Today is Day 160 of the year 2020, Day 84 of my Coronavirus "stay at home". But today, rather than speaking about the Coronavirus and its effect and toll, I want to talk about George Floyd, about the Black Lives Matter movement, and my place in it all.
Let me start by saying, with absolute conviction, that what happened to George Floyd, and soooo many others like him, is egregious. As I struggle to make sense of the repercussions of his death and what is going on in our nation, I grapple with 1,000 different questions. I have prayed and I have shed many tears. Tears for the loss of life, for George Floyd, for his family, tears of outrage over the injustice and the violence, tears of frustration at the failure of our nation to appropriately respond. There have been many difficult conversations with people close to me. As I fail to find the answers, I feel compelled to address this here on my blog. This is where I use my voice. Be patient with me because I do not have it figured out. But I am trying to listen and learn.
If you have a chance, I recommend reading Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Letter from a Birmingham jail. While it was written over 50 years ago, much of his letter speaks loudly to the current state of our nation. Dr. King eloquently speaks to the value and timeliness of the work of confronting the issues, the responsibility of the church to respond, as well as a call to action for all. He addresses the moderate white man (or woman), imploring us to take a stand, "Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection." Shallow understanding. Lukewarm Acceptance.
He writes, "In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self purification; and direct action."
I want to address the idea of self purification. The Bible instructs us again and again to look within, to cleanse and renew our hearts, to "remove the log from our own eye," so to speak.
Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalms 139:23-24
Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Psalm 51:10
Let us search search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord.
Lamentations 3:40
Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when there is a log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.
Matthew 7:3-5
Let a man examine himself...
1 Corinthians 11:28
Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves...
2 Corinthians 13:5
For me, this means taking a deep look within. I've heard a few people say, "I am not racist." Some believe what happened to George Floyd does not directly affect them. If that's the case, you have it all wrong. Each and every one of us has an obligation to take a deep look within, to do some serious soul searching and self-reflection.
Let us search search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord.
Lamentations 3:40
Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when there is a log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.
Matthew 7:3-5
Let a man examine himself...
1 Corinthians 11:28
Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves...
2 Corinthians 13:5
For me, this means taking a deep look within. I've heard a few people say, "I am not racist." Some believe what happened to George Floyd does not directly affect them. If that's the case, you have it all wrong. Each and every one of us has an obligation to take a deep look within, to do some serious soul searching and self-reflection.
Some of the questions that keep nagging at me are, "What do I do? What can I do? Where do we go from here?"
As I said earlier, I don't have the answers. For starters, I am going to listen. People are hurt and angry. So instead of saying "not me," putting my hand up and saying, "Wait a minute!" or pointing fingers at others, I am going to sit and listen.
James 1:19-20 says, "Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God."
Listen.
I do know now is not the time to be silent. Now is the time listen and stand with my brothers and sisters, to support them as best I can. Even more than this, now is the time to pray. To pray for peace, to pray for justice, and to pray for healing.
If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14
I am so grateful for Pastor Brian who leads with conviction and grace. Here is the prayer he lead us in this morning:
"May we simply be able to sit with the other and weep and not lecture. We commit to turn away from all forms of racism and not loving our neighbor. And we seek you, our God for healing our land. God we declare racism is sin. Period."
-Brian Tracy, Evangel Assembly, Wilbraham, MA
As I continue to seek answers, it is important to remember we are all in this together. Black, brown, white, blue or red. We all have a duty to look within, to ask God to search our hearts. We MUST listen and commit to learn. We have to do better. We MUST get this right. Our children deserve that.
Today's Song is Bleed the Same by Mandisa
I wanna say something to everyone, in a spirit of humility, a spirit of meekness and a spirit of Christ-like love. There is chaos and calamity in the world. And there is so much hurt and distrust. When police are killed, we need to say something. When black boys are killed, we need to say something. And when we don't say something, we are saying something. We have the spirit of redemption when we speak. At our concerts, in our churches, I beg of you, let's ask the people that we are accountable to stand in front of to pray with us for healing.
When are we gonna realize?
We all bleed the same
We're more beautiful when we come together
We all bleed the same
So tell me why, tell me why
We're divided
If we're gonna fight
Let's fight for each other
If we're gonna shout
Let love be the cry
So Father God, I pray that our families will come together right now, and seek Your face. You will forgive our sin and you will heal our incredible land. In the name of the only Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.
