The country watched in horror this weekend as “alt-right,” white supremacist radical groups bombarded the city of Charlottesville, Virginia, with one mission: division, destruction and hate.
The crusade left 35 injured and 3 dead.
In the 2017 age of social media, millions were watching live as history unfolded. Then, like we do, immediately responded with our virtual presence, a heart-felt post and call for action.
I’ve agreed with what I’m seeing a lot of people post. Love beats hate. Love is the answer. Love wins. Beat them with love. We (white people) don’t stand behind this group. These are radicals.
These are all true statements, but words alone aren’t moving us forward.
What are we really doing to change this?
You’re going to teach your kids how to love everyone no matter the color of their skin, their social background, or their religion/ethnicity? I think you need to, but is it easier to love something distant from you or something close to you? Here’s a tough question… does the group of people you surround yourself with look about as diverse as the group of people that were marching with torches on Saturday? What about at your church? What about the people your children are surrounded by?
If you’re anything like me, things affect you more, and your emotions are more involved with people and events that are physically and emotionally closer to you. How many of you are broken about the ongoing migrant crisis in Africa and the middle east? Over 5,000 people died trying to cross the Mediterranean last year. If there was a place that 5,000 Americans died trying to escape slavery and poverty would your heart react differently to it?
It’s easy to talk and say that love is needed in these situations. But, when we aren’t close enough to the situation, it’s easy to leave it at words. The real solution to this problem is to create diversity where we can.
As leaders of families, we need to bring diversity to our children. As leaders of churches, we need to bring diversity to our churches. As individuals wanting to be better, we need to seek diversity in our circles.
I remember getting turned down for a few jobs out of college because the company I had applied at was looking to diversify their group of employees. Whether they wanted to hire women, minorities, disabled… I’m not sure. But they were purposefully seeking out people who didn’t look and act the same as everyone else they had on their team.
Churches and Pastors:
Is your whole staff middle-aged white males? You think that’s a comfortable place to bring your diverse city together? If you were looking for a comfortable place to worship, would you choose a place where no one looked like you or had a social background like yours?
Individuals:
What kind of people go to the restaurants you choose to go to? What do the people look like that play in sports leagues with you? Can you travel a little further to shop somewhere a little less comfortable in order to interact with people that don’t look like you?
Moms and Dads:
How diverse was your kid’s last birthday party? Did the group of kids look a lot like your get-togethers with your friends? Was everyone white? Can you find a place to let your kids interact with kids from other backgrounds and races?
Love is the answer.
Jesus took hate and crushed its head, so we do have power over it. BUT, we can’t keep just talking about having the power to love, we need to learn to really love.
Jesus taught us how to love.
Walking through a crowd of fans and paparazzi, Jesus chose one man to stay with. It wasn’t the guy with the nicest house. It wasn’t the nicest guy in the crowd. It wasn’t the one that looked the most like him. He chose Niccademus – a man whose background was that of a tax collector. He was a man hated by most of the crowd because of his profession.
Today I’m begging you to do the same.
Search for the opportunity to love others where they are. Don’t just sit in your small group of white people this week and talk about how we need to love better and how sad it is to see people hating others.
We know that actions speak louder than words. Stop talking, and start doing.
