Amid a global pandemic, Gov. Ron DeSantis is threatening to cut state funding to school districts in Florida requiring students to wear masks. Politicians are crafting sinister legislation to suppress voting rights. Critical Race Theory has been strategically misappropriated into a catch-all phrase that’s deployed to denounce historic facts and discredit leaders with the audacity to renounce imperial propaganda. This strategy is suppressing the truth in many congregations and classrooms. (For example, Senate Bill 3 in Texas seeks to remove seminal content like Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech from the required curriculum.)

Lamentably, supporters of these trends exist in and outside the Church. Tragically, this un-Christlike behavior is not only alive and well within too many congregants, but is also present among some fellow ministers. In fact, some pastors are leading the charge of culture wars.

There is a spiritual battle going on within the body. As ministers strive to articulate a holistic gospel and call congregants to become “repairers of the breach” (Isaiah 58:12), too many members of the body feel emboldened to rebut pastors and denounce them as Critical Race Theorists. Dr. King once said, “Any religion that professes to be concerned about the souls of men and is not concerned about the slums that damn them, the economic conditions that strangle them and the social conditions that cripple them is a spiritually moribund religion awaiting burial.”

We must prophetically declare the truth in this seminal moment!

John 8:32 says, “The truth will set you free.” We desperately need God’s truth to elucidate fact from fiction, truth from deception, and the gospel of Jesus Christ from Christian nationalism. The truth will help us realize the ways we have conformed to the patterns of this world.

Unbridled privilege is the enemy of biblical truth. Scripture is clear: the devil’s sole purpose is to kill, steal, and destroy. Satan uses unbridled privilege as a vehicle for this mission.

The devil uses privilege as a constant temptation, baiting Christians away from the will of God into sin and self-centeredness. Unbridled privilege destroys our witness and credibility in the world, prohibiting disciples from taking on the mindset of Christ, loving our neighbors as ourselves, and seeking the peace and prosperity of our communities. Satan aims to seduce us into exploiting privilege for selfish gain rather than strategically leveraging it to further the kingdom and sacrificially love our neighbors.

Scripture provides a blueprint for faithfully stewarding privilege. We use all we have — our influence, power, resources, social capital, and voice — to advocate for systemic accountability, just policies, fiscal practices, and communities where all God’s children can flourish…not just some.

Micah 6, Proverbs 31-89, Isiah 58, Matthew 25:31-46, Luke 4:18-19, Acts 6:1-7, and Acts 16: 16-40 offer tangible takeaways for stewarding privilege. Each passage also illustrates that what we have is not just for us. We are blessed to be a blessing — to defend the dignity of the vulnerable, advocate for needed change, address injustice, reinvest in our communities, and seek the kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.

When we exploit our privilege for selfish gain, we forsake transformational opportunities to bear witness to who and whose we are. We miss the chance to participate in the freedom, liberation, and deliverance the Spirit is willing into existence where captivity, disenfranchisement, and despair have reigned for far too long.

In my new book Subversive Witness, I strive to soberly address privilege and illustrate how it can hinder us from perceiving and responding to God’s call on our lives. But I also strive to demonstrate how privilege can be generative and liberating, compelling us to participate in the inbreaking reign of God in innovative and surprising ways.

We are called to make God’s name known and love shown throughout the world. And we are commissioned for such a time as this!

For adults 

Watch

1. When They See Us (Netflix)
2. True Justice (HBO—or EJI)
3. I Am Not Your Negro (Prime)
4. Banished (documentary)
5. One Night in Miami (Prime)
6. Between the World and Me (HBO)
7. All In: The Fight for Democracy (Prime)
8. Just Mercy (HBO Max)
9. Slavery By Another Name (PBS—or YouTube)
10. The Best of Enemies (Hulu)

Read

1. Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman
2. The Color of Compromise by Jemar Tisby
3. The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race by Willie James Jennings
4. After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging by Willie James Jennings
5. Rethinking Incarceration by Dominique DuBois Gilliard
6. The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
7. The Cross and the Lynching Tree by James H. Cone
8. In My Grandmother’s House by Yolanda Pierce
9. A Knock at Midnight by Brittany K. Barnett
10. Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents (University Press)

For high schoolers:

Watch

1. Hidden Figures
2. The Great Debaters
3. Just Mercy 
4. 42 
5. Salute documentary 
6. Selma
7. Betty & Coretta
8. Four Little Girls Documentary 
9. Freedom Riders
10. Something the Lord Made 

* The final 5 recommendations are best for Jr’s & Sr’s

11. Between the World and Me
12. When They See Us (some foul language)
13. Malcolm X  (some foul language)
14. BlacKkKlansman (some foul language)
15. 13th 

Read 

1. March (Trilogy) by John Lewis and Andrew Aiden
2. Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas
3. Dear Martin by Nic Stone
4. Dear Justice by Nic Stone
5. Dreamland Burning by Jennifer Latham
6. She Came to Slay: The Life and Times of Harriet Tubman by Erica Armstrong Dunbar
7. The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks Brandy Colbert and Jeanne Theoharis
8. Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You: A Remix of the National Book Award-Winning Stamped from the Beginning by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
9. Just Mercy (Adapted for Young Adults): A True Story of the Fight for Justice by Byran Stevenson
10. All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendon Kiely

READ: The Week After MLK Day

For Middle schoolers:

Watch

1. Hidden Figures
2. Akeelah and the Bee
3. Ruby Bridges
4. 42
5. Dancing in the Light (the Janet Collins story)
6. Selma Lord Selma
7. Remember the Titans
8. Watsons Go to Birmingham
9. Glory Road
10. “The Breathtaking Courage of Harriet Tubman”

Read

1. Black Heroes: A Black History Book for Kids: 51 Inspiring People from Ancient Africa to Modern-Day U.S.A. by Arlisha Norwood
2. The Story of Barack Obama by Tonya Leslie
3. Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library by Carole Boston Weatherford
4. Skin Like Mine by Latashia M. Perry
5. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
6. Black Brother, Black Brother by Jewell Parker Rhodes
7. Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes
8. The Lions of Little Rock by Kristen Levine
9. What Do You Do With A Voice Like That?: The Story of Extraordinary Congresswoman Barbara Jordan by Chris Barton
10. One Crazy Summer  by Rita Williams-Garcia

For elementary students:

Watch

1. Garrett’s Gift
2. Hair Love  (won Best Animated Short Film at the 2020 Academy Awards)
3. The Journey of Henry Box Brown
4. March On! . . . and More Stories About African American History
5. Ruby Bridges
6. And the Children Shall Lead
7. Duke Ellington . . . and more stories to celebrate great figures in African American history
8. Torchlighters: The Harriet Tubman Story
9. The Journey of Henry Box Brown
10. Our Friend Martin

Read

1. Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer: The Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement by Carole Boston Weatherford
2. Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom by Carole Boston Weatherford
3. Lift as You Climb: The Story of Ella Baker by Patricia Hruby Powell
4. Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop: The Sanitation Strike of 1968 by Alice Faye Duncan
5. Kamala Harris: Rooted in Justice by Nikki Grimes
6. So Tall Within: Sojourner Truth’s Long Walk Toward Freedom by Gary D. Schmidt
7. The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander
8. All Because You Matter by Tami Charles
9. Counting on Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Saved Apollo 13 by Helaine Becker
10. Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad by Ellen Levine
11. Mamie on the Mound: A Woman in Baseball’s Negro Leagues by Leah Henderson

Lastly, for this list, here’s a Black History musical playlist full of songs of celebration, lament, sociological analysis, theological reflections, and calls to pursue racial justice. This playlist is designed to introduce you to old and new perspectives on the struggle for Black dignity in a world that all too often feels like Black Lives do not matter.

Please engage these resources this Black History Month and beyond!

May God bless you with holy anger at white supremacy, police brutality, and racial oppression, so that you may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all people.

May God bless you with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer from systemic racism, xenophobia, and anti-blackness, so that you may sacrificially reach out to them in love, learn how to stand in solidarity with them, and work alongside them to transform broken systems and structures.

May God bless us with enough foolishness to believe that we really CAN make a difference in this world, so that we are able, with God’s grace, to help the Church do what others claim cannot be done: truly become an interconnected Body, where when one part suffers, every part suffers with it.

In 1961, W.E.B. DuBois, wrote, “How shall Integrity face Oppression? What shall Honesty do in the face of Deception, Decency in the face of Insult, Self-Defense before Blows? How shall Desert and Accomplishment meet Despising, Detraction, and Lies? What shall Virtue do to meet Brute Force? There are so many answers and so contradictory; and such differences for those on the one hand who meet questions similar to this once a year or once a decade, and those who face them hourly and daily.”

READ: De-Creating Whiteness

Those of us who face these questions hourly are weary and our souls are downcast today. We join the psalmist in crying out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest.” 

And, yet, we know, like Dr. King declared in 1968, there are two Americas. The other America are those whom DuBois said are confronted with these questions once a year or once a decade. Many people in this America are authentically searching for greater clarity and understanding. They are sincerely trying to understand what has led us to this moment as a nation. I curated this historic resource—of poetry, song, Scripture, books, & viewings—to help answer this question.

 Three historic pieces to remember in this time

1. Dr. King on the cause of the 1967 Detroit Riots
2. Black Wall Street
3. The Case for Reparations 

Read

1. The Color of Compromise (small group curriculum)
2. Rethinking Incarceration: Advocating for Justice that Restores (free video-based small group curriculum for this book)
3. Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases
4. The Cross and the Lynching Tree 
5. I Bring the Voices of My People
6. The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race
7. Stamped from the Beginning
8. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption
9. Between the World and Me
10. Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present

Watch

1. Just Mercy which has been made free for the month of June (I also wrote this film discussion guide)
2. When They See Us (Netflix)
3. True Justice
4. Slavery by Another Name
5. I Am Not Your Negro
6. 3 1/2 Minutes, 10 Bullets
7. Interview with James Cone
8. Sermon from Otis Moss III
9. Lecture by Willie Jennings
10. Devotional from Efrem Smith

Listen

Racial Righteousness & Lament Playlist

Lamentations and Prayer

• Psalm 3
• Psalm 5
• Psalm 10
• Psalm 11
• Psalm 13
• Psalm 22:1-8
• Psalm 28
• Psalm 35:1-10
• Psalm 42
• Psalm 43
• Psalm 55:1-11
• Psalm 56
• Psalm 58
• Psalm 59:1-7
• Psalm 77
• Psalm 139:23-24
• Psalm 140
• Psalm 142
• Ephesians 4:1-6
• Romans 12:1-2

Poems

1. The Kids Who Die
2. Who but The Lord?
3. Refugee in America
4. I, Too
5. Harlem
6. Let America Be America Again
7. Caged Bird
8. We Wear the Mask
9. Ballad Of Birmingham
10. Afterimages

High Schoolers
Watch:
1. Just Mercy
2. Hidden Figures
3. Selma
4. The Great Debaters
5. Salute documentary (Amazon Prime)
6. The Secret Life of Bees
7. Betty & Coretta
8. 42
9. Pride
10. Four Little Girls Documentary (Spike Lee)
11. Something the Lord Made
* The final 4 recommendations might be best for Jr’s & Sr’s
12. When They See Us *some foul language
13. Malcolm X (starring Denzel Washington) *some foul language
14. BlacKkKlansman *some foul language
15. Watchmen (HBO) *some nudity & foul language

Read:
1. All American Boys by Justin Reynolds & Brendan Kiely
2, Dreamland Burning by Jennifer Latham
3. I Am Alfonso Jones by Tony Medina
4. March (Trilogy Slipcase Set), by John Lewis
5. The Silence of Our Friends, by Mark Long, Jim Demonakos,
6. Calling My Name by Liara Tamani
7. The Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds0
8. X: A Novel by Ilyasah Shabazz and Kekla Magoon
9. This Side of Home by Renée Watson
10. Monster by Walter Dean Myers
11. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
12. The Mis-Education of the Negro by Carter G. Woodson
13. A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney
14. Dear Martin by Nic Stone
15. Pride by Ibi Zoboi

Middle schoolers
Watch:
1. Akeelah and the Bee
2. Ruby Bridges
3. 42
4. Dancing in the Light the Janet Collins story
5. Selma Lord Selma
6. Remember the Titans
7. Hidden Figures
8. Watsons Go to Birmingham
9. Glory Road
10. “The Breathtaking Courage of Harriet Tubman”

Read:
1. Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes
2. The Lions of Little Rock, by Kristin Levine
3. Brown Girl Dreaming, by Jacqueline Woodson
4. Through My Eyes, (1999) by Ruby Bridges
5. One Crazy Summer, by Rita Williams-Garcia
6. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred D. Taylor
7. We’ve Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children’s March by Cynthia Levinson
8. The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963
9. Sugar, by Jewell Parker Rhodes
10. Glory Be, (2014), by Augusta Scattergood
11. The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
12. Malcolm Little: The Boy Who Grew Up to Become Malcolm X by Ilyasah Shabazz
13. Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose
14. Breakthrough!: How Three People Saved “Blue Babies” and Changed Medicine Forever by Jim Murphy
15. Double Victory: How African American Women Broke Race and Gender Barriers to Help Win World War II by Cheryl Mullenbach

Elementary students
Watch:
1. Garrett’s Gift
2. Hair Love  (won Best Animated Short Film at the 2020 Academy Awards)
3. The Journey of Henry Box Brown
4. Our Friend Martin
5. Ruby Bridges
6. Duke Ellington… and more stories to celebrate great figures in African American history
7. Torchlighters: The Harriet Tubman Story
8. March On!… and More Stories About African American History

Read:
1. Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad by Ellen Levine
2. The Breaking News, by Sarah Lynne Reul
3. She Came to Slay: The Life and Times of Harriet Tubman by Erica Armstrong Dunbar
4. Love to Langston by Tony Medina
5. Howard Thurman’s Great Hope by Kai Jackson Issa and Arthur L. Dawson
6. Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race, by Margot Lee Shetterly
7. Mae Among the Stars, by Roda Ahmed (Author), Stasia Burrington (Illustrator)
8. Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History, by Vashti Harrison
9. Something happened in our town” by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins and Ann Hazzard.
10. I Love My Hair!, by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley
11. Counting on Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Saved Apollo 13, by Helaine Becker
12. The Little Rock Nine and the Fight for Equal Education [graphic novel], by Gary Jeffrey
13. Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-Ins, by Carole Boston Weatherford
14. I Am Enough, by Grace Byers
15. Little Melba and Her Big Trombone by Russell-Brown
16. Let the Children March, by Monica Clark-Robinson
17. Child of the Civil Rights Movement, by Paula Young Shelton (Author)
18. Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down, by Andrea Davis Pinkney
19. The Youngest Marcher: The Story of Audrey Faye Hendricks, a Young Civil Rights Activist, by Cynthia Levinson
20. We March, by Shane W. Evans

NPTS is committed to giving witness to the radical nature of Christ’s reconciling love in the lives of all our students. During this past Holy Week, our students reminded us that Good Friday is a time where the Church is called to sit with the excruciating weight of the crucifixion, remembering that our Lord and Savior was falsely incarcerated and unjustly executed by a broken criminal justice system.

READ: Merciful Easter: Abolish the Death Penalty

Moreover, that Silent Saturday challenges us to discern what it means to walk by faith and not by sight. It challenges Christians to cling to Scripture’s promise that death does not have the last word, even as despair, violence, and systemic sin abound. Few places can feel as silent as prisons, and yet—in this project—our incarcerated brothers in Christ prophetically bear witness to Easter hope while affirming the pain that comes from brokenness that God is actively restoring. Our students are becoming everyday peacemakers because they have come to realize that God is not done with them and still has a mission and purpose for their lives. Part of that purpose is pastorally speaking to the broader Church.

Faculty—which I am one—in the SRA program adamantly believe that no person is beyond redemption, that many human systems (like our criminal justice system) are broken, and that Scripture is true when it declares that nothing, and no deed, can separate us from the love of Christ. One of the primary outcomes of the SRA program is that our students own their stories and work toward personal healing. Throughout their courses, and upon graduating, our students contribute to the restorative work that the gospel requires. This work is easy for no one, but it is especially difficult for those who must engage the depths of their own brokenness while realizing the harm they have caused others. This project is a wonderful expression of the restorative work our students have committed to doing on both personal and systemic levels, and I believe their work has something beautiful to offer the entire body of Christ.

This video was curated by the School of Restorative Arts redemptive storytelling cohort (re)story in collaboration with seminary alumnae Alicia Reese and Cheryl Lynn Cain. The SRA program is directed by Dr. Michelle Clifton-Soderstrom. The SRA programs is also supported by Love Mercy Do Justice mission priority of the Evangelical Covenant Church.

*One of the men whose words are captured in this project just died on Palm Sunday due to COVID-19.

We now invite you to watch: The Cross and the Prison Cell

As we strive to adjust to our new circumstances, I offer up these resources in love. I have created COVID-19 prayer calendars for the rest of March and the month of April. March’s prompts can all be found below, while the others can be accessed by those links. I hope these resources can help center, ground and encourage us during this pandemic.

Let’s encourage one another, pray for each other, and keep our spirits up. Let’s pay attention to the advice of medical professionals, be intentional about checking in with each other, and find healthy ways to adjust to this new season of life. We are going to make it through this, and we are going to do it together!

MON, MARCH 23:

Below is list I’ve compiled of Black History film and literature recommendations for adults, high school, middle school, and elementary school students that will take more than a month to engage. I’ve also included a Black History soundtrack which lyrically roots this learning in lament, resilience, resistance, pride, and celebration, because our history (and present) is a prophetic mixture of these elements. I hope you engage this resource, learn from it, share it with others, and make a commitment to be the change you want to see in the world. Blessings!

Adults
Watch:
1. Just Mercy (discussion guide for film)
2. When They See Us (Netflix)
3. True Justice
4. Slavery By Another Name
5. Harriet
6. I Am Not Your Negro
7. The Best of Enemies
8. Hidden Figures
9. Black Power Mixtape
10. Tulia Texas (PBS)
11. What Happened to Miss Nina Simone (Netflix)
12. White Savior: Racism in the American Church | Sparkhouse (Amazon Prime)
13. Malcolm X (starring Denzel Washington)
14. 13th (Netflix)
15. The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution

High Schoolers
Watch:
1. Just Mercy
2. Hidden Figures
3. Selma
4. The Great Debaters
5. Salute documentary (Amazon Prime)
6. The Secret Life of Bees
7. Betty & Coretta
8. 42
9. Pride
10. Four Little Girls Documentary (Spike Lee)
11. Something the Lord Made
* The final 4 recommendations might be best for Jr’s & Sr’s
12. When They See Us *some foul language
13. Malcolm X (starring Denzel Washington) *some foul language
14. BlacKkKlansman *some foul language
15. Watchmen (HBO) *some nudity & foul language

Within his seminal text The Cost of Discipleship Dietrich Bonhoeffer prophetically proclaimed, “When Christ calls a man [sic], he bids him come and die.” But, all too often, we try to elude death and live the Christian life as modified versions of our old selves rather than as new creations. To faithfully follow Christ, we must let go of the wheel, surrender control, and fully entrust ourselves to the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.

So, as we enter into this Lenten season, let us do so acutely aware of what it means to follow our crucified and risen Savior in the midst of worldly empires. To follow our Messiah — who came into the world in human flesh to inaugurate the Kingdom of God amid the most powerful empire the world had ever known up to that point — was and still is not an easy task.

Read the rest at InterVarsity Press’ ‘Behind the Books’ blog. 

As a young African American male, I sometimes feel like death has the final word. It seems like every time I turn around another young African American male is being profiled, stopped, frisked, brutalized, or killed by a governing authority; another Latino/a is being deported or dehumanized; another woman is being raped or physically assaulted; another bomb is being dropped or another person is being incarcerated or sentenced to the death penalty by the powers that be.

These realities wear on me. They foster weariness, indignation, and dissonance within me, as well as a multitude of other Christians. While we know God is in the process of restoring all things, the reality is that as humans we are prone to walk by sight and not by faith. Walking by faith is extremely challenging, especially when living within the confines of arguably the most powerful empire in the history of the world. Nevertheless, we need to be acutely aware of the consequences of allowing our sight to order our steps and dictate our lives. When sight usurps faith, weariness swiftly becomes burn out, dissonance erodes into hopelessness, and we ultimately have an identity crisis. We forget who we are, what we represent, and our created purpose.

As Christians, we must remember that we are a people of hope. We have a message of hope and we are called to embody this hope. We know this hope because of the gift and revelation of the Holy Spirit. This hope gives us patience. This hope gives us confidence. This hope fuels our perseverance. This hope ensures us that the present cannot compare to the future. It reminds us that we must interpret the present in light of the promised future. As children of God, we should not be hopeless about what God is doing in this world because we know that God has begun a renewal process that is both ongoing and beyond our comprehension.

Due to the indwelling presence and power of the Holy Spirit, we have a unique ability to imagine and pursue a hope that is rooted in the future glory promised to us throughout Scripture. Although we live in what is–a fallen world–we are called to function according to what will be. The Spirit emboldens us to be ambassadors of the Kingdom of God even as we find ourselves situated within worldly empires as duel citizens, people summoned to be in this world but not of this world.

In this work, a theology of the Kingdom is vital.

The Kingdom of God is presently in the process of unfolding. It was inaugurated during Christ’s first advent and it will culminate with Christ’s second coming. The Kingdom of God is the world and everything in it (including humanity) being restored to its created intent. It is the restoration of all things, a reorientation of shalom within creation. It is a reinstitution of holiness, unity, and peace which creation was meant to know and flourish within. It is a Kingdom where righteous relationships and divine justice will reign, where oppression and evil have no place. In the Kingdom of God, peace, not violence, rules the land; love and mercy are its chief virtues. In the Kingdom of God, the lowly are exalted and the meek are blessed while the haughty and proud are humbled.

The Kingdom of God is the establishment of the only just judge upon his rightful throne; it’s the renunciation of all other false gods in order to enthrone the one true triune God, the creator of all things. In the final future, under the rule of the only legitimate God, Satan will ultimately have to concede his defeat–which already occurred in Christ’s resurrection–and sickness, sin, poverty, and death will cease. In the final future, the leaves of the tree will be used for the healing of the nations and nothing accursed will be found anymore.

The Kingdom of God is actualized through God’s power at work both within and beyond us. As Christians, we’re called to partner with and participate in God’s ongoing work of restoration within the world. We do this by learning to surrender our lives to God as a living sacrifice and by learning to live with the same mindset that Christ incarnate had–placing the interests and good of others before our own self-interest (Philippians 2). As followers of Christ, we’re told in Romans 8 that we will be joint-heirs with Christ if we are co-sufferers with Christ. Therefore, choosing the interest of others before our own self-interest, participating in God’s ongoing work of restoration through co-suffering with Christ, and living sacrificially by loving justice, showing mercy, and walking humbly with God are all ways that we partner with God in ushering the Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.  

In light of this, Paul encourages us to understand our present pains as a refining glory, as part of what it means to be transformed into new creations, as a piece of being conformed into the likeness of Christ. The Spirit gives us a “foretaste” of future glory. Perhaps this can help us understand that we have not yet experienced the fullness of the glory or justice of God. Therefore, if what we have experienced in the Holy Spirit is only a foretaste, then we can conclude that the Christian life does not end with our experience of salvation but rather just begins. The foretaste is meant to point us to the future and give us hope as we suffer and struggle in the present. We, with creation, groan and long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering (death and decay).

The Holy Spirit empowers the oppressed and enables those of us living under the weight of oppression and injustice to affirm both our humanity and dignity in the face of systems and structures which seek to strip us of them daily. The Spirit provides substance for our sojourn and undergirds this theology of the Kingdom. This theology reminds me that in spite of evil manifesting itself in individuals, particularly through isms (racism, sexism, classism, ethnocentrism, nationalism, militarism, etc.), that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, powers, and spiritual wickedness in high places.

This theology also connects me to a broader tradition, a remnant of believers, rooted in and compelled by Luke 12:4. This tradition reassures me of the temporal authority of the powers that be, it reminds me that following Christ means bearing my cross daily, going beyond my sight, and being willing to endure crucifixion for the sake of the Kingdom. This theology of the Kingdom and the communion of saints who have emerged from it, hold me accountable. They reaffirm the essential nature of walking by faith, in the power of the Spirit, and living unashamedly for Christ, despite the personal cost.

I ran across an article the other day entitled, Why Don’t We Want to Talk about Slavery? This article got me thinking. While I wholeheartedly agree with the essence of the question posed within the article’s title, I also feel that there are a number of other historic realities within our nation which we avoid discussing for the exact same reasons. Therefore, while slavery and its implications for how our society is structured today, are essential things that we need to address, and in much greater detail, I want to use this article to create some space to explore another racialized catastrophe; one which occurred shortly after slavery was legislatively abolished. This subject matter is hardly ever broached. Indeed, it’s discussed even more infrequently than slavery. Yet, I believe that if our nation is to ever truly excavate the cancerous tumor of racism which lingers within the core of its soul, it is a subject matter that must be thoroughly exegeted.

The heinous practice of lynching is both an extremely difficult aspect of our national history and a subject matter that most people quite honestly would rather not deal with. Most citizens know little to nothing about this period of American history. This is because lynching and its horrors are not covered in our nation’s textbooks, nor are they acknowledged—or even lamented—by the broader Church. These unfortunate realities have left the Black Church isolated in its grief over the unnerving reality that during a fifty year period of time, ranging from 1890 to 1940, approximately 5, 500 African Americans were documented as lynch victims. Lynching reached its peak in 1892, shortly after Reconstruction ended, with 155 African Americans lynched in this year alone. This period immediately following Reconstruction became known as the “Nadir Period”[i] of U.S. race relations, after this phrase was coined by Rayford Logan. While it should be noted that African Americans were not the exclusive victims of lynching in the U.S., they were without question the primary prey of this form of vigilante “justice.”

Related: Duck Dynasty, first amendment rights, and Christian values

Moreover, it’s important to note that lynching essentially was not a problem for African Americans prior to emancipation. Because as the following quote from historian Jaqueline Royster indicates, slaves were simply too valuable and profitable to kill.

The lynching of slaves was rare, first and foremost because it would result in a loss of property and profit. Obviously, it was more profitable to sell slaves than to kill them. Second, there was more advantages to planters when slaves were executed within the law, as planters were compensated for their lost “property.” Third, the lynching of slaves served to under-mind the power base of the South’s wealthy, white, landowning aristocracy. In effect, mob violence against slaves would have transferred the power of life and death from the hands of planters to the hands of the mob, whose numbers were quite likely to include non-elite whites, as well. Such a transfer of power would have loosened the systems of control, the general stronghold of the landed aristocrat over both economic and political life. The lynching of African Americans before the Civil War, therefore, was exceptional indeed.[ii]

In fact, during the Nadir Period, the practice of lynching became so prevent and widespread that the Tuskegee Institute, a predominately black institution in Alabama which later became Tuskegee University, decided in 1881 to begin issuing annual reports on lynchings occurring nationwide. Astonishingly, it was not until 1952 that the institution was able to report that there was not a single lynching to report within a given year. Moreover, while popular belief holds that lynching only occurred in the South, this was a national sin, one which the South alone cannot serve as a scapegoated for. While it is true that lynching was particularly prevalent in the South, it was not exclusively a Southern horror, lynchings were enacted as far North and West as Minnesota, Illinois, California, and Oregon. Ironically, Indiana, a state in the heart of the upper Midwest, was one of the states with the highest number of lynch victims.

While the historic legacy of lynching hovers over our nation as a haunting reminder of racism enduring presence, well beyond slavery, there are two reasons why I believe that lynching is an indictment upon the U.S. Church, in particular. The first reason is the broader Church’s appalling silence around the issue during the Nadir Period. With lynching be as commonplace as it was, there is no way that the Church was unaware of this grave injustice being exacted by vigilantes within its communities. Therefore, the Church’s silence on the matter makes it complicit in this national tragedy and thus explicitly suggests that we have a unique role to play in mourning and repenting of this national turpitude. The second linkage between lynching and Christianity, the latter being indelibly connected to the former, is that most lynchings actually occurred on Sunday afternoons, shortly after church services concluded. After Sunday services concluded, these barbaric executions communally served as a sort of perverted social soiree, which were habitually well attended by Christians.

This harsh reality is not only beyond frightening, but it also serves to prove the necessity of beginning this conversation. In fact, many of those believers who were present at lynchings did not consider themselves to be racist, because in their minds the racists were the ones actually conducting the lynching. These individuals would avoid the stigma of racism and the conviction of the Holy Spirit by rationalizing their presence as purely spectators; arguing that they just happened to be present at the scene of the hanging, which in their minds did not make them culpable. Lynchings were routinely photographed and turned into postcards, which would then be used to promote future lynchings.[iii] According to historian Ralph Ginzberg, “lynching [which also frequently included burning, castrating, & disfiguring the victim, ] were spectacles, announced in advance, attended by whites including women and children, and covered on assignment by newspaper reporters in a manner not unlike contemporary coverage of sporting events.”[iv] People would send these postcards to their friends inviting them to attend the next lynching…as if these executions were some sort of theatre at a local country club. The most disturbing part about this spiritually is that people who self-identified as Christians played a significant role in these events, in both the promotion and execution of lynchings.

Theologically, this exists as the most disturbing part of the lynching phenomenon. Believers’ lack of morals and ethical response to God’s love was so nonexistent that it was commonly acceptable within the last one hundred years of this nation to watch someone be tortured, burned, castrated, and killed for sport just because of the color of their skin. Moreover, one’s faith was thought to have nothing to do with coming to the defense of these helpless victims. In fact, one’s faith did not even prohibit Christians from participating as enthusiastic observers within the crowds. Furthermore, it was normative for infants and children to be taken by their parents to see these “spectacle” lynchings. Imagine the psychological trauma of growing up seeing this sort of barbarism on a semi-regular basis. This had to have had a profound impact on these young minds. Being taken to public executions, where African Americans were looked upon as a kind of game animal to be caught and executed for pleasure, had to permanently hallmark the image of black inferiority within the young, impressionable minds of children, not to mention the  scarring and damning psychological effect this had to have on the entire African American community who saw family members, friends, and neighbors persecuted with such brutality.

Also by Dominque: What Does Micah 6:8 Really Mean?

Thus, the psychological impact of these pervasively grotesque images cannot be divorced from the diseased racial imagination which exists within our country. The remnants of racism that are expressed within society, many of which have become institutionalized, have to be understood in relation to the reverberating effects of the trauma of the lynching tree. Racism today seeks to hide behind its institutionalized manifestations, which makes the façade of colorblindness a tempting one for many citizens, particularly Christians. Sadly, it is in our inability and unwillingness to authentically talk about, lament over, and repent concerning the historic realities of racism in our nation, which undergirds the existence of this sin within the Church and country today. This article’s not intended to point fingers at particular Christians nor is its intent to cause further division within the Body. Instead, its aim is to open our eyes to this often untold historic reality of barbarism within our nation, to create a space to begin lamenting this reality, and to summon us to begin this conversation as followers of Christ, so that we can begin to heal the wounds which have historically gone untended and consequently unmended.

Historically, Micah 6:8 has served as one of the most celebrated verses within Scripture. This passage has served as the basis for numerous songs, sermons, and conferences. Within the last ten years, this verse has enjoyed a renaissance due to the ever-growing emphasis younger believers are placing on doing justice. Micah 6:8 has become the core text deployed by the Church as a rallying cry for justice and advocacy. However, the Church, due to succumbing to this hermeneutic of privilege, has concurrently taken this passage out of its scriptural context. This abstraction of verse 8 from the broader context of chapter 6 has detrimentally affected our interpretation of this text. In taking verse 8 out of the broader confines of chapter 6, we have concomitantly allowed ourselves to pacify the implications of Micah 6:8 both individually and socially as the body. The effects of this have essentially rendered this passage inept concerning its ability to speak prophetically into the U.S. Church and the Spirit’s ability to use this passage as a challenge that calls us into a place of self-reflection and repentance, indicting us and the lifestyles we lead.

Related: Why the “Christian Life” Isn’t Worth Living – by Kurt Willems

Therefore, in the midst of this passage’s resurgence, it is critically important for us to take the time to make sure that we are reading this passage within its scriptural context in order to ensure that we are gleaning all that we can from it. However, in order to do this, the U.S. Church has to be willing to adjust its approach to this text. We have to be willing to see ourselves not as the prophet, Micah, but as the Israelites. When we are willing to humble ourselves in this manner, we will be afforded the opportunity to see how verses 1-7 provide the proper context for 6:8 to be heard and understood. Then we will also understand how verses 9-16 actually illustrate in great detail how we are much more likely to be cast as the Israelites in this passage than to play the role of the Lord’s prophet due to our own covenantal unfaithfulness to God and neighbor.

Theologically, the purpose of Micah 6 is to illustrate that Israel does not know the only authentic way to come before the Lord, which is total personal conversion. Israel, because of its sin, is separated from God and is therefore unable to see and recognize God’s true character. God did not want blood sacrifices. Yahweh did not and does not need our material sacrifices, regardless of their extravagance. There is only one sacrifice that the Lord truly desires from us, and that is what the ever–popular verse 6:8 encapsulates. Without understanding the attempted sacrifices of Israel in verses 6 and 7 of chapter 6, and the Lord’s refusal of these prideful, selfish attempts to atone for sin, the requirements of the Lord given to us within verse 8 of the chapter are incomplete and are prone to be misapplied and misunderstood. The Godhead requires a change of heart, a change of lifestyle, and of disposition toward both God and neighbor. God requires us to be faithful stewards of the resources we are entrusted with, including our money, possessions, and the earth on which we live. God wants our hearts, our lives, and despite the good deeds we might do or the evangelist efforts we partake in, any offering that falls short of this is simply insufficient. This is what Micah tried to convey to the masses in 6:8. In 6:8 Micah aggregates the essence of Amos, Hosea, and Isaiah through connecting the proper atonement for human sin, authentic worship, and the covenantal requirements of God. Amos professed that God desires justice rather than sacrifices; Hosea depicts what it means to love compassionately, with mercy; and Isaiah stresses faithfulness and obedience to God, which leads to the social activism that procures liberation as well as justice for the oppressed in what is deemed true worship.

Related: 10 Cliches Christians Should Never Use – by Christian Piatt

Furthermore, the verses following verse 8 are words of indictment spoken by Micah on behalf of the Lord to the people of Israel because of their unfaithfulness and inability to live out 6:8. These are words of conviction God sent Micah to deliver to God’s people, the Israelites. These words were spoken through Micah first as a caution to the people, imploring them to turn away from their sins and to then return to the Lord. However, the words of the prophet ultimately went unheeded and thus proved to give voice to the Lord’s burning anger toward Israel because of their sinful ways. This is critically important for U.S. believers because we have seemingly forgotten that we too are heirs to the covenantal promises of God. We too have a responsibility to remember the deliverance from slavery which God granted us.[1] Living in remembrance of this mandates our covenantal faithfulness and fidelity to God. However, many within the church are just as stiff-necked as the Israelites were–willing to give God everything but our hearts, our lives in totality, yet this is exactly what God desires of us.

Most believers today acquiesce to societal injustice because we do not feel convicted when we see or learn about them. We act apathetically because we know how radically different our lives would look if we were to intentionally step outside of our comfort zones into the faithfulness to which Scripture calls us. Within this society that is predicated upon comfort and the avoidance of suffering at all cost, we must cultivate countercultural disciples willing and able to bear their crosses, individuals who will intentionally choose discomfort and suffering for the sake of the kingdom over worldly satiation. This is the basis of Micah 6; the prophet was imploring the Israelites to understand that believers have to be willing to live lives that are radically different from the rest of the world. The church is to serve as God’s prophetic witness in the world today, but we cannot do this when we are more loyal to the norms and laws of our nation than the mandates of our God.

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Dominique DuBois Gilliard is a pastor, theologian, educator, and practitioner. Dominique currently serves as a pastor at Convergence Covenant Church in West Oakland, California. Prior to pastoring, Dominique served as an adjunct professor at both North Park Theological Seminary and East Tennessee State University. Additionally, Dominique is an active member of the Christian Community Development Association, serving on both the association’s national theology task-force and its faith and public education council.

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