In Response
Seeing our nation in utter turmoil saddens us, I think it is appropriate to lament over the systemic racial injustices that the African American community has been suffering for centuries. One way we as a Christian community have done this together is through participating in prayer meetings and prayer walls, such as this one, which I have been really blessed by. We have been asking for ourselves and our nation to repent, and for comfort for the African American community.
Many of us are in different places—some of us have been repenting of our callousness, of our unfruitful anger, and we are driven to learn more. Something that has opened my eyes recently to many unheard stories of Black Americans is a documentary about Bryan Stevenson, a lawyer in Alabama who heads the Equal Justice Initiative. One man by the name of Anthony Ray Hinton who Stevenson helped get out of jail was incarcerated—death row for 30 years, for a crime he clearly did not commit. He was a target of unjust racism and white supremacy. The documentary also highlighted the history of our nation, thinking about even how our nation hides that it was built on a genocide of indigenous peoples and has been a nation of violence and racial hatred ever since. This is the sin of our land—the bloodshed on our soil. We cannot flee from this truth. If you would like to see this documentary, here is the link.
Another thing that has opened my eyes in this book written by Dhati Lewis, “Advocates.” I am reading it along my brothers and sisters in our church. Lewis makes the case with how the heart of the gospel is reconciliation, between humans and God, and humans with one another. And there had to be God’s merciful justice to be expressed; this was Jesus on the cross. He reconciled and restored us. Thus, we can’t have true reconciliation without justice—this is the kind of justice us Christians must understand and strive for, biblical justice (not the cultural or Western ideas of justice). This is our call to engage people, issues, and systems across lines of division—to be aligned with biblical justice. This personally was really enlightening for me as a Christian, who has studied race through my graduate program—preparing for abolitionist teaching, but really needing to hear the Christian perspective, the eternal perspective. I highly recommend getting this book, as how are we to move forward without educating ourselves—especially as Christians who are called to be a light to the world.
I could go on, but lastly I wanted to leave you all with this piece of Scripture—how God's word is so timely as this came up in last week’s DT (the devotionals many of us go through together). Through Psalm 9, here are a couple verses that stuck out to me: “The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed, a strong hold in times of trouble… for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you… he does not forget the cry of the afflicted… Put them in fear, O LORD! Let the nations know that they are but men!” God is in control, He is mighty and just! Hoping we can all take comfort in who He is. I also wanted to leave you with this link to Gracepoint’s page of resources for prayer and education. We hope to do more and hold on to our convictions!