06/02/2020
No Time to Look Away: A Letter to Students
To our students,
The image of the Minneapolis police officer’s knee pressing against the neck and body of George Floyd is seared into my mind. It was a brutal eight-minute display of power, hatred, and cruelty that killed Mr. Floyd. Vivid oppression.
For followers of Christ, what is our compass in this moment? What guides the response of the follower of Jesus?
• Look to the actions of Jesus. While Jews of his day typically took the long way around Samaria when traveling from Judea to Galilee for cultural, theological, and especially racial reasons, Jesus went straight through the heart of Samaria, talking with a Samaritan woman at a well about living water and staying two days with the Samarian community (Jn. 4:1-42). When asked, “Who is my neighbor,” Jesus made the hero of his parable an unlikely Samaritan (Lk. 10:25-37). His inaugural sermon in Luke’s Gospel proclaimed deliverance to the oppressed (Lk. 4:18).
• Look to the outworking of the gospel. The gospel is the only power that can save and the only power that can unshackle and transform even a racist heart (Rom. 1:16, Ac. 4:12, Jn. 8:36). The gospel is first our hope of salvation (1 Cor. 15:1-4), but the gospel also has an outworking in our lives. One of the outworkings of the gospel is to call, even compel, us to oppose the wrong treatment of every human being created in the image of God (Gen. 1:27). When Paul challenged Peter for refusing to eat with Gentiles when around Jews, he confronted Peter’s hypocrisy as a violation of “the truth of the gospel (Gal. 2:11-14, see also Gal. 2:1-10).” The right treatment of others is not the gospel; rather it is an effect or outworking of the gospel in our lives.
• Look to the ministry of reconciliation which has been given to us (2 Cor. 5:18). Not only are we given the miracle of reconciliation (God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, 2 Cor. 5:19), and not only must we share the message of reconciliation (He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, 2 Cor. 5:21a), we have also been given the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18). This ministry of reconciliation not only calls us into right vertical relationship with God (2 Cor. 5:20a), it correspondingly calls us into right horizontal relationship with one another (see Mt. 22:37-40, 1 Jn. 4:7-8, 19-21). To have been entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation means that the follower of Christ cannot turn away from broken relationships but rather must seek reconciliation (See Mt. 5:23-24, 18:15-17). Why? The shadow of the cross hovers over the community of those in Christ.
What can we do to make an impact?
o Determine in your heart to stand against racism whenever and wherever you meet it.
o Study the depths of Scripture to gain a biblical understanding of justice and to see the biblical emphasis on justice. Examine the Bible’s portrait of justice as the right treatment of all people which necessitates acting on behalf of the oppressed (See Prov. 31:8-9, Jer. 22:15-16) Mine the scriptural emphasis ”to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God (Mic. 6:8, italics mine).” Search the Scriptures and see what Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, Micah and all of the prophets teach us about God’s concern for the just treatment of everyone.
o Learn about the experience of African Americans and other minority communities.
o Mentor a child of any color in a difficult environment. Let the one you mentor see in your heart a love for all people.
o Be an instrument of reconciliation on your campus. Be a light, be a voice for what is right, be a bridge for reconciliation. Use your innovation to create beauty, foster healing, and build community.
Now is not the time to look away. Our world is broken. Don’t let the image of the Minneapolis officer be the end of the story. Love the gospel, share the gospel, live out the gospel.
—Tommy Johnson
Regional Campus Minister, WKU BCM
