Blog

by Aaron Felty

With each passing day, there seems to be a growing chasm between the white culture and the black culture. We see professional athletes kneeling during football games and “patriotic” white folks demanding they be prohibited from doing so. We see black people protesting and marching for more equity in the judicial system after each video of a black person being shot. We see white people telling them to stop committing crimes and just comply with police officers and they will not need reforms. We see white supremacists marching and demanding we keep up statues of southern slave-owning Americans, and we see people including white folks demanding they be taken down. In both groups are people who just want to move forward justly in faith.

How should we as Christians respond in these and the myriad of other situations currently facing our nation and the church, as it relates to people of different cultures or races? How are black and white Christians processing the incidents that occur in our country relating to race? How can we maintain unity? We have to start from a position of humility and honesty. We need to realize our experiences are vastly different from one another, and that demands we listen and care.

Our problems of race, as a nation, began far before our formation as a country. The problem is sin, and the solution is our Savior! 

We must admit that perhaps the way we understand these things is not the way others understand them, whether you are black or white. After that, we have to humbly determine to seek understanding where we can, and decide to not allow the differences to divide us. How we do that is a bit more complicated, but we must approach this subject with the mentality that we will not leave the table until we have unity. A blog post is not going to SOLVE this problem, but perhaps it can help. It will be one person talking to another with the desire to understand and care.

During college, I had an identity crisis. I attended a small private school nestled in northwestern Indianapolis. At that time, there were 400+ people on campus but 1200 admitted. All but 4-8 people (depending on the year) in campus housing were white and boy did they let us 4-8 know when we were walking around. I was radically saved by Christ in 1993 and my understanding of who I was completely changed. The Heavenly Father adopted me as His son and no longer was my identity attached to the color of my skin. I am a child of God and no amount of melanin can change that. But guess what? That is true for EVERYONE! So from that point forward race meant little to me, until the last couple of years. I have seen such division and angst. Insensitive words and a covert racism are the norm. People are comfortable with me so they say things that reveal a deep dislike for people of the other race, referring to the black and white issue.

I have been profiled many times for many things by many people, but I am not a victim. I am keenly aware that in our country I am black. As a biracial person, I see that generally black people do not trust white people and white people do not trust black people. I often feel like I’m the only one in the room who senses what is actually happening. I feel at home when I am with black or white folks, but in neither place does “home” feel healthy. Only in homes where Christ is the center do I truly feel at home. 

Reconciliation is needed - the kind that the Bible outlines. As ambassadors of Christ, we have been given the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:17-20); it is not an option! At the tower of Babel, the people came together with one voice and attempted to make a name for themselves. As a result, their voices were changed and they were commanded to scatter. I believe that it was shortly after this that “racism” began. At Pentecost, people of all backgrounds were together, focused on Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit descended upon them and they heard the Good News in their own language (Acts 2). A powerful unity was restored. This must happen again in order to heal this rift!

Healing will begin with honest self-reflection, doing only what the Bible actually says, putting aside politics when it conflicts with Scripture, and taking a stand when people make ungodly comments about those who do not look like them. We need to stand against injustice everywhere we can. 

Reconciliation requires listening attentively, admitting our part, and asking for forgiveness and repentance where appropriate. Only after those things have occurred can unity be restored. I am guessing that the vast majority of followers of this blog are white, so I want to encourage you to consider how you actually feel about black people. If you saw a young black boy walking down the street with sagging pants, a crooked hat, and a hoodie up walking at you, how would you feel? How do you talk about the black athletes protesting during the national anthem? What feelings do you have about the Black Lives Matter movement? I wonder if those who are white in the church have turned a deaf ear to the screams of their black brothers and sisters. I wonder if my black brothers and sisters are so hurt that they cannot risk trusting a white person again. 

We have to move away from thinking our way is THE way, turn to Scripture, and see how Jesus responded to those who were feeling oppressed and minimized. Then we should do likewise. I suggest doing all that you can in your ministry of reconciliation. Be proactive not reactive!

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