Christians, One Alphabet Letter Powerfully Affects Race
Adding one, simple, single letter to the word race powerfully changes it to what our relationships as churches to other churches and believers to all believers ought to be, and to what Christianity offers that is not present in culture or society. That word–—get ready for it, Christians–—that word is Grace. Who would have thought that adding the letter “G” (“g”) to race would powerfully change it to what God intended for us all?
Our alphabet contains 26 simple letters. We don’t generally consider one letter carrying more power than any other letter. Yet one individual, simple letter can radically or even powerfully change a string of letters making up a word. For instance, adding the letter “A” (“a”) to some words alters them from one meaning to the very opposite. Adding the letter “a” to either, that is, atheism and asexual, radically change them from belief in god and sexual to “no god” and “nonsexual,” both the very opposite of their meanings minus the added one-letter prefix.
Such a change is radical, but not necessarily powerful. But this article is not about the alphabet, letters, or prefixes. It’s about an issue dividing our country and society as well as perhaps not a few Christians. That issue is race.
Despite Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. emphasizing judging “content of character” over “color of skin,” it appears the latter for many is winning out over “content of character.” That measure is applied in diverse racial directions. And there is a growing profusion of racism accusations. There also appear a growing number of race-related hoaxes. Political candidates and parties are accused of racism, athletic coaches are accused of racism, comedians are accused of racism, and TV newscasters are accused of racism. When it comes to the Church and Christians, both denominations and individuals have also been accused of racism.
This is not to deny that racism exists or that some of the above are indeed guilty of racist remarks, racist practices, or racist attitudes. Yet to deny improvements that have taken place or accomplished is to deny facts and truths. The exponential upsurge in inter-racial marriages and relationships and the growing population of bi-racial or multi-racial children represent a decrease in racism or racist relationships. There are other positive indicators such as the growth of racial diversity of local and national political leaders.
When it comes to the Church and Christians, perhaps it is helpful to remember both historically and culturally, people tend to go where they are comfortable with people who resemble them physically and culturally. During great immigration influxes from Europe, there were many churches based on ethnicity, such as German, Polish, Italian, churches. Today in St. Louis where I live, there are Korean, Vietnamese, Chinese, African American, and basically white-based churches. I say the latter because European differentiation has greatly faded over the years. This is just to suggest cultural comfort and not racism is/was the basis for ethnic churches. No race is monolithic; all tend to break down by ethnicity
Sitting recently in a pew and my pastor preaching on grace, the idea and concept for this article came to me. No, I wasn’t ignoring him; his emphasis came to bear on an issue causing undue concern for many Christians and churches–—a concern contributing to a measure of division where division should not exist. The issue of race–—even among believers–—is robbing many of something so much greater than our racial physical or cultural differences. This is the thought that came during that powerful sermon: Adding one, simple, single letter to the word race powerfully changes it to what our relationships as churches to other churches and believers to all believers ought to be, and to what Christianity offers that is not present in culture or society. That word–—get ready for it, Christians–—that word is Grace. Who would have thought that adding the letter “G” (“g”) to race would powerfully change it to what God intended for us all?
As Christians who believe God’s divine revelation, we know we are all under and guilty of sin. The sin of racism is just one of those universal sins that affect all people and all races. It should not be allowed, condoned, or practiced by any Christian or church. And just as it and any sin are universal, God’s gift of grace to us is also universal–—available to all believers regardless of race. Does that not impel and urge us to show such non-partial, non-racial grace to one another as well? God, the Holy Spirit–—when not quenched–—gifts this issue of race with one humble letter, “G” (“g”) enabling us to love and accept impartially every believer regardless of race. When we apply grace to one another, we focus on what we have in common, how God through Christ has transformed us all, and we can’t and don’t accuse whole races of people for the sins that some practice or perceived attitudes that some possess. In other words, we refuse and resist to stereotype any race or people–—especially members of God’s and our family.
Let’s thank God for a simple, individual letter that added to a word that today causes havoc by some is transformed into a gift we give one another.
“As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the multifaceted grace of God” (1 Peter 4: 10).
Helen Louise Herndon is a member of Central Presbyterian Church (EPC) in St. Louis, Missouri. She is freelance writer and served as a missionary to the Arab/Muslim world in France and North Africa.
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The PCA—Tent or House?
The tent image might suggest roominess, but the big tents most of us encounter these days contain circus clowns or maybe, far beyond, the cities and Starbucked suburbs, sweaty revival preachers, but maybe we repeat ourselves. Much better (and more biblical) is the image of a house. Houses have doors that can be opened wide or locked tight, windows that can let in light or air or keep out rain. To the officers of the church have been given the keys of a kingdom whose subjects, for now, reside in the house of and family of God on earth. No one has keys to a tent.
Every approaching annual assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) provokes posturing, positioning, and even reflection. To history appeals are made. To the founders we look. On the examples and words of great men we lean. The 2023 general assembly is no normal one—it is the 50th, of which much will be made. This middle-aged denomination looks to its Memphis meeting, not in crisis but in a state of unease, somewhat rattled after five years of controversy and the recent loss of two significant figures.
As in the late 60s and early 70s, violent cultural winds are buffeting the church. Those winds helped blow the PCA into existence in 1973. Theological liberalism and Neo-orthodoxy in the old southern Presbyterian Church in the U.S. were not the only factors that caused the fathers of the PCA to flee and found. The PCA’s mainline Southern mother had capitulated to culture on ethics, worship, and doctrinal fidelity—her maternal home’s once-solid confessional foundation was undermined, failing for lack of maintenance and attention. The PCUS gold, per Morton Smith’s book title, had become dim. And the late additions to the old southern home were built on sandy soil, not up to confessional code. The house came to have the solidity and wind resistance of a tent. Ironically, the old PCUS tabernacle’s stakes were pulled up for the last time only 10 years later in 1983 (a decade after the PCA’s founding) when Northern and Southern mainline churches joined to form the Presbyterian Church (USA), which now slouches toward oblivion after four decades of steep decline.
All of this makes one wonder why, after 50 years, the aspiration some have for the PCA is for everyone to agree that she is (and always has been) a big tent and that (by design) she never can or should be anything else. “Big Tentism” is not about facts. Its assertions are altogether in the realm of opinion and sentiment. Confessionalists and progressives alike may project their aspirations for the present and the future back upon the real or imagined founders of the PCA. Who they were, should have been, or would become, what they intended or hoped—none of these things are decisive for the PCA at 50. The sure guide for a presbyterian denomination is its constitution, which for the PCA consists of the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, and the Book of Church Order (the Form of Government, the Rules of Discipline and the Directory for Worship) “all as adopted by the Church,” and, we might add, as approved of by all officers of the church per their ordination vows. In the constitution we find firmer stuff than that which supports a tent of any size.
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The Fear of the Lord
The very thought of life apart from Christ’s cross stirs fear, terror, and awe. Since God is love, he took our sins upon his son, thereby immediately removing them from us as far as the east is from the west. While we fear God because of who he is, we need never fear his approach because his wrath and anger toward us have been turned aside at Calvary.
I was still in my teens, but I vividly remember the preacher’s words. “When the Bible speaks of the fear of the Lord, it doesn’t mean to be afraid of God, but to respect him. We must never be afraid of God because he loves us.” The preacher had a point and there was palpable relief felt in the congregation upon his declaration. It sounded like God’s love somehow canceled out any fear of God which might trouble us.
But I continued to wonder, how does the softening of fear into “respect” square with the well-known verse in Proverbs 1:7, “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, something which fools despise”? The question remained. What does it mean to “fear the Lord” especially when failing to fear the Lord is to be a fool who lacks knowledge?
I figured I would settle the critical point by doing a bit of research (one of my very first efforts at biblical studies). A commentary on Proverbs told me that the “fear” (yirāh) of the Lord means exactly what I thought it did–to be afraid, terrified, or in awe. There was no justification for understanding “fear” as mere respect, however important it was not to overlook God’s love for sinners. I discovered the word “fear” appears frequently throughout the Old Testament, often connected to wisdom as its source. Wisdom, in turn, is found in knowing who God is–witnessing his awesome power, coming to grips with his holy and righteous judgments, as well as understanding that God brings all things unto the ends for which he has appointed them. In this sense, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. That is what the author of Proverbs was getting at. Fools, on the other hand, ignore God who reveals himself as a “consuming fire” through his word and in his deeds (Hebrews 12:29). If wisdom arises from fear of the Lord, the height of foolishness is to pretend that God who is all-powerful, holy, and sovereign, does not reveal himself and grant us wisdom.
The fear of God is not a mere abstract theological speculation resulting from observing natural phenomenal like lightening or earthquakes. From the time of Abraham until Israel’s Exodus from Egypt and the Conquest of Canaan, God’s people repeatedly witnessed God’s presence with them through his supernatural power over nature. This is especially the case in the way in which God brings judgment upon his enemies–the fate of the elite Egyptian chariot units in the waters of the Red Sea comes to mind. The people of Israel also witnessed God’s awesome presence with his people as they made their way from Egypt into the promised land of Canaan (i.e., the pillar of fire by night and the cloud by day). Joshua recounts how the people of Jericho were terrified once they became aware that YHWH was leading his people (Israel) toward them (Joshua 2:10-11). YHWH is to be feared because of who he is.
But how do we resolve the apparent discrepancy between a God who is to be feared, and one whom the Scriptures also tell us “is love” (1 John 4:8)? What the preacher of my childhood completely missed was the fact that we need not weaken the force of the biblical affirmation that God is to be feared in order to preserve the fact that God is love. There is a biblical way to solve the conundrum which preserves both biblical points–God is to be feared and he is love. The solution is a proper understanding of the biblical covenants and a bloody cross.
God is to be feared because we have all rebelled against him. We are all guilty before him because of our sins–guilt for Adam’s sin imputed to us, as well as guilty for our actual sins (Genesis 3). After our first parents sinned in Eden, they were terrified by YHWH’s approach. The reason for their terror? God is perfectly and absolutely holy. Adam and Eve were once innocent. But the guilty rebels were soon cast from Eden, unable to enjoy God’s presence and terrified of his wrath. From that moment until now, God is to be feared, because he is holy, we are sinners, and all human sin must be punished.
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We All Know Better Than to Kick the Dog
Written by C. R. Carmichael |
Saturday, October 1, 2022
As representatives of God on this earth, we are not only called to care for the beasts of the field and the birds of the air, but we must care even more so for our neighbor who is of greater value (Mark 12:31; Luke 12:6-7; 15:3-7). And this, as it turns out, is the ultimate lesson of our sacred duty as the designated stewards of Creation.When someone reads the Biblical account in Genesis for the first time, he might be surprised to learn that Adam, who was given dominion over the earth by God, never once strutted around the garden of Eden kicking dogs, yanking cow tails, or even teaching parrots bad words. Humor aside, there is a significant reason why cruel behavior against animals, though common in our time, was never recorded in those early days of Creation.
When God, in His divine wisdom, formed man from the dust, He hard-wired Adam and Eve to be connected to Creation in such a profound way that mankind’s call to stewardship was not so much a duty as it was a great honor. Made in the image of God, man was raised up from the virgin earth and established as God’s representative to “work it and keep it” with the same loving care and intelligent order that emanated from their holy Creator (Genesis 2:15).
Thus, God was very deliberate when He gave Adam the task of naming all the living creatures, which not only spoke to the unique status of man over God’s creation but also cemented a special bond with the birds, fish and beasts under his care (Genesis 2:19-20).
As John Gill explains in his Body of Divinity, God’s creation was specifically made for the use and benefit of mankind, with God conceiving the divine idea that the wholesome interaction between man and nature would provide for their mutual happiness, sustenance and profit:
“…All creatures were made for (man’s) sake, to possess, enjoy, and have the dominion over, and therefore he was made last of all: and herein appears the wisdom and goodness of God to him, that all accommodations were ready provided for him when made; the earth for his habitation, all creatures for his use; the fruits of the earth for his profit and pleasure; light, heat, and air for his delight, comfort, and refreshment, with every thing that could be wished for and desired to make his life happy.”
Even after the upheaval of the Fall, and to this day, the righteous desire to nurture and sustain God’s created world is still an inherent impulse of man that descends from the original stock of our first parents and spreads to all human beings. Though we don’t always show it because of sin, deep down in all our souls is the instinct to be a loving caretaker of the teeming life given to us on earth.
In other words, literally and figuratively speaking, we all know better than to kick the dog.
We Know Better Because Of Our Conscience
The mistreatment and abuse of animals is certainly a tragic thing to see in today’s world. Most likely, we have all witnessed this cruel behavior from our earliest childhood days; and for many of us, it shattered our innocence and made us sick to our stomachs to know that such a thing could be considered a trivial matter―or worse, an amusement.
Whether we have listened to Sarah MacLachlan as she sang over pathetic images of emaciated kittens, or read about a government-funded lab that drugged beagles and locked their heads in mesh cages while infected sand flies ate them alive for “scientific” study, we instantly know that this kind of heartlessness is morally wrong and downright evil.
Happily, as a child, I was also shown the better way. During the hot summers of my youth, I had the great honor of helping my grandfather on his farm and saw his kind husbandry in action. On many blessed occasions I would hop into his old Chevy truck and ride along as he visited the various pastures and barns to check on the well-being of his cows and horses, spy out their possible health concerns, and tend to their supply of good food and water.
On one particular tragic occasion (which I did not witness), the horse trailer my grandfather used to transport his prized Hackney ponies broke free from the truck’s hitch, careened and flipped off the road, and crashed. In the subsequent heap of twisted metal, the bloodied animals were wounded beyond any possible help, and my grandfather was forced to put them down to silence their suffering.
Afterwards, I was struck by the teary-eyed anguish on my grandfather’s face as he recounted the incident. To him, those ponies were more than just an investment of time and money. Though he could not articulate it with words, his obvious affection for those animals told you all you needed to know: these beautiful creatures of God had given my grandfather an unspeakable joy as he lovingly raised them, trained then, and cared for them.
My grandfather was not known as a man of professed faith, by the way. And yet, intrinsic to his very being, he was imbued with a God-given conscience that guided his tender care of the noble beasts in his possession. And such it is with every man and woman if they heed the “inner voice” given to them by God.
We Know Better Because Of The Scriptures
The moral caliber of our relationship with animals, however, does not have to rely solely on our imperfect gut instincts. Thankfully, God has revealed in the Holy Scriptures the profound truth about the sacred interaction between God and His creation, and the corresponding commerce between man and the living creatures of earth.
The Bible, in fact, has made this point crystal clear: God does not look kindly on those who are destroyers of the earth (Revelation 11:18), and nor should we. A person’s kind and thoughtful relationship with God’s creation is a thing of spiritual beauty because it aligns with, and reflects, the same righteous benevolence His Creator has shown to all the life of earth, including mankind.
Placing Adam and Eve in a garden was no trivial matter. In doing so, God established the ideal setting in which mankind could “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28). It was, by God’s design, a lush organic world perfectly fit for their visceral use as tillers of the soil and keepers of livestock. The pursuit of money, which came later, was never the original standard of wealth, nor were the cities to which the sons of Cain fled ever an abode that could fully realize their potential as stewards of the earth.
Time and time again, the Bible connects our agrarian sensibilities with wisdom and righteousness.
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