Preserved by Purpose: Racism and the Church

Every so often, I have to revise this column to reflect yet another hateful, bigoted and racist comment made by the current president of the United States. 

This time it wasn’t comments that he made, but rather a video that was posted on his social media depicting the beloved former president and his wife (Barack and Michelle Obama) as monkeys.    

This classic racist trope shocked some and merely confirmed to others that he is a racist motivated by hate-filled cruelty and a desire to further divide our country along racial lines. 

In the past, he boldly taunted that four Congresswomen should “go back to where they came from”  another racist and demoralizing comment. Rather than spend the rest of this week’s column listing all of the racist things Trump has said in his lifetime (there is not enough space for that), I’d rather spend my column looking at how should Christians respond. With prayer? With conversations across denominational and racial lines? These things might work, but history has shown those efforts often work for a short time until the next racist comment is made.

So, what should Christians do?

A couple of years ago, Pastor Dwight McKissic Sr. and Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington held a Kingdom Conversation about Race and the Alt Right.  This event took place partly because of the weak response of the Southern Baptist Church to the Charlottesville White Nationalist racist hate rally in August 2017. Then and now, questions about how the Church could take a leading role in healing our nation were raised. The event offered the following as points to pray about moving forward regarding racism and the Christian Church.   

1. We are praying and believing God for racial healing and unity in the Southern Baptist Convention and revival in our churches and the Nation in order that America may be peaceable and a well-ordered society, demonstrating liberty and justice for all. 
2. White Supremacy contradicts the Word of God and is an ideology that no authentic Kingdom citizen /follower of Christ can affirm.   Therefore, we are praying that The Lord would rebuke the public and private attitudes and actions demonstrating White Supremacy in America. 
3. We are praying for our President, pastors, political leaders, parents, neighbors and friends to stand boldly against fascism and to exercise wisdom in our daily walk during these racially turbulent times. 

I don’t know what the answer is but I think the best place to start is in the word of God.  The bible says in Galatians 3:28:

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

1 John 2:9 also reminds us:

“Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.”

Looking back at these prayer points, it’s sad to note how it seems like we haven’t made much progress in race relations in the two years since the conversation was held. But that’s not because of a lack of effort. Racism is the original sin that stains our country. Perhaps the first step in dealing with racism is acknowledging that it exists which recent events show for some is perhaps the hardest thing.

Shewanda Riley is a Fort Worth, Texas based author of “Love Hangover: Moving From Pain to Purpose After a Relationship Ends” and “Writing to the Beat of God’s Heart: A Book of Prayers for Writers.”  Email her at preservedbypurpose@gmail.com or follow her on Instagram @shewandawrites.