Galatians 3: 28 NKJV
Like most, I watched the events unfolding this past week with disgust and sadness. Disgust because I saw the video. I saw the video of the final moments of a mans life choked away by someone who did not see him as human much less a child of God. Sadly, that is where we are as a society today. The death of one George Floyd sparked outrage across the nation, as it should have. Life is not so cheap that it has no value to a majority of Americans. I watched the video with sadness because I know all too well the area where Mr. Floyd was murdered. I lived in Minnesota for over 30 years of my life, and the area continues to hold a place in my heart. That being said, during my time in Minneapolis, it was definitely understood that there were certain areas of the city where you just didn't go unless you were looking to fuel a addiction or for a porn shop. South Lake Street was one of those areas. As I watched the scenes of the unrest in Minneapolis, I realized that not much had changed since I left that city. Prominent among the businesses along Lake Street were the local liquor stores. As Minneapolis burned, there was a steady stream of people running in and out of one liquor store or another looting booze. I guess they couldn't find a electronics store anywhere. What grieves me about this situation isn't so much the callous nature by which George Floyd died, but how we as a society have chosen to segregate our Lords creation. Instead of being Gods children, we are now black, white Democrat, Republican etc. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that God has been almost fully removed from our everyday lives. During the coverage of the unrest in our cities, I heard hardly a whisper of how we needed to remain calm and seek the Lord in this time of grief. This is where we stand as a society. I think of the scriptural warnings of what we see happening {Isaiah 5:20-21}. This is not a race issue, but a human issue. The truth is that we as a people have more in common than we do our differences. We are all part of the same lineage and inheritance {1 John 3:12}. I don't expect others to follow what it is I believe, only that when we look in that mirror we all see the image of Christ Jesus gazing back at us {Galatians 2:20}.
If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
1 John 4: 20 NKJV
I read on social media this week the words of a local pastor I know apologizing to his African American brethren for the treatment they have received. I thought to myself...you hypocrite! You stand in the pulpit week after week speaking to the fact that we are all Gods children, and then you marginalize His children by segregating them into man made divisions. I agree that there is evil in racism, there always has been. Racism is simply mans effort to shove a wedge between ourselves and others. To hear it coming from the pulpit is pretty disturbing to me. I am not foolish enough to believe that God stands in favor of segregating His children. One look into the scriptures will show anyone that God is about our union in Christ Jesus and Himself {John 17:21}. One of our most iconic scriptures assures us of this by reminding us that Christ Jesus came that ALL might be saved {John 3:16-17}. It is exactly in times such as these where we need to be reminded of all which we have in common. Most notably is who it is that we truly are inside. The apostle Paul assures us that when we look upon our brethren we will never see a division based upon the color of our skin or our own political beliefs. What we will see is that we all have within us the Spirit of Christ Jesus who lives in us {Galatians 2:20}. When we have this realization, we begin the process of seeing those around us not by their outward appearances, but by He who is in all of us. There is no black. There is no white. There is only Christ.
So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Genesis 1: 27 NKJV
~Scott~
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