Dear Friends:
I get feedback following every sermon I preach. Some messages illicit more responses. Most notes are kind and fill my “warm and fuzzy” bucket, others are critical or questioning. That’s the deal with being Lead Pastor and I embrace it as part of living in dialogue, not monologue, with the precious people of Lake Forest Church.
I don’t have a strong need to defend myself or change someone’s mind when the feedback is critical or questioning, but there are times where I go, “Huh, maybe I should unpack this a bit more for our entire tribe.” And this week, following my sermon “Writing a Better Story – Pt. 2” is one of those times.
Here are two good honest questions I received from more than one person regarding the racial understanding portion of my message:
1. “Mike, it seems like when you touch on matters of race in your sermons, you only talk about what white people are doing wrong and how white people need to change – do you have a problem with whiteness?
That’s a good question. Thank you for helping me understand an area in which I haven't been clear, evidently. God has appointed me to shepherd a particular group of people in one particular church. Those people are, by far, mostly white folks in suburban Lake Norman and N Charlotte. My charge is to teach the Bible, with its comforts and challenges, to the people in the congregation. There have been and will be moments when I stop and apply a Bible verse to people of color in the room. But when I feel called, by God's Word, to speak prophetically or challengingly about matters of race, I very specifically choose to do so to the majority of our congregation (of which I am a part) - anglos.
Also, no I don't have a problem with whiteness and I’m not ashamed of mine – I like it (except for the frequent sunburns). In fact, I don’t want to be guilty of so focusing on bad things “we” have done that it leads to shame and guilt. Because of the gospel, we are not a shame and guilt church! However, I will continue to call us to the important task of owning the power the Bible says each of us has to do helpful, healing, even great things in our world on behalf of more vulnerable communities. Because God’s Word says God “has committed to us the message of reconciliation” (II Cor. 5:19). Therefore that is the primary role God has given to us Christians in today's turmoil over race - people with a message of reconciliation through our words and deeds, rooted in the good news of Jesus Christ.
2. “Why don’t you point out what other races are doing wrong too? Does our partner church The L speak frankly and prophetically about matters of race to its congregation? How about Pastor Victor?”
As I said above, my calling and style is to almost exclusively talk to the people in the room, not about people outside the room. You'll notice that I don't normally bash or exhort people of other nations or religious faiths in my sermons, for example. But on the other hand, I’m not shy about encouraging LFC folks to be carriers of the message of reconciliation, and not-so-secret agents of Revelation 7:9 (the picture of heaven with every tongue, tribe and language present in harmony). We Christians are to put God’s future kingdom on display through our present actions and words. Here's God's good future:
"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 before the Lamb." - Revelation 7:9
When we pray "thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" from the Lord's prayer, THIS is one of the things we are praying for! And its what we are called to put on display in our interactions about race and with people of other ethnicities, privately and publicly today, as kingdom people. Living out Revelation 7:9 is a priority for our family of churches.
And yes, Pastor Byron Davis of our partner church, Liberation Ministries, which is a predominantly African-American congregation, speaks the same scriptures to his congregation and applies them very specifically. I’ve been present when he’s given comfort and challenge to them regarding racial understanding and reconciliation.
Oh, and what’s good for my LFC friends to know is that Victor and Rosmi Leal came up with the idea of naming our new Spanish-speaking church ‘The Good Samaritan’ (El Buen Samaritano) precisely as biblical challenge to their Latino members. Rather than only focusing on how they may feel overlooked or underestimated as a community, Pastor Victor wants them to live with the dignity that Jesus calls them to BE the Good Samaritan to others, in the name of Christ. I think that’s fantastic.
