"For nation will rise against nation." (Matthew 24:7)
I believe the majority of peace loving people today are sick and tired of the trouble on the news. Tired of the semantics and rhetoric. Tired of the looting. Tired of people burning cars and buildings. Tired of freeways being overtaken by protesters, dragging innocent people from their cars, often beating them. Tired of the long-standing racism and violence in this country. Tired of people murdering other people. Tired of all the blame and accusation. Tired of the media and political circus.
The phrase that troubles me as a Caucasian American Christian is, "white silence."
Who knows what this phrase means to most people, or how it originated. But I'm thinking about my own personal responsibility. "What do I do now?"
I will not be silent.
But the question is, what needs to be said?
Some say, "People need to behave better."
That's obvious. I think we all agree on that. Everyone needs to behave better.
People need to stop being racist. No doubt. Not just a few police officers. Everyone. We all know why better behavior is needed. The question however, is not why.
It's How.
Throughout recorded history there has been murder, hatred, violence, racism, injustice. We all know this is wrong. No one likes it. We all want it to stop.
So why does it continue? The problem isn't knowledge.
The problem is Sin.
Six thousand years of world history proves that mankind cannot solve its sin problem on its own. Mankind says, "I got this!"
But that doesn't seem to be working very well—does it.
Let the evidence speak for itself.
As far back as history reveals race has risen up against race, or nation against nation. Consider the tens of millions of Jews killed by Stalin and Hitler. Or the "ethnic cleansing" atrocities committed all over the world. The imprisonment of Japanese Americans, put in internment camps during World War II, simply because of the color of their skin. The systematic killing and removal of Native American Indians from their land and homes so European settlers could have all the 'free land' they wanted. Most of the marginalized Native American people still live on Reservations to this day. And of course the unspeakable, shameful enslavement of African people, de-humanized and bought and sold as products. The consequences and pain of these atrocities are strongly felt to this day.
The racial divide in America seems worse than it's been in the last fifty years. I am sixty-one and I have been witnessing and learning about this all my life. And I don't believe I am alone in stating that man's ways of fixing this are not working.
I believe most people know what the problem is.
So what is the answer?
People's hearts need to be changed.
Their sin problem needs to be healed. But people have proven they cannot behave better on their own. They cannot stop sinning.
That is why Jesus Christ came down and said 'I will be the solution to your sin problem.'
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed."
(Luke 4:18)
Jesus Christ the Savior didn't come down to save a world that doesn't need saving.
So the question all people need to ask themselves is:
"Am I willing to acknowledge that I am a sinner and that I cannot solve my sin problem on my own?"
Until people are willing do that, racism will continue in this nation, and in this world.
Jesus came to set free all those who are oppressed by their own sin. Who are captives of their own hard hearts of unbelief. Again, world history proves that mankind is unable to save itself. To free itself of its sin.
Jesus said:
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed." (John 3:16-20)
To get the new heart that only Jesus can give the answer is not how.
It's Who.
Jesus is the only one who can save us from our sins.
He said:
"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28)
God is Love, and Love is a Person; Jesus Christ.
Call out to Him today. He will answer you. It's personal. It's intimate. It's urgent.
He is our Everlasting Father, the Mighty God. He is the Prince of Peace.
What do I do now?
I will continue to proclaim and speak out, of the love, peace, hope and salvation found only in Jesus Christ.
I cannot be silent.
—God is Love and Love Never Fails.
