Why must we have faith in Christ to experience fully his help in facing the storms of life? If he loves us unconditionally, why doesn’t he meet our needs whether we trust them to him or not?
James explained that “the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
Much has been said and written about the Barbie movie. If anything, the amount of hand-wringing over the movie’s virtues and vices is, at least, a testimony to its power as a thought-provoking cultural phenomenon. At the risk of being reductionistic, Barbie is about seeing that which has been unseen or even ignored. Particularly, Barbie is about getting society, especially men, to see what women go through and that women are more valuable than just “the fairer sex.” To give us this sight, Barbie gives us Barbieland, a world in which the Barbie dolls run everything and that the Ken dolls are powerless, oafish, eye candy. Seeing men in such positions is a powerful—and far from subtle— rhetorical device that makes men so uncomfortable that they finally see women and what they go through.
Might I offer a cultural juxtaposition to show that there is a subtler, perhaps even more powerful story that can get us to truly see women? The cultures of Jesus’ time—whether Greco-Roman or Judean—were far more misogynistic than ours. Women barely had standing in courts of law, were not afforded educations, nor considered even close to men in physical or mental abilities. They were seldom heard from and rarely seen for their true value. Women were background figures at best.
A recent Pew Research Study found that more than half of Americans believe they’ve been visited in some way by a dead relative.
Here’s why I’m addressing the fact of our mortality: Scripture teaches that “through fear of death,” humans are “subject to lifelong slavery” (Hebrews 2:15). In what ways does the fear of death produce such bondage?
The most well-known line of King’s speech is this one: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” That vision has never been fully realized, and its greatest threat today is a set of ideas that purport to advance racial justice but instead oppose it. Critical Race Theory and the critical theory mood that infects so many areas of our culture, especially education and media, are all about issuing judgments about the character of entire groups of people based solely upon the color of skin.
Twenty years ago, in a commentary about this historic speech, Chuck Colson articulated why only the Christian vision of the human person can ground an understanding of human rights, universal human dignity, and value that extend to everyone. Recently, the world has learned disturbing details about King’s character and moral failures. Colson’s analysis of King’s ideas, and his call to Christians to live out of a Christian worldview, remain true and relevant today.
Dr. King’s “somebodiness” doctrine stands on the fact that every human is created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). He “made from one man every nation of mankind to live on the face of the earth” (Acts 17:26); accordingly, “God shows no partiality” (Acts 10:34; Romans 2:11).
Nor must we: “If you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors” (James 2:9). Stated bluntly, racism is sin.
Here’s the problem: sinners cannot solve the problem of sin, which is why it persists. In the context of Dr. King’s speech, prejudice—an innate sense of superiority over another person or race—is an endemic result of the Fall and our “will to power” (Genesis 3:5).
We can and should legislate against it. We can and should take every practical means to minimize its existence and horrific effects. But we cannot eradicate it without the help of the God who made us.
Last month, an article published on NBC described “[p]ractitioners of ‘race change to another,’ or RCTA,” which refers to people who “purport to be able to manifest physical changes in their appearance and even their genetics to truly become a different race.” Interviewed for the article were teenagers who are enamored with Japanese and Korean cultures and who have become convinced that, by listening to subliminal messages while they sleep, they will eventually wake up with Asian characteristics, such as eyes with an epicanthic fold.
You see, what events like Faith and Family nights do so well is create low-barrier opportunities for people to unite around something they care about and honor God in the process. That doesn’t have to stop at baseball, though.
What if the best solution to the lack of diversity in our churches is not changing how the services look on Sunday but rather being more intentional about who we partner with to do ministry on the other days of the week? What if our churches started to see other communities of faith as potential partners rather than rivals? And what if we looked well beyond our own little slice of the city in the process?
If you feel like the Lord is calling your church to become more involved in college ministry, for example, don’t just assume that God wants you to rush off and start a Bible study aimed at bringing university students to your church.
