About a year ago, my millennial daughter (31 years old) asked me a question, “Dad, do you think you have benefited from white privilege?”

I reacted the way I have heard many of you react. Emotionally.

I was indignant. Not at my daughter. Hers was an honest question. I was indignant with the idea of “privilege.”

I come from poor church-worker stock. My parents raised four children on a very small Lutheran teacher salary. I paid my way through college working 12-hour days on offshore drilling rigs. Together my wife and I worked hard to pay our way through seminary. We scrimped and went without but we did it ourselves.

Nope. No privilege for me!

And, that’s how many of my White friends feel. We recoil at phrases like, “white privilege,” “systemic racism” and “Black lives matter.” We feel indignant. We push back. We defend ourselves. We refuse to concede that we are in anyway complicit – even unknowingly – with racism in America.

But for me, what a difference a year makes. That was then and this is now. Somehow my indignancy has been transformed into compassion. What happened?

For me it was three things:

Learning history I had not known
Hearing stories from Black friends I had not heard
The Holy Spirit chose now to have the scales of my eyes fall away

The following resources have been helpful to my transformation:

Learning history I had not known.

For an amazingly packed, 17-minute history lesson, check out this video by Veggie Tale creator, Phil Vischer: Click HERE
For an insightful overview from LCMS Pastor William Cwirla: Click HERE

Hearing stories from Black friends I had not heard.

To watch a video interview with Dr. John Nunes, President of Concordia College New York: Click HERE
I am especially thankful for the transparency of people like Rev. Warren Lattimore, Rev. Keith Haney, A.J. Vega, Rev. Gerry Coleman, Rev. Gregory Manning and Dr. John Nunes who have been willing to patiently tell and re-tell their stories
To familiarize yourself with resources recommended by our friends in the LCMS Black Clergy Caucus: Click HERE
I shared a little of my story HERE.

The Holy Spirit chose now to have the scales of my eyes fall away.

Yes, God had to mess with me to make me sit up, take notice and finally see what had always been right in front of me but unrecognized by me.

For a powerful example of honest, Law/Gospel preaching concerning personal racism from a LCMS pastor, watch Pastor Michael Saylor’s courageous message from June 7 in Convoy, Ohio. Go to the 30-minute mark in the video to view the sermon: Click HERE

Take Note of What the Lord is Doing

I also want to highlight a new and important development in the LCMS. A growing number of young clergy, church workers and laity are taking the initiative and providing the leadership to lead us into more honest, redemptive conversations and actions regarding racial justice and racial healing in our church body. Click HERE to go to their website: “Lutherans for Racial Justice.”

In my opinion, these young LCMS leaders are to be trusted and heeded. Go to this same website if you want to make a donation to the new “Institute of Black Lutheran Studies and Center for Social Justice.” I made a donation. I invite you to do the same.

Some have asked me, “Greg, what does all this have to do with your goal of helping people join Jesus on His mission?” In a word: everything.

Friends, at some point, we have to face that we are perfectly calibrated for the results we are currently getting in the LCMS. If we want to finally, really be the Church for our neighbors and communities, we have to face some facts. For instance:

I was shocked when I learned the LCMS is the second whitest denomination in the U.S., right behind the ELCA. That’s right, taken together, Lutherans are the whitest of all. For the data, Click HERE. Why are our congregations so remarkably unable to reflect the racial make-up of their local communities? What are we not facing?
On top of that, I learned the average age of people in the LCMS is among the oldest of U.S. denominations. Only 1 of 10 adults in the LCMS are under age 30. Wow. For the data, Click HERE. Why is our average age relevant to how we are or are not dealing with our racism? As Tom Couser recently noted, an annual poll conducted by Youth-Pulse “asks young people ages 13-37 to tell them the biggest problems their generation faces right now. Racism topped the list.” What is significant is that this year’s poll was taken BEFORE the killing of George Floyd.

There are concrete reasons the LCMS is overwhelmingly white and old. People of color and young people are wondering why we can’t understand what’s wrong.

Learn the history. Hear the stories. Pray for the Holy Spirit to open your eyes and your heart.

Our community is watching. Our young adults are watching. What are we telling them with our attitudes and actions?

Will we remain the indignant ones or start our transformation by the power of the Holy Spirit?