A Wounded Young Man

Pastor Joe Herd and I spoke at a local religious school this morning to a group of junior high students. The topic was “race”. We shared the usual truth. The Scripture – AND SCIENCE – both state that beneath the surface, we are all simply human. Not only does Paul say that “God made us all from one blood…” [Acts 17:26] but the Genome Project has confirmed that “race” is simply not a scientific category – underneath the surface, in our DNA, we aren’t red, yellow, black or white – we are people. Then we talked about our unity in Jesus, the fact that He came to “break down” the walls that have divided us – every one of them – in and through His death on a cross [Eph. 2:11-22]. So in Jesus, we are “neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free…but Christ is all and in all.” [Col. 3:11]

“So”, we said to the students, “intellectually and spiritually – race, skin-color, ethnicity isn’t a reasonable way to judge another human being. It’s all surface. Character is individual. No one can say, “All white people are…” or “All black people are…” – because it just isn’t true – scientifically or biblically. And we told the students that until we “get this” – we are all at risk in every culture, everywhere, all over the world. The Yugoslavians turned on each other several decades ago and slaughtered thousands of their own over race and religion and ethnicity. By now, the Rwandan genocide which resulted from the rift between the Hutus and the Tutsis is infamous world-wide. The “rape of Nanking” which occurred in the 1930’s was only the most atrocious and abhorrent of the incidents between Chinese and Japanese which were the result of centuries of hatred. Dr. King said about our own situation in America, at the close of the racially oppressive long dark night of Jim Crow – “Either we learn to live together as brothers or we perish together as fools.” And of course, since these racial and national wounds are reflective of a myriad of other relational wounds – between families and mothers and sons and daughters and dads and husbands and wives and friends and neighbors and colleagues – and since these relational wounds are our deepest wounds of all – ALL of us are looking for relief! Is there any hope? We told the students that only in Jesus do we have hope of healing – and if the church doesn’t deal with its racial stuff – the world has NO picture of whether this healing can ever happen – in reality – at all. We can talk all we want about the healing power of Jesus – but if we live divided by race or whatever – our words have no power. No meaning. No reality.

Now, to the point. At the end of our session we asked for comments or questions…and one young man raised his hand and told us how his mother was white and his father was black and how his grandparents have never accepted him and have made him feel unwanted and how he didn’t even like to go their home anymore. The look on this young man’s face, his very countenance…broke my heart. First I wanted to cry. Then I wanted to go beat the hell out of somebody. Of course, Joe and I gathered ourselves and ministered to the young man and told him how proud we were that he had the courage to speak about his wound and how he was loved by God and how God might begin to heal his wound as he poured it out to Him…and maybe even give him strength to love his grandma in spite of the rejection. And then the bell rang and our time was over and we had to move on. But I can’t. And I keep asking myself this afternoon…over and over and over…what will it take for us to come to our senses? What has to happen – how many people have to die around the world until we recognize the lie of the enemy that divides us and perpetrates hatred? HOW MANY 12 YEAR OLD YOUNG MEN HAVE TO GROW UP WITH WOUNDED HEARTS AND DECIMATED SOULS BECAUSE WE REFUSE TO DEAL WITH OUR RACIAL BAGGAGE AND CALL OUR STEREOTYPES AND PREJUDICE AND JUDGMENTS AND FUNNY LOOKS WHAT THEY REALLY ARE – RACISM FROM HELL. And when will we send it back to hell where it came from so that we can become the multifaceted, deeply rich and beautiful diamond we were created to be? When will we stop prostituting Jesus Christ on the altar of our old, racial baggage and wound? When will we stop living like hypocrites – pretending to follow the real Jesus of Nazareth when really we’re worshipping at the altar of some modern-day racist Baal?

May God give this young, wounded brother much, much grace for his future. May our God redeem this young man’s pain. May He literally work out this racist crap for this young man’s ultimate good – and for the good of those he touches over the years. For Jesus’ sake…amen.