I originally posted this on August 15, 2018. The Dallas Statement came out and I felt it best to take this down for a little while until some of the angst had faded. I am now re-posting this in full.
This is much longer than I normally write, but I felt this needed a more lengthy discussion than usual.
I am going to write frankly about concerns I have about our
understanding of racism as it relates to the Southern Baptist Convention. I have attended Southern Baptist churches
since 1978. I was saved while attending
a small Southern Baptist Church in 1981.
I have never been a member of any other kind of church. My wife and I were married in a Southern
Baptist church and both our sons were baptized in Southern Baptist churches. I attend a Southern Baptist seminary. One of my brothers in law was trained at a
Southern Baptist seminary and is the pastor of a Southern Baptist church (with
two nephews as associate pastors who both attend a Southern Baptist seminary!). One of my sisters spent years with the IMB in
Mexico and is now married to pastor. I
could say more, but you get the point.
The roots run deep. I don’t offer
this as a suggestion that I know all things Southern Baptist, but only that I
at least have some modest foundation upon which to make an argument.
I learned from a very early age that quality of character
mattered but skin color did not because that is what my father taught his
children. He read widely and
thoughtfully. He thought about things
deeply. He had a “sense” about people
that was often uncanny. I never once
remember him suggesting that I ever think less of someone or think more of
someone based on their skin color. Hard
work and character mattered. Treat
others as you would like them to treat you.
This was how I grew up.
Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love God with all
your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength. The second he said was like it: love your
neighbor as yourself. As Southern
Baptists we are struggling right now, I think, to understand the second
one. I am wading into this fray deeply
concerned that we’re veering off course by taking a more worldly stance rather
than a biblical one.
I’m trying to get the part of loving
my neighbor which requires me to hang my head in guilt and shame for things I
have not done. I’m trying to get the
part of loving my neighbor that calls upon me to feel uncomfortable in my own
skin because of a genetic predisposition over which I had no control. I’m trying to get the part of loving my
neighbor which calls upon me to agree that the church is supposed to be in the
business of changing societal structures.
This seems to be the tenor of recent discussions
within the SBC, particularly among some leaders and important spokespersons. Maybe I’m just misreading things or just
misunderstanding what some SBC leaders seem to be saying.
I do understand the reality that merely by accident of my
parents’ DNA I don’t face some obstacles that others face. However, this doesn’t then logically compel
me to conclude that this means by virtue of accident of birth I now somehow
automatically live in a manner that is, ipso
facto, harmful to other people. That
suggests my mere existence is an offense, regardless of my intentions, my
conduct, or my character and regardless of my status with God through Christ. The argument would go something like
this: just being white, itself, has
landed you benefits you didn’t work for and the culture and system in which you
live is rife with structures that harm others who aren’t white; therefore, you
should repent because of this, whether you’ve acted on it or not, because regardless
of what you think, you’ve somehow, in some way, at some time, under some circumstances,
even if you don’t know it and are completely unaware of it, benefitted from
this systemic bias. What a peculiar
argument for any Christian to make – you are white, so you need to repent,
whether you’ve actually done any sinful act or not, just because of your
whiteness. I can’t and won’t believe
anyone of good will within the SBC is actually arguing that merely being white
is, in itself, somehow harming others or otherwise predisposing those who are
white to racism, so I will move on.
The SBC has officially apologized for its part in slavery and
the racial prejudice that followed the civil war, including SBC churches
improperly and shamefully using the Bible as a means for engaging in racist
acts against blacks in this country. I
think that is useful because it is a recognition of poor treatment of our
neighbors in the past. Yet, as I look back on my own life, there is
no pattern of treating people poorly, there is no pattern of judgment against
others because of skin color, there is no pattern of justifying racism, there
is no pattern of offering the Bible as proof of any one ethnicity or skin color
being superior to any another.
None. Yet, the current climate in
the SBC seems to be taking on the notion that somehow merely by
virtue of my skin color I have done something wrong, even if only implicitly,
and sometimes supposedly “unconsciously.”
In other words, if I am white, I just don’t know that I’ve done or
thought bad things for which I must repent because of my whiteness – I’ve had
it so good that I can’t even perceive how badly I’ve treated others, even when
there’s no evidence to support the claim.
Many in SBC leadership positions seem to be leaning in this
direction. (I again say seem
because I don’t want to put words in anyone’s mouth).
This is massively frustrating. More importantly, though, what is the
Biblical support for this kind of argumentation? Just saying “racism is a gospel issue”
doesn’t answer my question. Yes, it’s a
gospel issue in the sense that loving my neighbor means I need to present the
gospel in a non-hypocritical, non-judgmental and non-racist way. However, in the parable the man who showed
mercy, who loved his neighbor, wasn’t wandering the back roads near Jericho
looking for a soul to save. He acted
compassionately along the way. He saw a need and met it without compunction. He didn’t ask the beaten man any questions
about who did this to him or why – the Good Samaritan acted by showing mercy to
someone who needed mercy. Being white
doesn’t disqualify me from acting compassionately along the way, has not prevented me from doing so in the past and
will not prevent me from doing so in the future. Moreover, since we’re all
equal at the foot of the cross in reference to our standing before God
(Galatians 3:28), isn’t that further evidence that an overly zealous concern
for ethnicity might actually take our eyes off the more important thing: the
cross on which Jesus atoned for our sins?
The accident of birth being a privilege is true for me in
some sense.
Being white in America is,
on average, easier than being black.
That said, it is rare for anyone to be that “average” person.
There are some people with white skin in
America who face struggles much greater than some who have black skin.
So, let’s be both clear and realistic; the
accident of birth being a privilege cuts across the face of the planet.
By being born in the United States people
automatically don’t face the same kinds of obstacles faced by people born in
other significantly less developed or significantly less stable countries.
Here’s the catch:
whatever your skin color, if you are living
in the United States you are noticeably better off than people living in Malawi
or Syria or Venezuela.
Does merely
living in the United States, in itself, harm people in Malawi, Syria or
Venezuela? (NO).
Does it make you a
“nationist”
who somehow is improperly privileged because you happened to be born in the
United States? (NO).
Are you duty bound
to repent of this privilege, then? (NO).
I trust anyone reading with an open mind understands the analogy here.
I am not arguing that it can’t sometimes be hard to be a
black person in the United States.
Moreover, I’m not arguing that there aren’t attitudes that can creep
into people’s thinking about race that cause them to make racist judgments about
others based solely on skin color. I’m certainly
not saying any of this is a good thing.
I’m not claiming that isn’t important for us to all keep ourselves
focused clearly on how and what we think and say and believe about others.
I am saying that it is odd to argue some people make racist
judgments about others based on skin color and those who do should repent and
then argue that all white people are
automatically guilty as charged. Some of
the talk in the SBC these days seems to be leaning this way
– as if every white Southern Baptist is automatically guilty of something,
regardless of the evidence and had better get to repenting now. Isn’t it at least possible that some white
people actually don’t make such racist judgments? And if it is accurate to conclude at least
some white people don’t do this, then wouldn’t arguing all are guilty be an incorrect
judgment? We have to stop impugning all
white people as if they are a monolith of evil thoughts about their black
brothers and sisters in Christ. This
simply isn’t true. Some SBC leaders seem
to be arguing this corporate guilt notion and are harming those who have never
believed, talked or acted in such a manner.
Worse, it’s not biblical to demand that all must feel some kind of guilt
and shame because of what other people have done. I should feel guilt and shame for my sins,
yes; for yours, no.
Note, too, the Samaritan in the parable acted without giving
any thought to his and the beaten man’s social circumstances – he was more concerned
about the immediate need for life giving sustenance. Does it not smack of pharisaical rule-making
to tell me that I need to spend time analyzing my “privilege” before I can be a
good neighbor? So, I guess if I want to help
someone in physical, emotional or spiritual need I need to “check” my “privilege”
at the door if their skin color is different than mine? Need to get my head right first? Need to repent of something, anything – just
go ahead and admit that I’ve committed racialization or that I’ve been “racist
adjacent” or some other current in vogue theory of just how bad I really am?
But what if I’m not doing those things? What if I’m just trying to be a
Christ-follower wherever I am, in whatever form that takes? Must I repent because I am not specifically
seeking out members of other races to come to my church? Should I move my home to some other place
because there are too many white people in my neighborhood? Should I quit my job because there are too
many white people at my office? What if
none of them are saved and I witness to them, does that matter? Am I required
to constantly be thinking in racial terms about everything I do? Where is the biblical mandate for me to treat
people that way?
What are you asking us to do SBC leadership? I’m not clear because I don’t think you are,
either.
We’re getting vague platitudes and generalized statements
about race relations being a “gospel” issue without much in the way of
understanding why I need to drop everything and do something else. Do the people around whom I live and work
(who are mostly white and unsaved) not need the gospel? Do I just abandon them because of their
“white privilege?” I’m not asking
rhetorically, nor am I being sarcastic.
I really want answers from SBC leaders.
You see, I’m worried that we’re getting too caught up in
trying to make “right” things we cannot and will not make right in this
lifetime. It’s not our job to right the
wrongs of the past. The Samaritan spent
exactly NO time attempting to gain any kind of justice for his injured neighbor
– he simply met the man’s need without thought of repayment. He didn’t go back out and try to find the culprits,
so he could explain to them the error of their ways. He didn’t call out for governmental
authorities to act. He didn’t seek out
leaders of the Sanhedrin or the Roman authorities to fix the “Jericho Road”
bandit problem. He didn’t even try to
figure out whether anyone from the “church” had failed to minister to the man. He did what he could, with his means, as he
was going along.
It’s not our job to exact penance from those who have acted
poorly (vengeance is mine says the Lord).
It’s our job to make disciples (Matt. 28:19). Ought we not to be going about that job, and as we are going, engage in acts of
compassion and evangelism to all regardless of their ethnicity? Yet, we’re talking within the SBC about
“needing” more racial representation, as if this will cure some ill. That’s just politics talking and makes us
look like we’re just another secular organization trying to look good for
others. Rather, should we not, each one
of us, pray for strength to do what we are supposed to do within our sphere of
influence? The ripples from a small
pebble can fill a large pond. Isn’t that
kinda the point of the SBC? In
cooperation with other churches we are able to make our collected pebbles
create a tidal wave of evangelistic fervor.
Southern Baptists should be rightly concerned that there are
some within the convention who are not behaving like good neighbors. But we cannot let this cause us to start
talking like the world talks, which is what we are doing when start saying
things like “we need more blacks in leadership positions.” That kind of statement is, itself, a subtle
form of racism which has no place in the church, as it implies skin color
somehow matters for such purposes and, worse, implies a sort of noblesse oblige
that suggests us “white folk” need to bring in some blacks for publicity
purposes. From what passages in the
Bible does one conclude it matters what color the skin of the leaders is? Again, I’m not asking rhetorically – I’m not
aware of such passages, so I really want an answer.
I’ve seen arguments from people claiming that what I am
saying is not just wrongheaded but immoral because we can’t wait for things to
move organically. Oh, really? We can’t depend on God to move us? We can’t depend on the strength of the God of
the universe to fire our imaginations and our actions and to galvanize us? In other words, if we don’t do something about racial stuff, then nothing will ever
happen. And we better do it now because, well, the SBC is shrinking and we’re
not leaving the right legacy, and Revelation 7:9 for crying out loud!!! Hmm.
God’s not sufficient, so we
better help him along?
I’m not saying do nothing.
I am saying we’re not focused properly.
It appears we’re not focused on the cross; we’re not focused
on the resurrection; we’re not focused on the final commandment Christ gave us
(make disciples); rather, we’re focused on whether we need more people of
different ethnicity to comprise the leadership and rank and file of the
SBC. It’s not that it’s inherently bad
to want to see the SBC look more like the people in the United States – it is
inherently bad to make that your goal because it’s too shallow and too limited
and, frankly, unbiblical.
There are some who are suggesting the entire culture is
infected with a systemic but often barely perceptible, or even imperceptible,
racism. Southern Baptists aren’t going
to fix this by making a few appointments of blacks into positions of importance
within the convention. More importantly,
the implication here is that white Southern Baptists are unknowingly
participating in this system (I understand this sometimes goes by the term
“racialization” and sometimes “unconscious racism”) and need to be awakened to
it and repent of it. The problem with
this way of thinking is that it goes well beyond the SBC. If our entire society suffers from this often-imperceptible
malady how do we suppose the SBC is going to fix it? Where, by the way, do we read in Scripture
that our job as a church is to fix social problems? I have always understood our primary focus is
to make disciples. Once we make
disciples, does that not then have the possibility of changing the culture from
the ground up? Christianity was never
intended to be a top down social movement, right? Isn’t that the criticism so many of us more
conservative types have of the “social” gospel started in the late 19th
and early 20th century?
As we have been told repeatedly recently by various folks in
the wake of the Paige Patterson matter, the SBC isn’t a church and therefore
not bound by requirements found in the local church. This led one suggestion the SBC nominate Beth
Moore to be president. So, the way we
fix individual people’s hearts when it comes to issues they may have about
women is to elect a woman as the President of the SBC? What would this accomplish, really? A similar argument could be made about racism
within the SBC. Dr. Fred Luter was
president recently. Did all racists
within the SBC suddenly stop being racist?
No.
What should we do?
First, we can’t have any kind of real discussion about race
without starting at the beginning – with Adam and Eve – who were the first
members of the only race that counts – the human kind. From there, we can acknowledge that, yes,
there are people who make judgments about others based solely on skin color
and, yes, that is a pitifully pathetic means of thinking about others. We must also, however, acknowledge there are
people of good will whose skin color comes in all varieties and that such
people long for as much harmony and unity as is possible “under the sun.” We must understand that so long as God delays
the return of Jesus, there will be inevitable misunderstandings and inevitable
bad actors that will stand in the way of absolute racial harmony. This doesn’t mean we don’t do anything; it
does mean we recognize we can’t do everything.
Jesus told us, for instance, we’d always have the poor with us; he
didn’t say this so that we would disregard the poor or make no effort to
alleviate poverty. This did, however,
make clear that our priority must be
something else. We cannot make racial
harmony our priority because that’s not the gospel message. We can, however, determine, by the grace of
God, seek to be the people of God, who are preaching the good news of the
gospel, as Dr. Albert Mohler has said, “promiscuously” and who are discipling
others and being disciplined Christ followers ourselves, regardless of
race/ethnicity.
We are NEVER going to solve the problem of race relations on
this earth, in this country, in our own states, in our own cities, or even in
our own churches until Jesus returns.
People are sinners and sinners do sinful things, like treat people
poorly based solely on the color of their skin.
Some, even people who are sitting in pews in our churches, will never
change their hearts and minds because God has given them over to their sinful
desires – which sometimes includes the desire to be a racist. What we can and should do is focus on
treating our neighbor as we would like to be treated – loving our neighbor as
ourselves – following the example of the Good Samaritan and showing compassion for
others along the way of life. We should reach out with the good news both
in season and out of season, for this is, we believe, the best possible thing
we can do for anyone, whatever their skin color may be. As we make disciples, we will see people’s
hearts and minds changed. Isn’t that the
means by which God works to change us?
Or have all the classes and books at seminary misled me?
So, SBC leaders, please help me figure this out. Are you prescribing window dressing so you
can make yourselves feel better or do you really want to see true change? If you really want to see true change, why
aren’t we simply talking about being good neighbors, spreading the gospel,
making disciples and leaving the results to God? Or am I just too racist adjacent to see how
terribly misguided I am?
I really want to know.
