June 25th, 2020: Our True Human Conditions
Saying the right thing now becomes the most important thing. We
have seen a good number of celebrities pledge their alliance with BLM on
various social media platforms. We have witnessed Corporate America
vows that it will go about business differently. If there is a need for
repentance in dealing with racism, it has to go beyond slogans and
symbolic gestures. Changes have to be done without the fear of being
destroyed or being politically incorrect. Somehow we think that things
can be better for us if we seek the destruction of others. That trend of
thought actually will keep racism well and alive because people will
counter hatred with another form of aggression.
Repentance
requires a lot more soul searching and self-awareness than many of us
have anticipated. It is about looking at ourselves and name our issues
relationally. Racism is more widespread than just in America. Racism is
more than just about White vs. Black. I knew about racism as a boy in
Vietnam. Humanly, we have inherited human brokenness in various forms,
and racism is one of the ways we deal with that ongoing and damaging
brokenness. In some ways, racism tells us how our value system has
become fragmented. For example, we might be perfectly good at doing
business with folks from other races, and yet we would not have close
friends or break bread together with them. Racism sometimes exists
because we have allowed ourselves to practice "acceptable indifference."
As Mother Teresa once said that the absence of love is not hatred but
indifference.
We might also want to consider
our poverty in spirit. It is the poverty that will distort our views of
the world and others. It seeks to destroy whatever is beautiful and
takes advantage of whatever is not so noble. It cries out for change and
yet has no desire for spiritual redemption. If we don't deal with that
poverty internally, it tends to multiply and impacts different aspects
of our life. As we decide to ignore it long enough, we might experience
lifelessness in our existence. I often hear powerful and successful
people, telling me that they encounter an immense sense of emptiness
when it comes to different relationships in their lives.
Once
I was misunderstood and judged by some pastors because I helped a
Muslim cleric acquire some land to build a mosque. He knows to this day
that we have our theological differences, but he would never say no to a
tea with me. He has asked me to speak at his mosque about the Christian
understanding of forgiveness. His son came and talked to me about his
plan for the university. We are two men who respectfully disagree with
one another but find room to cherish our friendship. There is no hatred
in our differences. I am grateful for that.
Proverbs 29:13
"The poor man and the oppressor meet together; the Lord gives light to the eyes of both."
Isaiah 1:17
"Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause."
