Daniel Bramlett
“Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?” Those in authority set themselves “against the Lord and against His Annointed saying, ‘Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.’” They say, “We don’t need the Lord anymore.” This is the state of America and has been for quite some time now. We are reaping the fruit of our labor.
The last few days have been some of the darkest we’ve seen in a long time. Rioters are pillaging cities and inviting the rage of violence to overthrow every authority in its sights. A virus has kept us all living in fear and seclusion for weeks. Our government cannot seem to agree on how to sharpen their pencils much less the direction our country needs to go. Churches have all but stopped meeting in person. We are in desperate need of a Savior, but He can’t be found. His absence is not His desire. We have invited Him to leave the room and our lives. It has been years since we as a nation have turned to God; years since we’ve cried out to Him, broken over our sin. Those years have not been recent.
The most recent events we are facing supposedly stem from a racial background. I am not black and I never will be. My ancestors were not slaves. I cannot walk a mile in a black man’s shoes, nor can he mine. I have not known much of his suffering and he has not known much of mine, but what is clear is that we’ve both carried our share of grief.
What I have to say is motivated by a deep desire to speak the word of the Lord. I am not speaking with a racial slant one way or the other. I am working hard to not view one ‘side’ as bad and one as good. Both black and white parties in this fight are justified in some ways and not in others. What we are facing is much greater than revenge for one man’s greatly unjustified death. This struggle has been brewing for years and just now, it seems, reached a boiling point. That doesn’t change the fact that both are fighting and will continue to until someone with greater authority intervenes. And that will not happen until we ask Him to.
I am not here to make less of the struggles of the black race any more than I am here to make less of white privilege. I am here to make much of the struggles of the human race. Many in this country were brought up to believe that just because their skin had less melatonin they were superior in some ways. The destruction racism has caused is unending and heavy. The wrongs done in the past and even recently have no excuse. They are evil working at its finest and must be punished. But toppling every strata of authority in this country is no more the answer than the Tutsis fighting the Hutus in Rwanda. Widespread killing and violence does nothing but promote more killing and violence. Bloodshed only lets more blood. And we do not bleed rich and poor, Democrat and Republican or black and white. We only bleed red.
Psalm two gives us a glimpse of our problem and God’s answer. He says He has set His King on His holy hill and given Him the nations as His inheritance. If they do not submit to His authority, He has orders to “break them with a rod of iron.” Pain and suffering is not the goal, obedience is. You see, we are not our own. As much as we would like to wrestle and struggle for the top, the top has never really belonged to us. And as much as we would cherish our moment to shine, God promises He will break apart any regime that refuses to submit to Him. Herod thought he was the world’s next priceless work of art and God reduced him to a shriveling mass eaten by worms. The answer to our problems is not found in protests or the deployment of the National Guard. The answer is found in the Word: “Serve the Lord with fear...kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way...blessed are all who take refuge in Him.”
Hatred will never be rewarded by God. Racism at its root is not just unkindness. It is so much more than a reordering of society to place one race on top of all the others. Racism is pure hatred. It is directly from the heart of Satan and will only lead those under its authority to Hell. We cannot make it pretty by smiling while we use derogatory terms or blaming our upbringing. Hatred is ugly no matter the language or culture behind it.
If we know Jesus, hatred does not define us. Love does. We are all made in the image of the One who created us. He loves us with a love that crosses every police line and puts out every fire. His love was demonstrated in a one man march that some wanted to say ended in violence. His followers tell a different story. They say that march ended in LIFE. They touched the wounds violence tore and found them completely healed. They saw the face violence distorted smile. They saw the body that sweated blood, laugh and enjoy their company again. Would you march with Him? That is the only place we will ever find peace. Will I see you there?