Onward Christian Soldiers
"There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother."
- 1 John 4:18-21
This bible passage is so powerful in that it needs no explanation. But I refer to these verses, so that I may expose a reality that is may be very difficult for many of my fellow believers in Christ to swallow. That reality is that in this, OUR country, upon it's founding, did NOT follow this commandment. And what's going to be even harder to swallow is the fact that too many in the CHURCH have been at the forefront of disobeying this commandment and continue to do so in recent days. I'm highlighting this matter because I truly believe that with a willingness to become informed and a genuine heart to understand, we can move forward and become the Church that God has called us to be. But to make a change, one must first admit that something needs fixing. I hope to shed light on those things that need fixing and I PRAY that you will accept these truths.
A Little History Lesson
The first thing you're taught about America is that Christopher Columbus "discovered it" and the Pilgrims came over in 1620 aboard the Mayflower in search of religious freedoms. Now, I bet you think I'm about to say something like, "what they didn't teach you is that after they came over, they tricked the Native Americans, took their land, raped their women, killed them, and then enslaved those remaining." Although that is all true, that will not be the focus of this paragraph. What they didn't teach you in school is that after settling here, there was no "religious freedom" unless you were Christian/Puritan. The settlers hypocritically took away the religious freedoms of anyone with an opposing belief system. From Puritan Boston’s earliest days, Catholics (“Papists”) experienced extreme hostility from the Puritans and were banned from the colonies, along with other non-Puritans. There was such opposition in Boston towards non-Puritans that between 1659 and 1661, four Quakers were hanged for persistently returning to the city to stand up for their beliefs. In newly independent America, there was an abundance of state laws regarding religion. In Massachusetts, only Christians were allowed to hold public office, and Catholics were allowed to do so only after renouncing the pope. In 1777, New York State’s constitution banned Catholics from public office and would do so until 1806 (Smithsonian Magazine, Kenneth C. Davis, 2010)
Now, we all know that eventually there was a "separation of Church and State." However, during the time that the Anglo-American Church was rectifying the wrongs they'd committed against other religious groups, they were whipping, killing, and raping enslaved Africans and then justifying it with the Bible. The verses they used specifically to justify slavery were Colossians 3:22 and Genesis 9:24-25. Colossians 3:22 states, "Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord." It is easy to conceive how this particular verse could have been taken out of context. However, any Christian who is truly living in the Word would see how the slave master's interpretation of this verse contradicts the rest of the Bible.
In contrast to Colossians 3:22, Genesis 9:24-25 was not taken out of context, but rather given a context. In these verses, Noah is drunk and his grandson Canaan laughs at him. Noah then says, "Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers." Well, one of Canaan's brothers, Cush, went on to represent the African tribes known as the Ethiopians (The Church in Cleveland, 2008). So by association, Cush and all of his tribes were cursed, right? And Canaan's father was named Ham, and Ham, in Egyptian, means "black" and so that means that God wanted black people to be slaves, right? WRONG. This logic is inaccurate for several reasons (besides racism and stupidity). 1. Noah’s curse was fulfilled by the Hebrews’ subjugation of the Canaanites. Canaan became “the lowest of slaves,” when the Canaanites served the ex-slaves from Egypt (i.e. the Children of Israel). 2. Cush had nothing to do with Canaan's curse and neither did Ham. After looking at the facts, the idea that God cursed black people clearly makes zero sense, but of course who wants to do their research when ignorance in is their favor?
The Message
Through all of the ruthless subjugation of people (regardless of race, creed, religion, etc.) in the history of this country, too many in the Church have been silent, if not supportive. The Church actively preaches against sex outside of marriage, yet to many it was okay for a master to rape his slave or force his slaves to breed outside of wedlock. We say "One Nation, Under God" and then comfortably utter the words "with unity and justice for all" when we KNOW that not everyone has the luxury of receiving equitable justice. Throughout the centuries, the Church has seen all of the evil taking place and has continued behave like loving this country in spite of it's wrong doings is the same as loving God, and that is just not true. Many people in the KKK identified with Christianity, but instead of condemning them, the Church turned a blind eye and justified their inactivity by saying, "I have my faith, I don't need to get into the politics of things" or "we just need to pray." The problem with those two statements are that neither are biblical. See, because Jesus put himself in the CENTER of politics to help those who were oppressed. Not to help those he identified with, not to help those who were good people, but to help whoever was in need. And "we just need to pray" is not biblical because "faith without works is dead" (James 2:26). Never in the Bible did God just send down a lightning bolt and fix everyone's problems. He worked THROUGH people.
If Jesus were here today, I think he'd look at all of the current happenings in the world and say "if only you had loved as I have taught you to love." Sadly, the Church has put being a "Conservative" before being a Christian, and put party affiliations above loving one another. The Church has been more upset about gay people marrying than about black people, Hispanics, and Muslims dying. As a result, the Church is seen as a symbol of hypocrisy rather than one of compassion and it is no one's fault but our own. When judgment day comes, God will not ask you "who did you vote for" or "did you stay true to the beliefs of your community?" He's going to be looking for whether or not you have loved him and shown his love to other people. You can't love God without loving your brother and you do not love your brother if you are constantly questioning why he is in pain as opposed to comforting him.
The good news is that we, the Church, can still be a light in spite of what we have and haven't done. It is not too late to change hearts, but if we are ever going to move forward as a church, we need to learn from our history and stop running from it. "Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better" -Maya Angelou. If you have read this blog, you now know better, and now it is time to stand up and start loving others as Jesus has loved us.
Sources:
1. "America's True History of Religious Tolerance." Smithsonian. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 July 2016.
2. "Black Slavery as the “Curse of Ham” : Bible Truth or Racist Apologetic?" Black Slavery as the “Curse of Ham” : Bible Truth or Racist Apologetic? N.p., n.d. Web. 21 July 2016.