I have already addressed my heart on the issue of race. If you haven't read my article pertaining to the subject, "A Christian's Look at Racial Tension in the United States", I implore you to do so. Just to provide a summary, I condemn racism at every level. There is no way that one can look down on another simply because of color, ethnicity, or creed. God has called us as Christians to love one another regardless, and to exude that love in the walks of our lives, wherever God takes us.
The love of God was far from present in the minds of those who pillaged, raged, and mutilated last Saturday. No matter your political opinion regarding any of the groups involved, there is only one word I can use to describe the lot of them. Disgusting. It is very tempting for me to give into the anger I feel in my heart towards those who blindly would destroy, and kill, all for racial 'justice'. However, I myself refuse to give into the same anger that filled their hearts. For this is not a physical battle, but a spiritual one.
You see, the city of Charlottesville is not a place that is foreign to me. In fact, it is where I was born. While I don't have many childhood memories of my early life there, considering that I was so young, the horrors of these events struck far too close to home. We always hear of unspeakable acts in the news, but we never expect, or desire, for such terrors to occur in our own lives.
Saturday night, I left work completely unaware of what had occurred. I had left troubled, because even though I was unaware, my heart was already hurting. Do people have to die over a lie? Must we become so consumed by anger and hatred that we fail to recognize our humanity? What do events like this prove, other then our animalistic foolishness?
I am fully aware of the debate regarding these statues, and I can understand the frustration of both sides. However, I cannot say that I agree with either of them. As a lover of history, I know that it is never simply black and white. There are stains that mark the record, and many pages are soaked through with blood. There have been atrocities committed that make my stomach churn in disgust. By the same token, there have been true acts of heroism, and undeniable times that God's providential hand has been seen.
The problem is that many are uneducated in the truth of our country's history, and have been instead fed the lies of a wicked agenda. And that doesn't stop with the United States. I'm not going on a rampage of a political nature, but a spiritual one. Regardless of your views regarding politics, there is a time and a place for it in our natural world. It is critical that Christians are aware and vigilant regarding the state of our countries and nations, and prayer for our countries and our leaders is so, so important!
Personally, I do not agree with the tearing down of historical monuments. Does that make me a white supremacist? Most certainly not. I hold no false illusions of racial grandeur, and I wholeheartedly condemn their actions. I simply cannot agree that by tearing down our history, we can somehow create a better future. For what will the destruction of these statues truly incite? It is but another manifestation of a spiritual problem that has lasted through the ages. Will we stop at statues? Or next, will we desire to burn the history books? Will we, enraged and blinded, seek to jail those who disagree with us? In that perspective, what makes us any better then those of times past? This is not a 'slippery slope' argument, I'm not saying these things to elicit fear. It is simply the observation of one who loves to study history, and all too well sees the patterns that run throughout it.
What we also must realize is that this sort of terror will not stop at Charlottesville. Almost every day, I hear of horrific terror attacks across the globe. Whether it be London, Paris, Berlin, Egypt, etc...those are but examples of places outside America that have experienced such horrors. Now, while all the places listed above have experienced different sorts of mayhem with different causes and reasons; it all boils down to the same problem.
What we also must realize is that this sort of terror will not stop at Charlottesville. Almost every day, I hear of horrific terror attacks across the globe. Whether it be London, Paris, Berlin, Egypt, etc...those are but examples of places outside America that have experienced such horrors. Now, while all the places listed above have experienced different sorts of mayhem with different causes and reasons; it all boils down to the same problem.
Friends, there is a sickness in our world. It cannot be cured by medicine, and it cannot be combated by human methods. It can only be countered by God's Word, and the only way we can ever hope to see the tide turn is by we, the Church, laying aside our differences and standing in unity. It is not my heart to sound so overly preachy that my words fail to sound practical, but when we recognize that we are standing in the middle of a spiritual battle, it changes one's perspective.
If we, the Church, cannot stand in unity and in prayer, what can we ever truly accomplish? If we continue to snap at each other and wound our fellow believers with our words and actions, there will never be any fruitful progress. When we choose to lay down our pride and recognize our faults, then we will have a chance to bring about something good. I pray that we do this, because it's something that I myself am certainty trying to do in my own life. If we cannot start with our own hearts, we can never be used by God to bring healing to the broken.
True revival begins within our own hearts, before spreading to another's. Instead of pointing fingers of accusation at those we deem faulty, perhaps it would be a good idea to look at the log in our own eye before glaring down at the speck in someone else's.
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