Looking at our world today it
seems as if a war between ethnic groups has begun and, sadly, they are largely
correct. However, this is not just a worldly problem between unbelievers. This
point of contention has infiltrated the walls and hearts of the church. Men and
women who claim both to know and love God are aggressively seeking to bring
down an entire ethnic group under the guise of “social justice” (1 John 4:20).
What they miss is that their actions are not a form of justice, but revenge. It
is not a matter of reconciliation,
but one of retaliation.
Why are they doing this? The
simple answer is because they have allowed the heinous crimes of the past to feed
in them a spirit of bitterness and contempt towards those who had nothing to do
with what they are fighting against. Yet that is often how it goes in our
lives. We tend to take out our frustrations upon others who were not even
involved. This is something we must actively guard against.
The wrongs done in the past were
terrible, but they must remain in the past because, as we continue to allow
these awful thoughts to fester in our minds, we are giving ourselves over to
their control. When we continue to live as if these atrocities are happening to
us today, we are enslaving ourselves to a victim mentality. Lives are being
dragged off in bondage and captivity and we do not even realize that we are
slaves to our own hurts.
Philippians 4:4-9 tells us that
we should be setting our minds on good, wholesome and freeing things. Why?
Because the Apostle Paul recognized that the human life is governed and
maintained through six intakes: seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, thinking and speaking. The things that
we set our minds and hearts on will eventually come out of our mouths (Matt.
15:18) and, whether we realize it or not, we are being formed by the words we
say. The person we will become in the future is dependent upon our thoughts and
actions now.
Moving Forward
What if God held the sins of
someone else against you? How would that make you feel? Well, that is what many
Christians are doing today. They are holding the crimes of past generations upon
the heads of the current generation and demanding restitution. Yet, they fail
to realize that not only did the current generation have nothing to do with the
past but also that their personal lust for more money, more prestige, more
benefits and more stuff will never be satisfied. Even if an entire ethnic group
was completely wiped out, they would still find something to complain about and
their sinful cravings would still demand more. No amount of money, free land,
free housing, free food, free education or other handouts will ever “be enough”
because what is the price for forgiveness? Is there a price to excuse the
mistakes of the past? There shouldn’t be, but compensations like these would
make us think otherwise. It is important to realize that the problem with our
flesh is that it is never satisfied.
I would actually recommend that
Christians of minority groups refuse to accept free handouts because of what
these benefits are doing to our society. I know I am asking a lot but think
about the greater good which is the advancement of the Gospel. It would be hard
to give up free money, but that is the point because living a Gospel-centered
life is meant to be hard. The reason I say this is because the benefits that
certain groups receive simply because of their skin color both exalts some
minority groups over others and continues to feed the victim mentality that so
many people today are accustomed to have.
Learning from History
I am not saying that we should
forget the past or attempt to rewrite it in any way. That would be absurd
because we are meant to learn from history. However, I am saying that we are
not to allow ourselves to be consumed and controlled by the things that happened
so long ago. I think about all of the Western men and women who fought both for
the freedom of slaves and the restitution to be made for the Native American
Indians. I think about all of the godly men and women who are actively fighting
against the extermination of the young and the old [current monstrosities such
as abortion and medically forced suicide].
In the past, it has been
Christians who have led the way and were the examples of offering forgiveness
to the oppressors. Corrie Ten Boom and Kim Phuc Phan are two excellent
examples. Corrie Ten Boom’s family was exterminated by the Nazis. Kim Phuc Phan
suffered life-altering injuries from napalm as a child. The world, and
regrettably some in the Church, would look at both women and tell them that
they were entitled to be bitter, to receive compensation, and to champion the
destruction of those who had done them wrong. But what do we know actually
happened? Corrie Ten Boom traveled the world with the message of forgiveness
and called on her countrymen to forgive the Germans. Kim Phuc Phan tells her
story of forgiving the Vietnam government and other specific individuals and
how she has come to see God’s grace and purpose in the midst of suffering.
The Proclamation of the Gospel
Yes, slavery was a terrible
reality, and many Native American tribes suffered at great costs, but keep in
mind what God’s Word says in Philippians 4:4-9. Men meant these things for
evil, but God meant them for good (Gen. 50:20). The end result of Westerners
crossing the sea in 1492 and then bringing millions of men, women and children
from the countries of Africa was predetermined in God’s mind so that billions
of people would receive the glorious Gospel of God’s grace. The Native American
Indians, as well as the Native Africans, did not know anything about Jesus
Christ and what He did for them until the Word of God was brought to them. Yes,
it came through the hands of sinful men, but ultimately God’s grace was
displayed to even more people because of His Awesome Sovereignty over the
nations (Acts 17:26).
Conclusion
Who will be the next great
example of forgiveness that future generations will hold in high esteem? From
the outside it looks like the war of the racial groups has begun, but the real
battle has nothing to do with race. As Christians, we do not wrestle against
the pigment of one’s skin or even their genealogical identity. The real
conflict being waged is between the Church and the spiritual forces of evil
(Eph. 6:12). That being said, we should not leave our brothers and sisters to
live out their lives in victimized bondage when Christ has called them to so
much more!
