A Proper Christian Response

How many Christian churches today are repeating the mainstream talking points: racism, racism, racism, whitey, whitey, whitey, privilege, privilege, privilege?  You wonder why we need a Christian church at all – don’t we get enough of this in our face every day?

From an earlier post, citing Paul VanderKlay:

Church leaders need to figure this out and create language rather than repeating worldly boilerplate in a sycophant’s quest for legitimacy from the zeitgeist.

So, let’s try this:

Genesis 1: 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Start here: we are all made in God’s image.  All of us, every single one.

Galatians 3: 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

If you want to understand both equality and diversity, perhaps this verse from Galatians can help.  You can only reconcile equality and diversity here.

Matthew 22: 36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?  37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  38 This is the first and great commandment.  39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.  40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Of course, it is impossible to love our neighbor as our self.  Like many admonishments, this is aspirational.  We need a target to aim at, else we will never come close to the target.

Romans 3: 10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one

Not even the protestors; for sure, not the rioters.

Romans 3: 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God

All.

Ephesians 2: 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

This can never be resolved by works.  No amount of kneeling, washing of feet, African clothing, or reparations will pay the price.

Conclusion

So, who or what will pay the price?  As I have written earlier regarding the demands of the day:

The problem is that there’s no atonement here.  No justice, no peace?  How about no atonement, no peace.  If the price to be paid is infinite, there is only one place where atonement will be found.  The church has this message; it should use it.  Instead of pandering with the same slogans that those who are out to destroy the church are using.

Where is that place?  I know of no sacrifice greater than a father sacrificing his son – unless it is the Father sacrificing Himself and His Son at the same time.  And that Father and Son were there from the beginning.

I do not look for forgiveness for the wrongs of my ancestors, let alone ancestors that were not even mine.  I have enough trouble with my own wrongs, and there are a few that I don’t think will ever be forgiven by those I have harmed on this earth.

But there is one place that these will be forgiven.  And if today’s Christian leaders want to deliver a message of hope and love – right now, today – in this time where all language of “atonement” is the language of despair and hate, they can deliver this message.