In the critically-acclaimed book Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America, a very popular and highly-recommended read among evangelical social justice advocates, authors Michael O. Emerson and Christian Smith assert that: “As a nation, Americans have devoted extensive time and energy discussing religion and race. But the connection between the two, especially religion’s role in the racially divided United States, is grossly under-studied.”
For the sake of this commentary, I will grant Emerson and Smith the benefit of the doubt that they are correct in their assertion. In fact, there is ample evidence that countless Americans continue to devote extensive amounts of time, energy, and money toward investigating the relationship between religion (e.g. Christianity) and “racial” disparities.
It is a reality that is difficult to miss.
One need only look around his or her local bookstore (do they still have those?), grocery store checkout, or social media footprint and it becomes evident rather quickly that the number of books, articles, podcasts, and blogs that are focused on matters of “racial reconciliation” and “social justice” from both a theological and philosophical perspective, are ubiquitous and unavoidable. So much so that “racial reconciliation” has developed into its own special category of ministry within the evangelical church. Case in point, Lifeway® Christian Stores, a division of the Southern Baptist Convention, has an entire section of its website dedicated to the subject.
But to whatever degree the aforementioned statement by the writers of Divided by Faith is valid, what is equally true, if not more so, is that the gospel has been so grossly under-studied, even by many evangelical social justicians, as to fail to comprehend or acknowledge the genesis of such a chasm.
It is the church’s decades-long insistence on broaching this matter of ethno-relational partitioning through the lens of political and legislative solutions, as opposed to addressing the Scripture-centered root causes, that has led to this latest cycle of evangelical social activism which, in reality, is merely a regurgitation of previously-argued dogmas and credendas that have simply been repackaged and relabeled (e.g. “woke”). Were it not the case, I would not be spending my time writing nor, conversely, would you be spending your time reading, this commentary.
The fact that many Christians continue to exclaim that “Racism still exists!” – as if racism (a term I personally disavow, but will use for the sake of this article) should be treated as if it were the attitudinal equivalent of a carton of milk that had reached its expiration date – is testament to the level of naivety that exists within the church in failing to realize that politics and government are wholly inadequate to meliorate not only the tangible effects of such a mindset, whether individually or systemically, but also the spiritual origins of it [2][3].
The 17th century Puritan theologian Thomas Watson (1620-1686) wrote[4], “God’s knowledge is foundational. He is the original pattern and prototype of all knowledge. God’s knowledge is instantaneous. He knows all at once. Our knowledge is successive. We know one thing after another and argue from the effect to the cause.” I’m convinced that evangelical social justicians are the type of people of whom Watson is speaking, as they tend to argue their case from the perspective of the effect (injustice) to the cause (“racism”), whereas the gospel always argues from the standpoint of the cause (sin) to the effect (injustice).
One of the clearest examples of this is the exchange between God and Cain in Genesis 4:1-7. Cain was “very angry” (v. 5b) because his offering had been rejected by God and his brother, Abel’s, offering accepted by Him. But God, being fully aware that Cain was contemplating murdering Abel out of jealousy and envy, warned him not about the act he was considering, but about the sin that was “crouching at the door” of his heart (v. 7a) and that, if he didn’t “master it” (v. 7b), would lead to his committing the act that he was already contemplating against his brother.
We all know how that turned out, don’t we?
When one considers the protestations of evangelical social justicians, one invariably comes to the conclusion that they are demanding that which is humanly impossible to bring about. I say that primarily on the basis of Ps. 106:3, which reads, “How blessed are those who keep justice, who practice righteousness at all times.” Who among us practices righteousness at “all times”?
Social justicians are, in my humble opinion, admirably, but misguidedly, hoping to remake this present world into one in which justice and righteousness are consistently observed by all who inhabit this sinful world. But if God’s Word is clear about anything, it is that you and I are innately unrighteous[5] and, conversely, are wholly incapable of consistently adhering to society’s ever-shifting standards of ethics and morality let alone God’s fixed standards[6]. Which is why the vision of the late Dr. James Hal Cone (1936-2018) – a man whom many regard as one of the founders of black liberation theology – that “Love should be a controlling element in power, not power itself[7]” – will continue to be a mirage in this life, because the same sin that divides us from God divides us from one another.
To put it differently, the problem is enmity not ethnicity.
The gospel of Matthew records that the angel of the Lord commanded Joseph to name the Child to whom his wife was to give birth ‘Jesus’ for the foreordained purpose that “He will save His people from their sins[8].” I mention this to suggest that evangelical social justicians would do well to remind themselves that Jesus is a Savior, not a divine Social Worker.
Christ’s larger purpose in this world is eschatological not sociological[9], to prepare for His elect a new world to come, not a better world here[10].
Humbly in Christ,
Darrell
Image credit.
[1] Eccl. 1:9
[2] Eccl. 5:8
[3] Gen. 6:5
[4] The Great Gain of Godliness
[5] Rom. 3:23
[6] Eccl. 7:20
[7] Black Theology: A Documented History, Volume 1: 1966-1979, p. 21
[8] Matt. 1:21
[9] Jn. 18:36
[10] 2 Pet. 3:13
