A Pastoral Response to National News

I know a lot of us are processing the news from the last few days. This is my best attempt at responding pastorally to what we've seen dominate our screens. I'll be sharing this with our church later this morning from my heart.

Like many of you, I found myself fixed on the news the last several days. It was surreal to see the images and video from across the country. For me I was an observer until the protests and demonstrations happened in Louisville. I watched streets I’ve walked on many times, places Carrie and the boys and I have been, and places dear to my heart ripped apart. I watched as a reporter for the news station my grandfather worked at for 50 years was shot with pepper pellets in the safe zone. I watched as friends, especially minority friends, shared their pain on social media.

Others of you saw similar scenes in places you love: Chicago, Minneapolis, New York, Tampa, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Washington DC, and as of this morning more than 30 cities nationwide.

I don’t pretend to have the answers, nor do we have the time to discuss the issues pervasive in all of these incidents. The stories of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Travis Miller (OKC delivery driver), Christian Cooper (NYC dog leash), and thousands more that are lost in the news cycle should cause us to do one thing: weep.

As Christians, we are people of the book. The Bible gives us so much to say about what’s going on in the news. 

1. It tells us that there is a Curse that affects us to the heart (Genesis 3)
2. Racial injustice and inequality is historically rooted, whether it be Jew/Gentile, Samaritan, White/Black, etc. 
3. The picture of the New Heaven & New Earth is that all tribes, tongues, and peoples will gather together before the Lamb (Revelation 7:9)
4. Only the Gospel can change the human heart
5. God has told us to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God; and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Micah 6:8 and Matthew 22:37)

It’s with that last one I want to offer both a pastoral lament and a pastoral prayer. The pastoral lament is that we are grieved that we have not listened better to our African-American, Latino, and other POC neighbors. We have not listened to their pain, their struggle, and their stories of inequality. We have sugar-coated it by saying that we’re color-blind or that there is “one race” or at worst to blame them for their problems. It is a lament that in 2020 we are still dealing with the reality of a racially divided America. We see armed white men storm state capitol buildings because they can’t get haircuts get a pass and an endorsement from the Oval Office; but when black people protest the unjust killing of another, they’re viewed as dangerous thugs. It’s a lament that we can quote Dr. King and his dream for America, but we still clutch our wallets when approached by black men. It’s a lament that we defend the unborn, but we call those same people “leeches on the system.” It’s a lament that we say “all lives matter” but find reasons why they don’t. It’s a lament that we preach a Gospel of peace, but we turn a blind eye to those in bondage.

Church, we must be better. We cannot fix everything. We cannot fix the macro. But we can address the micro. Before we begin the message, can I encourage you to 3 things:

1. Weep and pray - For our country, for these cities, for these families, for the officers keeping peace, for those demonstrating, for those angry at the demonstrations, for the victims whose cries for justice are unheard.
2. Listen - When was the last time we listened? Will you listen to our neighbors, our brothers and sisters of color, and hear them?
3. Heart change - Will you, as an individual, as a family, commit to a Revelation 7:9 view? All tribes, tongues, languages. Love and Share with them.

Father, we come before you aching over the stories and images that have consumed our TVs and screens for these last several days. We ache for the families of victims, we ache for the communities affected, we ache for the businesses and homes destroyed by violence. We ache for those entrusted with our safety who are caught in the middle of this. We plead with you Jesus, as the Prince of Peace, to be with our hurting nation and our hurting communities. We ask that your people, your Church, would respond in truth, in grace, in love, and in mercy. We pray we would be Your hands, and Your feet. Holy Spirit, we know that only You have the power to change hearts. We plead with you to bring light to darkness, bring repentance to coldness, and bring hope from despair. In the mighty name of Jesus we pray, Amen.