Racism

"From Indignant to Compassionate"

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:

  1. Learning history I had not known

  2. Hearing stories from Black friends I had not heard

  3. 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?

"I Am Not Black"

I grew up in a Black neighborhood in Houston, Texas beginning in 1968.

My father was instrumental in opening up our all-White Lutheran elementary school to Black families after he became principal in the 1970’s.

My sister married a Black man.

Over the last 50+ years, I have had many friends who are Black.

However, here’s the thing… even though my neighbors and classmates were Black and my brother-in-law and friends are Black, I am not Black.

So even though I lived side-by-side with Black neighbors who were friends, went to school side-by-side with Black classmates who were friends and have had many other Black friends over the years, I am just now realizing that the daily experiences of my Black friends in the wider world have been completely different than my own. 

How could I NOT know this?  

Simple.  It never even occurred to me to ask.

My skin is white and because I never experienced the injustices and slurs my Black friends have had to endure, I never even thought to ask them about their experiences. I thought we were the same.  I was oblivious to what my friends were enduring on a regular basis in my city and even in my church body simply because of skin color. (I am so, so very sorry, my friends.)

Because I have so much to learn, I have been reading and listening to a number of narratives about the daily experience of Black people in America. I am embarrassed to say that many of these resources have been available for years.  It’s humbling to realize how little I was paying attention.  Collectively, the stories being shared have helped me realize that there are many layers of racism at play in most communities, from the brutal to the subtle.  White people, like me, briefly note the brutal, but have no idea about the subtle.  But brutal and subtle both are painful and have a lasting impact on our friends.

And, because I have a lifetime of very different experiences, I didn’t have a clue.

If you’re White and are starting to have some of the same realizations, what can we do?  One of the first things we can do is humble ourselves and realize our Black neighbors, coworkers, friends, schoolmates and church members have more stories to tell than we have heard.  We can ask their permission to have a different conversation than we usually have.  “If you are willing, I would like to hear what it is like to be Black in our neighborhood or in our city (or in our company or in our school or in our church).”

By asking the questions and hearing the stories, we will gain two very helpful things: insight and indignation.  With insight and indignation, we will be more motivated to keep watch and take action when we can.  We will become more attentive and less naïve about what is happening to people around us in our community, neighborhood, workplace, school and church. We will be more vigilant about what our elected and appointed officials are and are not doing to actually change the system and make it fair for all citizens no matter what their skin color.  We will become more committed friends who stand by and advocate with our Black brothers and sisters for what is fair, just and right for all Americans.

It’s pretty clear in the gospels that Jesus is all-in for all races.

  • John 3:16, “For God so loved the WORLD that He gave His one and only Son.”

  • Revelation 7:9, “After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.”

Jesus is all-in.  How about us?

Pray, yes.  But sit down and start a conversation with your Black friend, neighbor, coworker, family member, classmate or church member.

I want to listen and learn because I am not Black but we are all human.

**The following are just a few of the many excellent resources I have found to help us listen and learn from our Black brothers and sisters: