Ferguson and the Cross
In August, Michael Brown, an unarmed, black 18-year-old,
was shot and killed by Darren Wilson, a white policeman, in Ferguson, Missouri.
Tonight, we learned that the grand jury decided not to indict Wilson on any
charges related to the event.
In the months since the shooting, the world has watched
closely to see how America faces its racial issues. We may wish we lived in a
post-white/post-black world, but recent events affirm that we do not.
While we may never know all the details of what went down
in Ferguson, we do know that black Christians and white Christians interpret
these types of situations very differently. According to a recent
CNN poll, “Fifty-four percent of nonwhites––including blacks, Latinos
and Asians––say Wilson should be charged with murder, while just 23 percent of
whites agree.”
So inside the church and outside the church, it appears
that black people (and other minorities) and white people see events like the
tragedy in Ferguson from totally different perspectives.
As a pastor of an intentionally multiethnic, multiclass
church, I believe Jesus’ church can bring healing to the deep wounds in our
country by being a testimony of how the cross and blood of Jesus can bring
about reconciliation and justice.
What if black and white Christians, as well as other
minorities, were members of multiethnic churches instead of segregated ones?
Nearly 90 percent of churches in America are homogenous, meaning one ethnic
group makes up more than 80 percent of the church. Sometimes geographic
demographics cause this, but often it is a choice we make to remain segregated
as Christians.
If we worshiped side-by-side in the body of Christ, could
we address racism, oppression, and injustice together? We could move
towards being one (John 17:21, 23).
If we worshiped side-by-side in the body of
Christ, could we address racism, oppression, and injustice together?
In the first century, the churches the apostle Paul planted
had their own version of ethnic strife. In Christ, former enemies became
co-worshipers in the same multiethnic local churches.
What if black and white Christians shared life with each
other in a local church community and heard each other’s stories and
walked in each other’s shoes?
“For Christ Himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews
and Gentiles into one people when, in His own body on the cross, he broke down
the wall of hostility that separated us. He did this by ending the system
of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews
and Gentiles by creating in Himself one new people from the two groups.
Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of His
death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death” (Eph.
2:14–16, NLT).
This reconciliation is not just for first-century Jews and
Gentiles. It is for all humanity. The reason the church is segregated is that
we don’t believe deeply enough in the power of the cross. It seems to me that
Christians seem to not really believe that the cross of Christ has anything to
do with racism and injustice.
But the gospel-reality is that “Christ reconciled both
groups to God by means of His death on the cross, and our hostility toward each
other was put to death” (Eph. 2:16, NLT)
Put. To. Death.
Be an Ambassador
Do you wake in the morning with a sense of urgency every
day? I hope you do. As the firestorm in Ferguson reveals, the stakes are high.
Listen to Romans 5:10–11, ESV,
“For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by
the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved
by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus
Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”
Outside of association and allegiance to Jesus, humanity is
an enemy of God. This is why ambassadors of Jesus wake knowing deeply that our
time, talents, and treasure are to be leveraged so that God’s enemies can be
reconciled to him through Jesus. Reconciliation means that through Jesus,
enemies of God become friends of God. It also means that in Christ we are
unified into one body, a new man (Eph. 2:15).
When you signed up to follow Jesus, he gave you the
ministry of reconciliation. Your life is a bridge over which people walk from
death to life.
“All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to
himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was
reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them,
and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors
for Christ, God making his appeal through us” (2 Cor. 5:18–21, ESV).
God has entrusted you and me, his church, with the message
of reconciliation. Are you giving that message away? God pleads with
people to become his friends through our lives.
Are we only sharing that message with people who look like
us or have the same socioeconomic status we do?
Are we only sharing that message with people
who look like us or have the same socioeconomic status we do?
There is a hurting world that needs to know Jesus became
what God hates most––sin––so that they could become what he loves most––his
children. When we sit in segregated churches we loudly proclaim that we love
some of his children more than we love others.
For all eternity, followers of Jesus will enjoy Jesus and
each other. But we will not share the message of reconciliation. There will be
no need to. But there is a need today! That’s why Jesus left us here as his
ambassadors to announce that the kingdom of God has come and that salvation
belongs to our God.
So are we just going to scream “Racism” and “Injustice”
from behind our segregated church walls, or are we going to start building
multiethnic communities that embody what God’s desire is for the world to be
I’m thankful for the courageous local churches in Ferguson
who are calling for peace and reconciliation.
Church, this is a pivotal time in history. Will we rise to
the occasion?
Marinate on that.
This article is courtesy of my friend: Pastor Derwin Gray
I apologize that I did not read this before we had brunch today! However, much of what was written here was covered in our conversation today. I thank God that we are focused, you and I, on the issue of how the Lord came and died that, in addition to His wonderful gift of salvation, He requires us to see each other as He sees us, sometimes desperate, hurting people who need each other's love and encouragement! Keep doing what you do, my pastor and my friend! Isaac.
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