have to prioritize abortion. But let those that do, do so for the glory of God. And the rest of us should cheer them on. Do you see where this is going? The problem is, we have all elevated our ministries, activities, gifts, and convictions on how and where to use them, and have weaponized them on each other; treating fellow believers who do not share our emphasis like they are not part of the body. And the worst part of it is, we think we have created a community. No. We have created communiformity. Unity is, we believe the same thing. Uniformity is, we have to do it the same way. We have dismembered the body because we have forgotten, "If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?

The opportunities are endless for the church if we would actually allow each other to have them. There is no single priority except to glorify God. "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or Greeks or the church of God..." We can get here. We can have a, “We are the church” movement. But the whole thing about a movement is that it actually has to move. We have been stuck and sinking for far too long. It's time to shut up and dance!

There are very practical steps for this 4 step process. They will be explained in the final part of this question, “did black evangelicals let white evangelicals say nigger? Thanks for reading!

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