Looking for Christ in the Crisis

God's love is for everyone - that's something that we would do well to keep in mind. No matter what your cultural, socio-economic, racial, or even religious background is, God has extended His love to all by sending His Son, Jesus, to die for all, so we might live in Him. According to Acts 10:
34 Then Peter opened his mouth and said: "In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality.
35 But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.

God. Shows. No. Partiality.  If only we as a society and as a Christian community would understand this.  Scripture writers, such as the apostle Paul in Galatians and James in his book, were trying to get that message across to their readers, including you and me, that God loves all, and we are called to promote relations between people that are full of understanding.   We should be characterized by our desire to bring reconciliation - between humanity and God, but also between human beings, integrating the element of the love of Christ.

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A passage in the 3rd chapter of Colossians can help us to see human relationships from God's perspective and indicate to us how, in Christ, the barriers that would separate us can be torn down. Paul is writing about putting off the old and putting on the new...
11 where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.
12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering;
13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.

Over the weekend, the funeral for a man who lost his life at the hands of a Charleston-area police officer in an incident recorded on video took place.  It was reported that Walter Scott, an African-American, was allegedly shot 8 times by a white police officer, Michael Slager, who has been charged with murder.

A Christianity Today story highlights strong reaction from Christian leaders, including D.A. Horton, a church planter and preacher, who spoke last Wednesday in the chapel service at Charleston Southern University in North Charleston, SC, the city in which the incident took place just a few days before.  In a statement, Horton said, “Now is the time for Christians to deploy in the streets and personify the compassion of Christ to a world that is asking "in the midst of our crisis, where is our Christ at?"

Horton told CT in an email that he preached in the chapel service from the Sermon on the Mount about "radical righteousness" and later was approached by a retired North Charleston police officer who is good friends with Slager.

"He shared a heartfelt thank you to me for handling the situation biblically instead of politically," wrote Horton. "He was touched by the words of Christ."

A Baptist Press report features more comments from Horton, as he described "radical righteousness"

Radical righteousness is lived out when we work to see a criminal receive proper punishment, instead of private revenge; public order instead of personal retaliation; and respond with practical righteousness in place of our personal rights..."

He added, "So whatever you do, wherever you go, whatever cause you're going to champion, do so advocating the justice of God."  Horton is North American Mission Board national coordinator for urban student missions.

After referring to high-profile incidents of violence, Horton said, "...what I do know as a believer, there was a real world with real hurt. There [are] real issues going on out there. And if believers cannot look to the words of Christ, and be words of comfort and clarity to our culture, then we don't need to be claiming to be the church."

Derwin Gray, pastor of Transformation Church near Charlotte, is quoted in the CT piece.  He said that seeing the video left him heartbroken, adding that Scott was no threat to anyone. He said, "If this is what ‘my life was in danger’ looks like, then God help us."

Gray said that Christians should pray for the family of Scott as well as for Slager and his family. He also praised the North Charleston Police Department for acting quickly once the video surfaced. Gray hopes that will head off the kind of angry protests that followed the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson and Eric Garner in New York.  He said he planned to call the local sheriff's office near his church, offering to buy body cameras for officers there.  He said that, "Body cameras are a necessity."

According to the Fox News report on Mr. Scott's funeral, authorities have not said that race was a factor.  The Scott family attorney, Chris Stewart, is quoted as saying that the pain behind this shooting would have hurt any family no matter the color: "The epidemic of powerless people being taken advantage of no matter what color, no matter what gender, no matter what belief system you have, needs to stop."  He added, "We're not going to let this case boil down to just racial issues because it's bigger than that. He said, "It's a human issue."

But the incident can give Christians and society at large the opportunity to discuss various issues, including issues of race relations.  According to the Christianity Today story, Gabriel Salguero, pastor of Lamb’s Church of the Nazarene, a multicultural congregation in New York City, said in statement the video shows the need to address the tension between “some law enforcement departments and communities of color.”

He said, “What is needed is genuine leadership from all of us to work endlessly for honest and fruitful conversations that lead to justice and healed relationships," adding, "I earnestly pray that evangelicals are part of that solution."

The Baptist Press article also quoted Joshua Styles, who teaches criminal justice and Christian studies at North Greenville University.  He said, "I'm a white American so I have not experienced what [African Americans] have in the past, and what they actually still do experience to this day. African Americans perceive law enforcement differently," adding, "We do, I think as believers, need to be very empathetic in caring toward a minority community who would struggle with an issue like this. We need to respond with grace ... but we don't want to overblow things like the media would just for the sake of sensationalizing."

Today's three words:

Justice.  The Bible has quite a few references to justice, and we can be encouraged to seek and do what is right in difficult situations.   We should be motivated, as D.A. Horton was saying, to turn away from retaliation and revenge, and seek to have a proper response.  I think as believers, we can call for justice in our courts and in our communities, on our streets, and in our hearts.  Where there is perceived injustice, believers can act with the perspective of Christ.

Understanding.   When an incident such as the Walter Scott death occurs, I believe that it does touch a nerve for African-Americans, and gives those who are white the opportunity to seek to have a better understanding about why that is so.  There are issues of pain and perception, and as ministers of reconciliation, all of us can seek to navigate these difficult emotions with the peace of God and the love of Christ.  We can be agents of healing as we allow the Lord to use each of us to bring a greater sense of understanding across cultural lines.

Support.  Derwin Gray challenged readers to pray for the family of Walter Scott, as well as Michael Slager and his family.  And, I would say that we have an opportunity to pray for better relations within our communities.  We can certainly pray and show support for law enforcement and encourage people to not pre-judge all authorities because of the indiscretions of a few.  Where there exists mistrust, we can pray for God to build relationships that are built on trust.  We recognize that we are all part of the human community, and as servants of Christ, we can seek to reinforce the value of every individual.