The Triumph of Grace in the Church

I will begin this by stating that I am a young black man with a laptop, hoping to encourage or comfort all of those who may be grieved by the recent video of Alton Sterling, being murdered by law enforcement, that has gone viral.  I am not a professional writer, so I ask upfront that you will bear with me on any punctuation errors or incorrect spelling.  The audience who I want to speak to in this blog are those who identify as conservative, evangelical Christians.  When I say conservative, I don't mean politically, but rather those who are conservative theologically.  If you are not among the aforementioned group that I just named, you are most certainly welcome to read along if you choose; in fact I would like for you to read it.  

Who Am I To Speak?
That is a wonderful question to ask before reading.  Why does Kenny's opinion matter at all?  I would like to give you a brief overview of who I am as a person so that you know exactly where I am coming from.  I am a 33 year old black man who comes from a single parent household; sort of.  You see my mom struggled with a drug addiction for as long as I can remember, and so my brother and I bounced from family member to family member as kids when she would do a stretch in prison.  My father struggled with alcoholism and was never a consistent presence in our life.  As a result of this, we grew up on government assistance and attended your typical public schools that were filled with kids from similar backgrounds.  Many of our friends ended up in jail, prison, and/or dead.  I personally was a kid who experimented with drugs, vandalized neighborhoods, stole, and even participated with guys who broke into peoples homes: I was about 12 years old around this time.  One guy who was a part of this group was shot and killed some 10 years later breaking into someone's home, while the other guys became felons.  The only thing that separates me from those guys was God's grace towards me.  We were young, poor, and desperate black boys who were raised by the streets and an exploited version of hip-hop called gangsta rap that was promoted by white owned corporations.  This is not an excuse, but it is a simple fact.  My rescue came through the gospel of Jesus, and specifically through the patient and loving care of a godly white couple named Daniel and Jennifer Money!

The Wound of the Church!
A couple like the Money's unfortunately are not common.  They took a young black boy who was a new christian into their home shortly after high school graduation.  I was still rough around the edges and I am sure for this newlywed couple my presence was sometimes an inconvenience, but if it was I never would have known it.  I still talk to them today and know that if I needed a place for my growing family of six, they would readily take us all in.  However, I remember during this time attending a church meeting where church members genuinely discussed whether they should have separate ministries for "their" kids(suburban rich kids) and "those" neighborhood kids(poor hood kids).  I was grossly offended by this as an 18 year old because I was one of "those" kids, and this is how the church is wounded.   Churches preach the grace of Jesus, but put a cap on the grace that they extend as individuals.  This happens when people cheapen grace.  In Luke chapter 7 Jesus tells us a parable about a moneylender wiping out the debt of two people and then He asks, "which one will love the moneylender more?", to which the man replies, "the one who had the larger debt".  The problem with most so-called Christians is that they don't realize how gross their sin really is in the sight of God.  Some Christians think that they were not really that bad after all, in fact, they believe they are doing God a favor by "serving" Him.  Their service to God is showing up to Church on Sundays and maybe giving God some of "their" money. The gospel demands MORE!

The Lavish Grace of God
The reason Christians are more responsible than any other group on planet earth to respond to social injustice, is because they have the ONLY answer for real lasting change.  Think about it for a second: we believe that God made humans in His image (Genesis 1:27), but that mankind fell from grace (Genesis 3) and then God paid the price on our behalf to save us from God's eternal wrath so that we could have a relationship with Him (1 Peter 3:18, 2 Cor 5:16-21).  You were a poor, naked, wretched enemy of God and He in His perfection initiated and even caused reconciliation!  How do you think you have a right to judge a man based on his color and criminal past?  Is God your color? According to God's standard do you have a criminal past?  What if God decided to give you what you deserved right now, would it be 6 shots in the chest? No, that would be mercy.  If God would give you what you deserved right now it would be eternity in hell!  The scary part is, if you call yourself a Christian and yet you can't forgive the past of an Alton Sterling, the bible is clear when it says that if you don't forgive others of their sins, then neither will your heavenly Father forgive your sins.  Does that terrify you? Or do you believe based on your skin color, money, or clean past that God owes you?  We have nothing to offer God and so we are dependent on His mercy and grace.  If you do things for people because they have something to offer you, or because it simply makes you feel good and boosts your ego, then you have received your reward in full: Expect no eternal reward.  God, like the Money's did with me, gives lavishly and this is what changes people!  If you want to see people change, then GIVE of your time, resources, emotions, and energy.  If you want to continue to see black men die in the streets then continue to pursue the American dream: work hard, give your kids everything they want, and keep your churches and neighborhoods free of those poor black thugs.  Allow your kids to see your superiority, by continuing to separate them from people like Alton Sterling.  Surely Jesus didn't die for thugs right?  When you want to ease your conscience when this happens associate with the poor black boy like me who's be changed by the grace of God.  Take in the little black boy who is well behaved or an athlete who you can boast to your friends about or even boast to God about.  Your conscience may be clear, but your soul is in grave danger.  If some people knew me before Christ, I would be the black boy who "deserved it".  I would be the black man who has that "past".

The Churches Hope
Let me begin this section by saying that the church I mentioned above is a great example of how the body should work.  I stated that a meeting to segregate kids took place in that church, but due to healthier members in that body and godly leadership, that church decided to stay the course and remain faithful to it's call to preach and live the Gospel.  Healthy members who are growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus, help those who may be sick and immature in their faith, and the result is the Body growing a fortified immunity to sickness; like racism.  That church is still serving in a low-income community made up of minorities: Praise God! God is faithful to complete the work that He has started in us.  Let His faithfulness to you be your encouragement to stop living for the American Dream, and start living for the Living Hope that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading.  Why would you store up earthly treasures on earth where it decays and the thief steals, when the bible tells you that your treasure in heaven is guarded by God through faith.  Is your hope America or Jesus?  If it's Jesus, then examine His passion.  He left the comforts of heaven to come get us who are beneath Him in every way imaginable.  Black or white, this gospel applies to everyone who names the name of Christ.  If your hope is here, then take your money, whether you are black or white, and run to the suburbs and live under the false allusion of diversity there, that is centered around the color green.  But if you hope in Jesus, then grieve with your brothers and sisters who are legitimately scared for the lives of their black sons, fathers, and husbands. Then, come together and learn to love each other in the church; this means you can't segregate on Sundays.  After all of that, you all should realize that because All Lives Matter; Black Lives Matter, and that the only real hope of lasting change is through the proclamation and demonstration of the lavish grace of God!

Grace and Peace

Kenny