My Fear of the Church’s Response to the Charleston Shooting

Imagine the outrage had the shooter been a dark-skinned Muslim who stood in a Bible study and said, “I must kill Christians.” The Church would stand united. We would make it abundantly clear that we are on the side of Christians in standing against Islamic terrorism.

But Dylann Roof wasn’t dark-skinned and he didn’t come to kill Christians. He was white and according to reports, he stood up and said, “I must kill black people.”

My fear is that this might change the response of the Church. It won’t change what is said, but it will likely change the passion behind it. The outrage will quickly fade. The resolve to take action will give way to a passivity or denial.

Denial is the most relevant word in the part of the world in which I pastor when it comes to the power of racism. Rightly seeing the improvements which have been made in the last fifty years, many people wrongly conclude that the issue of race has become a minor nuisance. What they fail to see, either by intentional ignorance or a limited experience, is the role racism continues to play in the lives of their neighbors. (See: Why We Can’t Say Racism Is a Thing of the Past)

While we can never allow one situation to define all of society, say this out loud: “A white man in a state with the Confederate flag flying at the state capitol, walked into a traditional African-American church and declared he must kill black people before killing nine people.”

Clearly Roof was deranged. If the situation happened in a vacuum, it would prove nothing. Yet it didn’t happen in a vacuum. This shooting took place in an America which is deeply divided—economically, socially, geographically, and in almost every category possible.

Some may object by pointing out that the situation could easily be reversed. A black man could have killed people in a predominantly white church. It’s a true statement. However, how often does a black person kill someone simply because they are white? While it is obvious I could be a victim of violence, what is my chance of being a victim BECAUSE of my skin color? Not much. I’m far more likely to be killed because of my profession, a random occurrence, or because of a blog post than because of my race. (And, to further my point, the most violent responses I receive from my writing is when I write about racism.)

There were many factors into what happened on Wednesday night in Charleston—mental health, drug-abuse, a culture which is not doing an effective job of raising boys into men, an incessantly antagonistic stance against people of faith—but we cannot downplay the role of racism. And the centrality of racism cannot excuse us, especially the church, into an apathetic or passive response.

Thankfully we have a model for how we should respond. The passion we would have if an Islamic terrorist were to kill a Christian should be the same passion we have when a white kid walks into a black church and kills innocent people. We should be outraged. And the outrage should give us the energy necessary to act. (See: A Christian Response to Islamic Terrorists)

But how can we act?

We can do everything in our power to expose, confront, and eliminate racism WITHIN us and AROUND us. As we fight against racism, we are making preemptive strikes against future acts of violence.

Notice, it starts within us. No matter their race, every person has aspects of racism within them. The most dangerous person is the one who knows they are racist and they love it. They desire to be racist. But the second most dangerous person is the one who believes they do not have the ability to be racist. Their ignorance will cause them to justify their own evil acts. What we should desire is to be is someone who is aware we have latent racist tendencies and we seek to expose those mindsets and change them.

In order to find the racism within us, we need two things:

1. The humility to be truly introspective. It is not easy to search your own soul and honestly admit things you are doing wrong. It takes humility. (See: What a White Man Knows About Racism)

2. The community to help us see life from other perspectives. If the only voices who speak into our lives are just like us, we will never see life from another perspective. We need people who are different than us.

Only as we begin to confront the racism within us, can we have the credibility to also fight the racism around us. We must be careful in confronting racism around us, but we can’t be so careful that we are silent.

There are two pitfalls to avoid:

Many people confront their own racism and become uber judgmental against the racism of others. It’s an unhealthy and unproductive approach. We can’t judge others into change. While we should boldly speak against racism, we should confront the actions of others while empathizing with their humanity. Because we are aware of our own racial tendencies, it should give us compassion as we confront others for their wrong ideas.

Others are so afraid of becoming judgmental that they refuse to speak up against injustices. We must have enough courage to speak truth even when it is unpopular. We must be willing to have others judge us as hypocrites rather than allowing others to suffer as we stay silent. (See: 10 Reflections on Ferguson from a Pastor of White Cops and Black Men)

Having a daughter with special needs, there are moments in which someone says something or does something which is not fair toward her. In those moments I have to stand on her side, but what I love the most is if before I say something, one of my friends says something. They can kindly speak to the person and point out the pain their comments or actions can cause. It saves me from having to do so and it assures my family that we have some on our side.

Whenever we see or hear racism, we must have the courage to speak and act so that, in part, others will know they are not alone.

My fear of the Church’s response to the Charleston shooting is that because it was about race rather than religion, the Church will responded apathetically or passively. My hope is that the Christian church will view this shooting within the larger narrative and passionately look internally and externally to confront the issue of racism.

The post My Fear of the Church’s Response to the Charleston Shooting appeared first on Kevin A. Thompson.