Issues of race have always been important to me. I grew up in a racially tense town in the South, still entrenched in many ways in issues that more modern towns had long since dealt with. The lines were clearly drawn. There was a black part of town and the rest was white. We lived out in the country so we felt little of the tension there. But no doubt that had somewhat of an impact (I remember 2 African American male students in my grade in elementary school…there may have been more but I only remember two). That aside, my parents weren’t marked by what many of my classmates’ parents were. My folks were transplants to the South. But my parents had a different view on racial matters that they passed along to me. My parents didn’t come from the North (they’re mid-westerners), and they didn’t embrace that faux, ever-so-popular mentality that came from liberal academia of “we are color blind.” They weren’t color blind and that’s okay by me because there is much to appreciate about our differences. There are differences between people, and color/race, ethnicity, nationality, etc… all play a part in that. But what I witnessed with my dad was a lot more real than simply the idea of racial equality. I saw Dad practice human equality. Dad had a number of friends at Delta (where he worked for 30+ years before retiring), both black and white. And those friends came to our house. They came to use dad’s tools and workshop, they came to help him, they came to pick blueberries and muscadines, and they came to bring dad their own fruits of harvest. Black and white they came. And as I got older I heard more and more stories (mostly from my mom) of things my dad did. Most of his African-American friends were janitors and building maintenance folks. Even though the civil rights movement of the 60′s was before my birth, I don’t think the effects in the South were quite as clear by the 70′s and 80′s that I witnessed. Anyway, some of these guys were illiterate. And dad saw it as a ministry to take these guys over to the side, out of site, and help them with paperwork, and read policies to them. He became the policy master in his circle at Delta. Dad didn’t make fun of these guys nor ignore them. He didn’t do this in public nor draw attention to himself or them. He protected them and he helped them. These men came to love dad for it. And their families attested to this when he’s been asked to carry caskets of these men. But let me say this before you see some noble white man having pity on poor black men. This wasn’t the case. There were white men at Delta in the 70′s and 80′s who were illiterate too. And my dad did the same thing for them. And herein is the lesson he taught me. My dad taught me by example to love and respect people…not whites, not blacks, but people. And fundamentally what was behind this? It was theological. Dad believes that men are created in the image of God. Now I don’t know my dad’s heart, nor am I naive enough to think he’s never said, done or thought anything racist. We ALL have. But I appreciate his legacy to me in this. Thanks Dad!
And the legacy continued in my church. My pastor also did this by example. Again, he isn’t a perfect man, but he has made some hard choices to love and respect others (even when it cost him), because he truly believes people are created in the image of God. Howard Dial, pastor of the church I grew up in and later served in, had just left seminary in the late 60′s. He moved to Atlanta and began teaching at Carver Bible College, a predominantly all Black Bible college. Not being much older than most of his students, friendships developed quite naturally. One such friend, a single young African American man began attending church with Howard and his wife Beth. This was Howard’s home church. It was the church he grew up in, the church he preached his first sermon in, and the church in which he was ordained. His connections couldn’t have been any stronger. But when this young black man went forward to join one Sunday (yes, it was Baptist), the deacons would not allow him because of the color of his skin. Howard had a hard choice to make: either keep quiet and deny wrong-doing, or actually point out the sin of these men who were his spiritual fathers. He opted for the latter and left the church, writing a letter to the deacons explaining their sin. Soon some families began meeting in a home with Howard teaching. That soon led into the church that I attended until I was 18. Oh, and that young African American man goes by the name of Tony Evans. No doubt we have a sovereign God. So thanks to you too Howard Dial for your legacy in my life.
So where am I going and how did I get on this path? My thoughts have been stirred by the recent Don Imus controversy. What he said was wrong, but I’m not sure how much the problem lies in the racism of his comments. He shouldn’t have said that about any body. He shouldn’t have said that about white girls, Hispanic girls or African Americans. It was fundamentally wrong because it showed disregard for human worth. This worth is intrinsic in all humans not because of anything they’ve done, but because they (like no other creature) were made in God’s image. Therefore all humans have worth. Even the vilest humans. I’m convicted of this every time I watch the news or a show like cops and I see people acting completely wretched. My heart runs to the thought, “what a worthless piece of trash.” But I know better. And I ought to know better.
So what Don Imus said, if it was wrong (and I believe it was), was wrong if he’d said it to anyone. It is also wrong if anyone else had said it. I don’t hear anyone saying this, and I’m disappointed. I’m all for fun and games (as anyone who knows me can attest). I’m not sure this outcry would have occurred if Larry King had called Don Imus a nappy headed ho (and I think a case could be made for the nappy headed part). But here’s my point. To joke about someone is typically evident to all (including that person). But to demean someone is equally as evident. And I think everyone saw this by Imus’ comments. He meant nothing positive by what he said, nor did his producer by what he said.
But on top of these thoughts, I also read a good post by Mark Dever today. First I have to say that I like Mark Dever a lot. I met him at a conference in ’98 on evangelizing postmoderns. This was before postmodernism was cool and before Mark Dever was cool. Okay, he may have been cool, but nobody I’d talked to had ever heard of him. Then again, maybe he wasn’t cool then nor is he now, according to some of his answers at the recent Shepherd’s Conference, but I digress. Mark was not the plenary speaker at this conference I attended at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Ravi Zacharias, Don Carson, and Ajith Fernando (sp?) were). Mark simply led one of the dozens of sessions. But it was a session I decided to attend (I think because of the subject). And I was so glad I did. Immediately I was mesmerized by this guy’s intellect and his grasp of God. I saw it in a number of guys that week (Phillip Jensen, Greg Ganssle), but Mark really stood out to me (this conference was put into print and is a great resource: Telling the Truth). A year or so later I ran into him at a Founders Conference, and then cheered as he was recognized more and more through the years. I’m thankful God has gifted some men like Mark in our age, and given him the platform of speaking, books and the Internet so we can all learn. So all that to say, Mark wrote a provocative article on the whiteness of not only our country, but also our Christianity. And it reminded me of another guy who I’ve come to love quite a bit: Carl Ellis.
Carl Ellis was the plenary speaker one year at Bethlehem’s Conference for Pastors, which I attended with the senior pastor of a church I served in each year I was there. I’d never heard of Carl Ellis, and I don’t think many of the attendees had either. But John Piper gave an introduction before Carl first spoke that caused us all to want to listen. And Carl didn’t disappoint. He blew my mind, in fact. He challenged much of what I thought, much of what I thought I knew, and most importantly much of what I felt. Here I was, a fairly grounded guy when it came to race matters (or so I thought), and Carl shook the earth beneath me. I bought one of his books there, Free at Last. I highly recommend it to you. Especially if you’re white and you think you understand Blacks, Black history, and Black church history. A few years later, Carl was asked to come and teach a course of the seminary I attended and also worked at. I had the privlege of hosting Carl and taking him to meals and such. He probably wouldn’t know me from Adam now, but I’ll never forget him. He recently taught a course on African American Church History at the seminary and I hope to get to edit the video and produce the DVD for them since I was unable to attend.
Let me end by saying that we have to be careful not to fall for the false view of equality that the world offers. The world talks about equality, but doesn’t practice it. In fact, many of the strongest proponents of racial equality propagate the opposite. What we must first get right is that people are made in God’s image. We are made to reflect God’s glory. We are made for His glory. We fail to do this any time we demean another human, regardless of what they do or how we see them. None of us, none of us are immune to this. We all fail in this area. I see this regularly when I talk with my friend Thad, who alone has taught me more about race issues and how far I am away from seeing all men as God created them. But in spite of our failures, we must preach to ourselves, scream at ourselves, carve it in our skulls that God has made man in His image. This is what makes murder heinous, slander despicable, and calling others “nappy headed hos” wicked.
