On Friday night, racism reared its ugly head once again. Eerily reminiscent of the dark days of the KKK, white nationalists and white supremacists wielded tiki torches – attempting to instill fear – as they marched through Charlottesville, Virginia. This was the face of pure evil. But, how should Christ-followers respond?

The Friday evening march and the Alt-Right rally taking place on Saturday came in response to Charlottesville’s decision to move a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from Emancipation Park to another park. As they marched, white nationalists and white supremacists shouted, “unite the right” and “we will not be replaced,” and called for the South to split from the United States.

Unambiguous Racism

Though the scene was appalling, visible racism is not new to our country. Millions of men and women lost their lives during the Middle Passage, slavery, Jim Crow, and fighting for Civil Rights in America. So, violence arising from racial tension is nothing new in our country. But, back then, people hid their racism under hoods and under cover of night. Now, it is bold and no longer hidden from public view. It is no longer hidden, partly because of the rhetoric emanating from the 2016 Presidential campaign.

David Duke, the former KKK grand wizard, was unambiguous about what Saturday’s alt-right and neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, meant to him:

It’s the fulfillment of President Trump’s vision for America. We are determined to take our country back. This is a “turning point.” We are going to fulfill the promises of Donald Trump. That’s what we believed in. That’s why we voted for Donald Trump, because he said he’s going to take our country back.”

Ed Stetzer, Executive Director of the Billy Graham Center and publishes church leadership resources, was right when he said:

We must be willing to acknowledge that they (Alt-Right) have been emboldened by the rise of Donald Trump and the values and rhetoric surrounding his 2016 Presidential campaign. Although the President seems to teeter-totter between silence and condemnation, the table has been set. The truth is, it is clear that many in the alt-right movement feel as though a door has been opened for their supremacist worldview, and that “Make America Great Again” was about their warped definition of a great nation. 

Yes.  Emboldened racial tension and hatred may stem from the rhetoric of the 2016 Presidential campaign, but the Bible says that it comes from a deeper place.

Hatred Comes from a Corrupt Nature

When we see the face of evil as we did on Friday and Saturday, we need to look no further than in our hearts. Our evil nature manifests evil actions (Romans 1:28-31; Galatians 5:19-20). We are not good people who occasionally do bad things; we are fundamentally flawed people who occasionally do good things. If left unregenerated and unchecked, hatred and cruelty will become intense hatred and cruelty. Therefore, people who have this kind of hatred and cruelty lie in wait, stir up conflict, assault, and kill – sometimes for no sensible or logical reason (Psalm 38:19).

Racism is Sin and Irrational

“ Racism is irrational and illogical.

How Christians Should Respond

How should Christ-followers respond to what happened in Charlottesville on Friday and Saturday? Here are a few ways we can respond.

• Cry out to God

Our first response to racial evil and violence is turning to and crying out to God. As I attempted to recover from the disturbing scenes from Friday night, I recognized that this burden is heavier than any of us can carry. The racial evil in our world sickens me, troubles me, saddens me, and makes me feel helpless. It causes me to cry out to God like Habakkuk:

How long, O Lord, must I call for help? But you do not listen! “Violence is everywhere!” I cry, but you do not come to save. Must I forever see these evil deeds? Why must I watch all this misery? Wherever I look, I see destruction and violence. I am surrounded by people who love to argue and fight. The law has become paralyzed, and there is no justice in the courts. The wicked far outnumber the righteous, so that justice has become perverted. Habakkuk 1:2-4

Our first response should be to fall on our face before a holy, righteous, and all-powerful God – individually and collectively. Only God can bring healing to our broken world.

• Love people who are filled with hatred

We overcome hatred with love – God’s love. In Luke 6:27-28, Jesus tells his followers to respond toward people filled with hate in four ways. He told his followers to love them – fight for the highest good of the individuals who do evil. Next, he tells his followers to do good to them – care and provide for them like we would our family. Third, he tells his followers to bless them – to speak well of them (find some positive to say about them). Finally, Jesus tells his followers to pray for them – ask God to intervene in their lives. The ultimate test of how close we are following Jesus is treating hatemongers like Jesus would treat them.

“ We silence the voice of racial hatred with the louder voice of redemptive love.

We silence the voice of racial hatred with the louder voice of redemptive love. Our love must be more robust than their hate.

• Hate the evil of racism

The Bible says that God hates (strongly dislikes) evil and wickedness (Psalm 5:4; Proverbs 6:16-19), of which white supremacy is one manifestation of this wickedness. For anyone who consistently practices evil actions that cause friction in the community of humanity, including racism, God renders an explicit moral judgment against them. Because God has an intense dislike for these evils, we should imitate God and hate sin and wickedness (Psalm 97:10; Proverbs 8:13; Romans 12:9). Rather than winking at evil or ignoring it around us, we should ask God for the capacity to hate the things he hates. The more we hate sin, the more we want His kingdom to come and his will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

• Renounce and denounce racism.

We should publicly denounce all racism and white supremacy in our country. All people, especially Christ-followers, should speak out openly against and repudiate white nationalism and supremacy. Any claim that one group is superior to another is racism, pure and simple. It diametrically opposes the gospel of Jesus. Moreover, it denies human dignity and freedom in this country for which many died.

“ White supremacy is wrong. It is a sin. And, we must stand against it and not be silent about it.

Pastors – white and black – this is not a time for silence. The gospel demands that we vehemently reject white nationalism and white supremacy. For, “God sent his son – a brown Middle Eastern man – to save the whole world, including sinners of every race and ethnicity (John 3:16).” Biblical Christianity overcomes social, ethnic, and gender barriers. ” Any supremacy – racial, gender, ethnic – is spiritual bondage, and we need Jesus, the ultimate deliverer, to set us free (Galatians 3:26, 28).

Hating and renouncing violence in our world begins with hating and rejecting violence in our hearts.

“ Hating and renouncing violence in our world starts with hating and rejecting violence in our hearts.

It repudiates racism no matter where we find it. There is no place for white nationalism, white supremacy, and Neo-Nazis in America.

• Do more than cry and talk.

We cannot sit back and do nothing. We are responsible for confronting white supremacy when and where we see it. Our job is to:

Uproot the stubborn weeds of anger and fear.
Break the yoke of superiority and inferiority.
Smash the yoke of false assumptions.
Pulverize the yoke of incorrectly assumed hostility.
Demolish the yoke of misunderstood motives.
Dismantle the yoke of prejudicial judgment.

• Love One Another

We must love one another. Our God, who is love (1 John 4:8), calls us to love each other, grieve, and stand with each other. Let’s not wait for more suffering to occur. Let’s come together now. The world will know that we belong to Jesus because we fight for the highest good for one another. Thus, our love for one another will heal the festering wounds in our world.

We are facing a turning point in the history of our country. Will we rise and speak and live the gospel’s truth, or will we remain silent and be as guilty as the white supremacists who are spewing their hateful rhetoric and inciting racial violence? So, I believe how we respond in the coming days will define us as the Church of Jesus and the human community. I pray we will choose the former instead of the latter. 

What are some other ways Christians should respond to the racism in Charlottesville? 

See other relevant posts:

Four Biblical Reasons Why Racism is Irrational

The post Racism Shows Up in Charlottesville appeared first on Marvin Williams.

Injustice of any kind is evil. Injustice against the vulnerable and special-needs people is despicable. The four African-Americans that terrorized and beat a white, special-needs man in Chicago is repulsive. How should we respond to this horrific ordeal?

Jordan Hill, 18, of Carpentersville, Ill., and Tesfaye Cooper, 18, Brittany Covington, 18, and Tanishia Covington, 24, all of Chicago, face charges. They are accused of and charged with aggravated kidnapping, robbery, residential burglary, possession of a stolen vehicle, aggravated unlawful restraint and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.  Moreover, as of Thursday, the local authorities had charged all with hate crimes.

As my family and I discussed this story last night, it shook my daughter. She could not fathom how someone could do such abhorrent, deplorable, and fulsome things to another human being. Here are a few observations I shared with her last night:

Sin and evil are much darker than we can ever know.

Theologians call Adam and Eve’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden “The Fall.” The Fall is the departure by creation, including human beings, from the patterns and standards set for it by God. Creation now exists at a lower level of integrity and fulfillment than that which God originally intended for it.

The truth is, the human heart is dark and wicked. It explodes with all kind of hate crimes – whites against blacks, blacks against whites, husbands against wives, wives against husbands, parents against children and children against parents. We cannot know how bad the human heart really is (Jeremiah 17:9). The human heart is capable of doing extraordinary good, and it has the capacity of doing evil that cannot be quantified.

Paradoxically, though, the low ebb of depravity represented by biblical stories of violence is also the climax of the Bible’s story of redemption. The violence of the cross is the pivot point of redemption. The suffering servant suffered unfair violence for the sake of saving sinful humanity.

Respond with disgust and outrage over injustice and evil.

We normalize violence when we do not respond with disgust, anger, and outrage. Violence and evil should not be normal in God’s world. We should hate and renounce all violence in our communities because God hates violence (Psalm 11:5; Jeremiah 22:3).

We must not leave any room in our language or action to justify any violence in our community, whether it’s violence against black people or white people. When we denounce and renounce violence against humanity, we are, at a minimum, recognizing all people as image-bearers.

Therefore, I denounce and renounce the terrorizing brutality against the white young man in Chicago.  I denounce and renounce a White football player raping a black, disabled team-mate.  The difference is the White football player was not charged with sexual assault or a hate crime and did not go to prison. Therefore, we should have just as much outrage and disgust over this case as the one in Chicago. Both cases are evil and repulsive. We should denounce and renounce evil and injustice wherever we find it.

Yes, we must respond with disgust and outrage over injustice and evil in our world. But, in order to deal with evil in the world, we must come a little closer to home.

“ Denouncing and renouncing injustice in our world begins with denouncing and renouncing injustice in our hearts.

It continues with punishing and condemning injustice no matter where we find it. Let’s continue to lend our voices to speak out against great injustices and give our lives to fight against them. As followers of the Prince of Peace, we are duty-bound to usher in peace in every area of our world.

Cry out to God

Our world is full of rage and volatility. It seems every time we turn on the news or turn to social media stories of violence meet us. This burden is heavier than any other weight I have carried. The chaotic turbulence sickens me, troubles me, saddens me, and makes me feel helpless. It causes me to cry out to God like Habakkuk:

How long, O Lord, must I call for help? But you do not listen! “Violence is everywhere!” I cry, but you do not come to save. Must I forever see these evil deeds? Why must I watch all this misery? Wherever I look, I see destruction and violence. I am surrounded by people who love to argue and fight. The law has become paralyzed, and there is no justice in the courts. The wicked far outnumber the righteous, so that justice has become perverted. Habakkuk 1:2-4

Do more than cry and talk

We cannot sit back and do nothing. Thus, we have a responsibility to confront violence when and where we see it and rescue all people trapped in a violent world. This case reminds us that we have responsibilities towards those with disabilities. God wants us to treat them with respect (Leviticus 19:14), to not take advantage of them (Deuteronomy 27:18), and to provide help for them (Job 29:15; Proverbs 31:8; Luke 14:13-14).

As a result of this story, my daughter is doubling down on her desire to be a link at her school. Links are individuals who assist special-needs kids in their high school. They walk them to class, help them with homework and spend time with them outside of class. Serving special needs kids in her school is Mikayla’s small but significant contribution of bringing peace to a violent world.

Injustice anywhere

In his Letter from the Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. sums up what we should all hold to be true:

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.

We are a mosaic of humanity – African, Europeans, Asian, Latino, Middle Easterners. We cannot escape this reality: we are connected to one another. Let’s start acting like we are a network of mutuality tied in a single garment of destiny.

How did you respond to the horrific story? 

What will your contribution be to quelling violence and injustice in our world? 

The post Brutal Injustice Against a White, Special-Needs Man In Chicago appeared first on Marvin Williams.

We are just days from saying goodbye to 2016 and hello to 2017.  With new beginnings, we always have to think about what we want and need to leave behind to accomplish our goals. Here is a non-exhaustive list of trends, attitudes, habits and people I believe that we should leave in 2016.

Accomplishing goals requires leaving some things behind. Moving forward demands that we discard unwanted and unneeded cargo from our lives. There are a few reasons why we should leave certain things in 2016.

Why We Should Leave Certain Things Behind

It’s important that we decide today that we are going to leave certain things behind and focus most of our attention towards the future. There are several reasons we should leave our past behind us.

• Living in the past leaves old doors open and keep new doors closed.
• The past keeps us from actually focusing on the future.
• If we don’t leave the past behind, we can’t truly move on to what God has for us in the future.
• We can’t change the past.
• It is futile to spend good energy on what we cannot change.

Trends, Attitudes, Habits, and People We Should Leave in 2016

On this list are attitudes, habits, and trends that I think we should vow never to bring into 2017. In no particular order and without commentary on each one, here are some things I believe that we should leave in 2016.

Trends

1. Using the words “lit,” “fleek,”  and “bae.”
2. Taking selfies at funerals. Disrespectful.
3. Fake News. 
4. Distressed clothes, especially jeans. There is trendy, and then there is downright bummy.
5. Pokemon Go. We will look back on this trend and wonder what in the world were we doing.
6. “Relationship goals.” 
7. Counting babies ages in months when they are over 1-year-old.
8. “Dabbing.” This move has run its course, and it’s time for something new.
9. Challenges. The “running man” and “mannequin challenges” were cool in 2016, but I think they should stay there. For reals, though.
10. Social media subs. (sub-Tweets on Twitter or sub-posts on Facebook). Talking TO people, you have issues with, is healthier than talking ABOUT people with whom you have issues. Thus, have the courage to have crucial conversations.

Attitudes

1. Racism. Click here and see why racism is irrational. Racism doesn’t deserve a safe place in any year. It is irrational and most of all sinful.
2. Homophobia (Intense dislike, prejudice, and fear of gay people. Click here and see how we can respond to the homosexual community.
3. Xenophobia (Intense or irrational dislike or fear of people from other countries). All people are image-bearers and deserve our respect and care.
4. The fear of making mistakes. 
5. Believing that everything has to be perfect before you make a decision.
6. Negative thinking.
7. The alt-right. See numbers 1-3.
8. Believing that your failure is final. You can bounce back after a setback.
9. Attempting to control things out of your control. 
10. Guilt and shame for not measuring up to other people’s unrealistic expectations.
11. Unforgiveness. Jesus forgave us. So, we have the capacity to forgive others.
12. Pride.
13. Division. 
14. Hatred. 
15. Guilt, Shame, and Fear.  These are burdens that we were never meant to carry.
16. Worrying about the future. Only God controls the future. Therefore, I think we should trust the One who alone knows and controls the future.

Habits

1. Racist police officers who mistreat people of color. Not all cops are racists, but there are a few that are, and their racism negatively affects the way they treat people of color.
2. Dishonoring and killing police officers. Enough said.
3. Letting other people write your story and control your life.
4. Procrastination. No more delaying, postponing and putting off. Do what needs to be done.
5. Trying to fix the unfixable.
6. Trying to please everybody. When you try and please everybody, you end up pleasing nobody, especially our Heavenly Father.
7. Asking God to let unhealthy foods nourish our bodies. Yes, God can purify foods, but he gives us the wisdom to make wise food choices.
8. Blaming other people for your irresponsibility. Therefore, take responsibility for your life.
9. Body shaming.
10. Entertaining anything and everything that puts distance between you and God.
11. Talking about politics on Facebook. Ruptures and breaks so many relationships.

People

1. Fake and toxic friends. I’ll be writing in the future about kinds of toxic friends.
2. People who continually disrespect your boundaries.
3. Individuals who always lie to you. 
4. People who will talk ABOUT you rather than talk TO you.
5. Individuals who drag you back to your old lifestyle.
6. People who push you away from God rather than encourage you to draw closer to Him.

Looking to the Future

Obviously, this is not an exhaustive list, but I think it moves us in the right direction. In Isaiah 43:18, the prophet tells us that we should forget the former things and not dwell on the past. I think this is good advice. Paul, the writer of almost half of the New Testament, in Philippians 3:13-14, challenges us to leave the past behind and press toward what lies ahead.

Therefore, because the future is unknown to human beings (Ecclesiastes 8:7; Proverbs 27:1), it is wise for us to trust the God who knows the future (Psalm 139:4), who can reveal the future (Daniel 2:45), and who controls the future.

I am praying that you will take the time to reflect on what things you need to leave in 2016 to move forward toward your goals in this coming year.

What are some other trends, attitudes, habits, and people you should leave in 2016? 

The post Stuff We Should Leave in 2016 appeared first on Marvin Williams.

The racial tension in our country is distressing and heart-numbing. I hesitated to speak to anyone about it for fear of my words sounding trite and appearing impotent. When I learned of the shootings of Keith Scott and Terence Crutcher, I offered a prayer to our Father. When my son called me asking me to help him make sense of the shootings, I offered a prayer to our good, good Father.

Today, O God, as we look at our world – protests in Charlotte and Tulsa in particular – we sing a song of sorrow and mourning to you. We grieve the loss of life – brown, white and blue – in every city. As a result of the racial tension in our world, Lord, we sit with mothers who have lost sons and daughters. Father, we sit with wives who have lost husbands. We sit with communities who have lost jewels of potential. Today, O God, as we look at our world, we sing a song of sorrow and mourning to you. Therefore, hear our prayer, O Lord.

As the mothers did in Ramah, we raise our voices with mourning and great weeping. Mothers, fathers, and entire communities grieve the loss of their children, refusing to be comforted. Hear our prayer, Lord. Let our cry for help come to you. So, please do not hide your face from our distress, anger, and confusion. Therefore, turn your ear to us when we call on you. Turn our mourning into singing and our grief into gladness.

First, by the power of your word, break the evil bonds of racism, prejudice, and discrimination in our world – starting in my heart. Make us true peacemakers, not peace-breakers and peace-fakers. Next, help us to see that resolution comes through renunciation – renunciation of pride, superiority, fear, anger, prejudice, and hatred.  

Consequently, destroy our biases against people who are different from us. So, we give you permission to demolish the Strongholds and Paradigms of prejudice with power. Let the demolition begin in our hearts.

Uproot the stubborn weeds of anger and fear.
Break the yoke of superiority and inferiority.
Smash the yoke of false assumptions.
Pulverize the yoke of incorrectly assumed hostility.
Demolish the yoke of misunderstood motives.
Dismantle the yoke of prejudicial judgment.

You, O, Lord, are not prejudiced or partial. May we love and forgive as much as you do. Please, make us like you. Therefore, judge those who practice unnecessary and unjustified ill-treatment of others, through false accusation and inflicting pain and punishment. Punish those who practice unfair and cruel treatment toward individuals. Discipline those who prevent others from having the same opportunities, freedom, and rights of others.

Help us to recognize that all injustice has its origin in Satan, works through our sinful human heart, and shows itself in every sphere of life. Thus, remind us that all our prejudice, racism, sexism, discrimination, hatred, and oppression deserve and merit your wrath. Thank you, God, for placing your wrath on Jesus. Through him, you dismantle walls of hostility, hatred, and division. As a result of the death and resurrection, manifest the power of the gospel in our day.  

So, speak, O, Lord! In the beginning, you spoke and brought order out of chaos. We are begging you to do it again. Quell the chaos of anger and fear. Calm the storm of the racial division in our world. Lord, speak peace to the tempest and the winds and waves of injustice in our communities.

“ Lord, speak peace to the tempest and the winds and waves of injustice in our communities.

God, when you speak, chaos flees. Lord, when you speak, waves nap. When you speak, you crush super powers. Your word is powerful. So, today, we are asking you to speak. Speak and demolish evil systems, paradigms, and structures of prejudice.

As our hearts lay in ruins, we do not lose hope. But, we believe you can speak and rebuild them. Though there is a breach in the wall of racial harmony, we do not grieve as men and women without hope.

“ Though there is a breach in the wall of racial harmony, we do not grieve as men and women without hope.

But, we believe you can speak and restore the bricks of trust. Our hearts are fragmented. Torn asunder. Devoid of hope that things will ever get better. Our hearts and communities are smoldering from the fires of hatred. But, we know you can simply speak and return chaos to order.

So, Lord, resuscitate our hope. Make whole the fragments of our shattered vision of unity and justice. Breathe new life into our optimism. Bandage and heal our ruptured dreams of a better tomorrow. Help us believe those better days are ahead. Teach each of us to think, speak, and behave justly. May we be your lights in a dark world. May we proclaim your righteousness, but may we also be the embodiment of your justice! As we proclaim your freedom, please use us to be genuine instruments of freedom.

Lord, protect our police officers from people who are motivated by hatred and a desire to do them harm. As they carry out their duties to serve and protect the public, give them a manifestation of your peace. Lord, at the same time, protect the community from police officers who are blinded by prejudice with power. May the oath they took be a reality.

Therefore, Lord, give us all clean hands and a pure heart. We will not trust in the idols our ethnicities and have confidence in the false gods of our nationalism. Our prayer, O Lord, is that you help us to desire to do your will and have your commands in our hearts. So, as we interact with others, train us to think and speak about whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy of those people. So, keep our hearts and mouths free from racial perversity and corruption. Furthermore, make us active agents of righteousness and justice. Make us instruments of your peace. 

Finally, let the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, our Rock, and Redeemer. Bless us and keep us, cause your face to shine upon us, be gracious to us and give us your peace. 

So, friends, you can click on the links below and read related posts.

How Long, O Lord, Must We Look At Violence?

Village Talks 

Violence Erupts Again, In Baton Rouge

4 Biblical Reasons Why Racism Is Irrational

My Take on The Colin Kaepernick Controversy 

The post A Prayer For a Racially Divided World appeared first on Marvin Williams.

San Francisco 49ers quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, is making headlines, and it is not for football reasons. During the last three preseason football games, Kaepernick decided to sit during the singing of the national anthem. Is Kaepernick right or wrong to refuse to stand during the national anthem?

Why is Kaepernick Sitting?

Kaepernick is refusing to stand during as a sign of protest. What is he protesting? When reporters asked him to explain his decision, Kaepernick responded:

I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.

He later added:

This is because I’m seeing things happen to people that don’t have a voice, people that don’t have a platform to talk and have their voices heard and effect change. So I’m in the position where I can do that and I’m going to do that for people that can’t. This country stands for liberty, freedom, justice for all. And it’s not happening for all right now.

As you can imagine, people have offered various responses. Some are supportive of Kaepernick’s stand (I should say his sit) and others are vehemently opposed his decision, saying that it is unpatriotic.

Kaepernick and The First Amendment

Let’s deal with first things first. Colin Kaepernick has a right to express his opinions without the fear of censorship or restraint. Expressing his views is protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. He has a right to his opinions. The corollary is true as well. People who agree or disagree with him have the right to express their views without censorship or restraint. Constitutionally, he is within his rights to sit or stand during the singing or playing of the national anthem. And, others are within their constitutional rights to disagree and criticize his refusal to stand. He is exercising his first amendment right the right way – nonviolently. We may not agree with the way he is going about expressing his views, but we should fight for him to be able to express his views.

Kaepernick is Not Doing Anything New

Kaepernick refusing to stand during the national anthem is nothing new. There are plenty of people who sit during the national anthem. Some sit because they are lazy. Others refuse to stand or even roam the corridors during the national anthem because they view it as an undercard to the main event. And, some sit out of protest. But, the interesting thing is sports figures opposing the national anthem is nothing new. Jon Schuppe, in a recent article, gives a brief history of sports figures protesting the national anthem:

• Jackie Robinson, arguably one of the greatest baseball players to play the game, wrote:
  

  As I write this twenty years later, I cannot stand and sing the anthem. I cannot salute the flag; I know that I am a black man in a white world. In 1972, in 1947, at my birth in 1919, I know that I never had it made.

• Forrest Bynum, in 1970, refused to take his helmet off during the national anthem.
• In 1972, Wayne Collett and Vince Matthews chatted during the anthem as a sign of protest.
• A couple of months later, as a sign of protest, Eastern Michigan track team warmed up during the singing of the anthem.
• Hardy Williams, a Los Angles High School football coach, turned his back to the flag when the national anthem was played. 
• In 1996, Denver Nuggets point guard, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, (formerly Chris Jackson) refused to stand during the national anthem.
• In 2003, Toni Smith, captain of the Manhattanville College women’s basketball team, began turning her back during the song to protest American inequalities and the coming war in Iraq.

So, Colin Kaepernick follows in a long line of sports figures who have made a public statement, protesting the national anthem. Others have done it in the past, and I am certain others will protest in the future.

To Form A More Perfect Union

Our country is not perfect, but we continue to fight to form “a more perfect union.” We continue to combat racism, sexism, nationalistic arrogance, poverty, consumerism and all kinds of greed. We have problems in this country. Stevie Wonder can see that.

Though this country is 240 years old, we are still transforming. We are still in process, forming the more perfect union. The beauty of America is we have the privilege of forming the more perfect union through nonviolent protests, marches, sit-ins, blockades, voting, running for political offices, and most of all, getting involved in our local communities.

I love what ESPN commentator, Stan Verrett, said: Let’s pay as much attention to the substance (of the flag) as we do to the symbol (of the flag). In essence, Verrett is saying if you honor the flag with your lips while dishonoring with your actions, you are being a hypocrite and not living up to the ideals of which it represents. Quoting Isaiah, Jesus told the Pharisees something similar regarding worship, something infinitely more important than the national anthem:

You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’” Matthew 15:7-9

Just like the cross, reading the Bible and attending church, the national anthem at sporting events has become an empty ritual. We transform symbols into substance by living the principles and ideals of the symbol.

Advice to Kaepernick et al

Whereas I appreciate Kaepernick’s motivation – to raise awareness to some injustices in our country, I offer my limited advice:

• Thank God for the freedoms we enjoy. Though we have our problems, the United States is still one of the best countries in the world. We have freedoms and benefits other countries simply don’t have. People – both black and white – died so everyone could enjoy liberty, justice, and equal opportunities – even the chance to play sports and make millions of dollars. Be grateful.
• Exercise your First Amendment rights. You are free to express your opinion. Continue to make people aware of injustice in our country through nonviolent protests. It takes courage to swim against powerful currents.  Keep swimming.
• Remember, not every white person in America is racist and not every black person is a victim of racism and discrimination. There are good white police officers and there are corrupt white police officers. The vast majority do their jobs and do them well. There are good black police officers and there are black police officers who use unnecessary force. Yes, we have issues, but we must not generalize.
• Combat racism and discrimination with the power of the gospel. We still feel the pull of the Fall in the Garden of Eden. Until Jesus, the Righteous Judge, returns, we must continue to combat injustices by living and preaching the gospel.
• Celebrate the progress we have made and continue to work diligently to form “a more perfect union.”
• Fight injustice in tangible ways, too. Sitting during the national anthem brings awareness to the ills of our country, but it doesn’t solve the problems. Get involved in violent and diminishing communities. Give some of your 11.9 million dollars away to dilapidated inner cities schools. Set up a foundation for poor children in the central city. I know you can’t help everyone, but you can do for one what you wish you could do for all.
• Believe and proclaim the gospel of Jesus. Jesus is the hope of the world. His death and resurrection transform the human heart. The flag and the anthem will pass away. They are powerless to save people and change hearts. Only the good news of Jesus changes hearts of stone into hearts of flesh.
• Be the change about which you are protesting.

As followers of Jesus, we must continue to preach the gospel to our world. Jesus commands us to make disciples who make disciples who make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20). He did not call us to pledge our allegiance to the flag and the national anthem, but to him as our Savior and King. May we never get it twisted!

What is your take on the Colin Kaepernick controversy? 

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