CHRIST ABOVE CULTURE SEMINAR - SESSION 3-4
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 1 viewNotes
Transcript
I. BENCHMARKS FOR CROSS – CENTERED PURSUIT OF RACIAL HARMONY
I. BENCHMARKS FOR CROSS – CENTERED PURSUIT OF RACIAL HARMONY
A.The Christian Worldview
A.The Christian Worldview
1.People need to be compelled, not by persuasive speech but by the Word of God
1.People need to be compelled, not by persuasive speech but by the Word of God
“Often people do not listen as much for the truth as for the necessity that will hold them accountable to the truth” (Shelby Steele, A Dream Deferred, 2011. Pg. 11)
“Often people do not listen as much for the truth as for the necessity that will hold them accountable to the truth” (Shelby Steele, A Dream Deferred, 2011. Pg. 11)
2. We must assume, within redeemed humanity, that there resides the ability to love beyond earthy measures
2. We must assume, within redeemed humanity, that there resides the ability to love beyond earthy measures
a. Romans seven is for all who are going to heaven
a. Romans seven is for all who are going to heaven
3. The issues surrounding racial harmony – justice and forgiveness – are chiefly cross issues
3. The issues surrounding racial harmony – justice and forgiveness – are chiefly cross issues
Whites need to get on their knees and read Amos; blacks need to get down on their knees and read 1st peter. All of us need to return to the cross. For the cross teaches us that if all we ask for is justice, we are all damned.
Whites need to get on their knees and read Amos; blacks need to get down on their knees and read 1st peter. All of us need to return to the cross. For the cross teaches us that if all we ask for is justice, we are all damned.
… it teaches us that God himself is passionately interested in forgiveness and its price. That is why we cannot escape such responses from large swaths of secular society whose categories for redressing social evils, real and perceived, lie elsewhere. Among Christians to expect anything less is to betray the faith.”
… it teaches us that God himself is passionately interested in forgiveness and its price. That is why we cannot escape such responses from large swaths of secular society whose categories for redressing social evils, real and perceived, lie elsewhere. Among Christians to expect anything less is to betray the faith.”
B. Foundational Principles
B. Foundational Principles
1. Christ’s work created our unity
1. Christ’s work created our unity
2. Our work is to maintain it
2. Our work is to maintain it
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,
with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,
eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
II. The Gospel Centered Affections Of Blacks and Whites For Racial Harmony
II. The Gospel Centered Affections Of Blacks and Whites For Racial Harmony
WHY AFFECTIONS?
A. Blacks Need to Forget
A. Blacks Need to Forget
1. What it does not mean to forget
1. What it does not mean to forget
a. It does not mean that we should act as if the history of
slavery and discrimination never happened
a. It does not mean that we should act as if the history of
slavery and discrimination never happened
b. It does not mean that should acts without passion against
the issues of social injustice and discrimination
b. It does not mean that should acts without passion against
the issues of social injustice and discrimination
2. What does it mean to forget?
2. What does it mean to forget?
a. Forgetting is the radical call to assess and address the real actions and language that are fueled by and promotes racial exclusion through the paradigm of God-like forgiveness.
a. Forgetting is the radical call to assess and address the real actions and language that are fueled by and promotes racial exclusion through the paradigm of God-like forgiveness.
The black church must embrace the radical call and challenge to ongoing
forgiveness.
But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.
Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
3. Gospel - centered principles to promote forgetting
3. Gospel - centered principles to promote forgetting
a. Consider the fact and reason for Christ’s death
No offense against us can compare to our offense against the glory of God
a. Consider the fact and reason for Christ’s death
No offense against us can compare to our offense against the glory of God
b. Consider the reality that saved sinners have been forgive
b. Consider the reality that saved sinners have been forgive
When we are offended by one who professes to be a Christian we must temper
our response with this mindset: Christ died for that sin.
c. Be confident that unbelievers will receive their just due.
When the offense comes from one who is unsaved and who actively opposes the gospel we must deal with such people with an eternal perspective of our Lord and follow His pattern:
c. Be confident that unbelievers will receive their just due.
When the offense comes from one who is unsaved and who actively opposes the gospel we must deal with such people with an eternal perspective of our Lord and follow His pattern:
B. Whites Need to Remember
B. Whites Need to Remember
1. What does it mean to remember?
1. What does it mean to remember?
i. The word remember is not to be understood cognitively. Rather,
to remember is a covenantal term that describes the activity of
God when acts on behalf of another for their good.
i. The word remember is not to be understood cognitively. Rather,
to remember is a covenantal term that describes the activity of
God when acts on behalf of another for their good.
God remembered Rachael
Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb.
God remembered Hannah
They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord; then they went back to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her.
2. What does remembering look like?
2. What does remembering look like?
a. To remember means that the white church must recognize and own the fact that the American racial divide was a problem they produced.
a. To remember means that the white church must recognize and own the fact that the American racial divide was a problem they produced.
i. They perpetuated, promoted, practiced and protected the institution of slavery:
- Jonathan Edwards
- George Whitefield
- Robert Dabney
i. They perpetuated, promoted, practiced and protected the institution of slavery:
- Jonathan Edwards
- George Whitefield
- Robert Dabney
“No segment of white Christian America has been more complicit in the nation’s fraught racial history than white evangelical protestants. And not group of white evangelical protestants bears more responsibility than Southern Baptists…” (Robert Jones, The End of White Christian America, 167)
“No segment of white Christian America has been more complicit in the nation’s fraught racial history than white evangelical protestants. And not group of white evangelical protestants bears more responsibility than Southern Baptists…” (Robert Jones, The End of White Christian America, 167)
ii. The biblical justification for slavery was rooted in a cultural hermeneutic
ii. The biblical justification for slavery was rooted in a cultural hermeneutic
b. To remember means that the white church must come to realize that the structural impact of exclusion remains a significant factor in our racialized American society
b. To remember means that the white church must come to realize that the structural impact of exclusion remains a significant factor in our racialized American society
i. Racial exclusion is more than a religious (sin) problem; it is the structure of our society
i. Racial exclusion is more than a religious (sin) problem; it is the structure of our society
“No one share life with God whose religion does not flow out, naturally and without effort, into all relations of his life…. Whoever uncouples the religious and social life has not understood Jesus. …Whoever sets any bounds for the reconstructive power of the religious life over the social relations and human institutions, to that extent denies the faith of the master” (jones, 2016, 177).
“No one share life with God whose religion does not flow out, naturally and without effort, into all relations of his life…. Whoever uncouples the religious and social life has not understood Jesus. …Whoever sets any bounds for the reconstructive power of the religious life over the social relations and human institutions, to that extent denies the faith of the master” (jones, 2016, 177).
c. To remember means that the white church must actively and relationally seek to identify in the struggles (social, political, etc,) of blacks.
c. To remember means that the white church must actively and relationally seek to identify in the struggles (social, political, etc,) of blacks.
i. Incarnation is essential to truly understanding the challenges that confront blacks, socially.
i. Incarnation is essential to truly understanding the challenges that confront blacks, socially.
“America’s still segregated modern life is marked by [these] realities. First, geographic segregation has meant that…most white Americans continue to live in locales that insulate them from the obstacles facing many majority black neighborhoods. Second, this legacy, compounded by social self-segregation, has led to a stark result: the overwhelming majority of White Americans don’t have a single close relationship with a person who isn’t white” (Jones, 2016, pp.156, 57)
“America’s still segregated modern life is marked by [these] realities. First, geographic segregation has meant that…most white Americans continue to live in locales that insulate them from the obstacles facing many majority black neighborhoods. Second, this legacy, compounded by social self-segregation, has led to a stark result: the overwhelming majority of White Americans don’t have a single close relationship with a person who isn’t white” (Jones, 2016, pp.156, 57)
EXPLAIN
“We have substantial evidence that whites tend to become deeply invested in racial justice and anti-racism work only after they become invested in the lives of people of color through experiencing long-term, meaningful relationships.
“We have substantial evidence that whites tend to become deeply invested in racial justice and anti-racism work only after they become invested in the lives of people of color through experiencing long-term, meaningful relationships.
The power and impact of structural and personal racism, and passive white tolerance of these, become more visceral for whites when we see how real these are in the life of someone for whom we care” (Jones, 2016, pg.159).
The power and impact of structural and personal racism, and passive white tolerance of these, become more visceral for whites when we see how real these are in the life of someone for whom we care” (Jones, 2016, pg.159).
3. Gospel - Centered Principles to Promote Remembering
3. Gospel - Centered Principles to Promote Remembering
a. Have the courage and willingness to challenge undiscerning assumptions
a. Have the courage and willingness to challenge undiscerning assumptions
b. Have the courage and willingness to challenge their own fears
b. Have the courage and willingness to challenge their own fears
c. Have the courage and willingness to challenge white privilege
c. Have the courage and willingness to challenge white privilege