ENGAGING DIVISION FROM THE CENTER?

In my communion with the Lord this morning I was reading 1st Timothy chapter 6. Paul commands Timothy in verse 12,

Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you

were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence

of many witnesses" (ESV).

Timothy is not only to fight for the faith but he is also to fight or contend, for his own faith. The seeming prevailing errors of his day were not to disrupt his faith and hope of the eternal life that he confessed. I believe this call of Paul is the call that the church needs to desperately heed in the light of our current climate of racial division.

We must contend against the evils of injustice in our country but we must contend, chiefly and primarily, for our faith in the glory of God. Our hope in the Lord and in His control over all things (including this season) must rule our hearts, minds and actions. One of the ways I believe we can fight for our faith (our hope in God amidst the chaos) is to limit how much we view television narratives concerning these events.

Being informed and staying informed is no longer a problem in our technologically global age. We have more information than we need at times. It is the incessant barrage of media reports, almost moment by moment, that can push against our hope in the Lord. If I am continuously hearing the world's perspective on this matter this will certainly impact my feelings and my own perspective. We would all like to think that we are unaffected but, in reality, we are not that strong to engage evil and go unscathed in some way. I think that Christians must limit how much we are exposed to the rhetoric that incites a fleshly frame of reference as opposed to a biblical one. In this way, we need to heed Paul's words to Timothy and fight for our faith.

Asaph, in Psalm 73 shows us what happens when our perspective in tainted. Asaph knows that God is a good God and loves His people (v1) but he admits that his focus on the propserity of the wicked was wearing on his faith. This is what he means when he says in verse 2, "But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped." The reason? His godly focus was overtaken by his fleshly passions as he continously allowed himself to view the prosperity of the wicked from a perspective that was not godly. All he saw was evil previaling. Or, in our context, all he saw was injustice after injustice and nothing changing. His view of things and his own heart were on the verge of a spiritual callapse into wordly thinking and, subsequently, a wordly response.

This is what can happen to a Christian who allows only the rhetoric of the world to inform their minds and hearts on matters of race, division and injustice. It is a fact that we must have a thought on this and offer a solution to it. As believers, however, we have neither the right nor the authority to have thoughts or solutions that are opposite of the Lord's. Yet, if we continually - dare I say only - listen to the world on this matter we may find ourselves on the wrong side of the Lord - mentally and spiritually.

Asaph was like many of us. He kept viewing what was taking place before him from a perspective that was slowly shifting, even crumbling, his hope in the Lord. And then, something happened that changed it all for Asaph. He grabbed hold of his faith and heart and things re-shifted - or began to be righted - within him. He said,

But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome

task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end

(Psalm 73:16–17)

Do you hear his burden? Do you feel his heart? When he thought how to make sense of this seeming injustice he said that doing so was extremely wearying to him. It was hard for him to get his mind and his heart to a place to see God in this "injustice" or to see how any of it could somehow be rectified and solved. He was perplexed until he got into the presence of God (v17). When he moved to the place of God, he said, "I discerned their end" (v17).

When Asaph moved away from the previaling views and narratives of the world's perspective into the place where the Lord was, his entire perspective changed! He saw in a new way. Nothing had changed regarding the events, themselves. The ungodly were just as propserous as before. Yet, everything had changed regarding his assessment of them and their end. This is what the church must do if we will be faithful to the Lord in this season and if we desire to see true and biblical justice prevail.

We must engage in what is taking place in our country but we must engage from the center; the center being the presence and the mind of the Lord. To do this we must fight the good fight of faith. We must protect our faith but viewing life from the perspective of the Lord. That perspective is this: He knows, He is in control and He will vindicate His people by righting the wrongs that sin has and continues to produce.

So, in light of this, I would advise the following actions for those who desire to honor the Lord in their active engagement against injustice:

1. Read the Bible daily and often. The Word of God is the mind of God and when we fill our minds with it we are protecting our passions.

2. Know the tendencies of your own heart. Be mindful of when you are liable to drift from the Lord and what content pushes you hardest in that direction. Stay away from those things (topics, people, programs, etc.).

3. Be humble by allowing your thinking and feelings to be evaluated. We cannot always, truly, evaluate the appropriateness of our own actions or thoughts. We need other, godly, people around us to help is to detect our blindspots.

4. Repent when your life and heart have been or are not godly. We all fail in one way or another as we view and experience injustice. When we do we need to repent and seek the grace of God to see and feel as He does.

For a Christ-centered view of racial harmony pick up a copy of my book - Christ Above Culture