Faith & Flags

I have a deep concern.

I also have a deep disdain for conflict, though my profession and ability to engage in it would seem to indicate otherwise.

Honestly, I loathe posting this in view of a watching world because as followers of Christ I believe we are called to so much better.

Yet, I know the only way to combat darkness is to bring it to the light.

I also can’t read history and those who stood for what’s right, those who said the hard truths, exposed the shameful deeds and not in some way feel compelled to the same when the time comes.

In that vein, I want to share the following transcript of a group chat conversation I had with a Christian CEO that demonstrates what I’m referring to.

(Because of its length, I’m not posting the entire conversation but hopefully enough that it conveys the concern)

Context:

I was part of a growing men’s Christian ministry from which I had to part ways with earlier this year. I had privately expressed concern to the CEO that there was a lack of intentionality in ensuring we were making men (people of color) who do not look like the majority of the men (‘white’ males) in this particular organization feel welcome and seen. I had people in my community express concerns over the lack of diversity, the tone of some of the vlog communications, and some of the ideological statements. Those concerns were not fully addressed or followed up on.

There was a vlog where the CEO is asking the viewers to think about a person living or dead that they would choose to follow. He selected George Washington and listed a variety of reasons. I had a couple concerns with the video but will focus on one particular item for this article. There was a leadership group chat where men’s group leaders from all over the country could pose questions regarding how to run their groups and utilized for any issues that may come up. I never second guessed that this would be a good forum to address the subject of my concern that could have implications for the men I oversee and the men I wanted to see join us in fellowship.

Transcript:

Me: Anyone have an issue with using George Washington (a slave owner) as an example? Perhaps there are better examples we can use as believers of people to follow than those who trafficked flesh.

(Note: Prior to the CEO’s response, there were numerous responses from Christian leaders that were surprisingly dismissive, minimizing, and sarcastic in tone.)

CEO: George Washington was a man, he was a sinner. I assumed that we all knew that.

But (names organization) isn’t going woke. We’re not going to throw out all of the amazing things our Founding Fathers did. We’re not going to ignore the fact that no other country has done more good for more people than the United States of America, or that our country was built on biblical principles. 51 out of 53 of our Founding Fathers were Christians. (Only 3 were deists).

We have many sins in our national history. But we are not going to use those to vilify and erase all of its greatness, or to make absurd comparisons between George Washington and Hitler*.

We have the (American Flag icon) on our (names the organization) shirts for a reason.

Aren’t we glad King David wasn’t removed from the Bible for his atrocities? In fact, God still called David a man after His own heart. So God set the precedent for us of still acknowledging the greatness of a sinner and not participating in cancel culture.

Me: Words like ‘woke’ and ‘cancel culture’ really have nothing to do with my question or comment. Anyone who knows me would find the inference laughable. In addition, it’s just common sound bites that are intellectually lazy, beneath what I hope and believe in you as a brother in Christ.

The good America has done vs. the bad was not a topic of discussion. My commentary and question focused on an individual and the possibility of a better way to illustrate a point.

An American flag on a shirt was not a topic of discussion and irrelevant to my question or comments. Yet it seems vitally important to you. I would use caution to avoid wrapping your Christianity in an American flag rather than letting Christ and His Word be preeminent. I’m thankful to be an American, as imperfect as it is, compared to what most of the world has to endure. Yet my allegiance is to God’s kingdom first, not to patriotism or the belief that sin, personal or national, does not have consequences beyond the initial act. The benefit of the Bible, besides being inspired, is that it has the length and detail to show the good and bad of its people in a way that can be digested slowly. The challenge of being a public figure (that I don’t envy) such as yourself is that you have a limited time to make a Biblically accurate point that considers your audience. There are real challenges between ethnicities in the church that take Spirit filled intentionality and consideration in order to repair the bond of unity between brothers in Christ. Factions that have existed for generations. We should at least be open to the conversation that there may be a different way to view things (since believers come from different cultural backgrounds) and a better way to communicate (which involves empathy). The effort to do this is Biblical - not ‘woke’ or ‘cancel culture’. It’s actually just human decency…consideration…dare I say loving!

You were pretty emphatic on saying what (name of organization) is and isn’t going to do, most of which was justified by patriotism not scripture as your commentary. Let me be just as emphatic - hopefully as lovingly as I intend. You may want to make sure your Christianity is not wrapped in a (name of organization) flag. When and if it ever should be the case, my allegiance - as imperfect as I am - is to the Christ who died for me and not to an organization…. As in our previous messages from a few months ago, my cell has not changed. Feel free to call.”

(*One person stated that we all make mistakes but that doesn’t disqualify any person from being used as examples for good. I responded to this statement by using the example that Hitler could have had great perseverance, but if I wanted an example to use with a group that exemplified the characteristic of perseverance, I wouldn’t use Hitler because the nature of his sin outweighs the value of using him as a positive example.)

Needless to say, I was surprised at the visceral reaction from such a simple, straightforward question. A question that quickly exposed the discomfort and defensiveness of a large group of Christian men when a topic involving race and injustice was approached. So much so that it led to late night phone calls to my home laced with sarcasm and insults, damage control - asking me to discuss the issue further in another chat, leaders gossiping, etc. It may be a coincidence, but shortly after this exchange the national group chat was decommissioned, (removing visibility to the conversation) and regional chats were started.

I don’t want to belabor the points I already made in the transcript to the CEO. I think there are several notable topics to cover in separate articles and I would love to hear your perspective of the exchange.

What I will close with is this:

I have a concern, even a righteous indignation, when we as Christians are not open to see, hear, or even have a simple conversation in love and deference to marginalized groups who historically have not been seen or heard.

How can we say we have a love for other image bearers when we place our love of country as priority above our ability to listen and consider the pain and stumbling blocks of others?

How does this conversation I shared reflect our call to “weep with those who weep”? (Romans 12:15)

How does this conversation reflect the mandate to fulfill the law of Christ to ‘Bear one another’s burdens.’ (Galatians 6:2)?

Does this reflect the spirit of Philippians 2:3 “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourself. Let each of you look not only to his own interest, but also to the interest of others.”?

My friends, family and I have people dear to us who will not darken the door of a church or open a Bible because of the historical and current day discriminatory attitudes, beliefs, and practices of churches and individual believers claiming the name of Christ. Is their soul worth a consideration… a conversation. Ironically, not one Christian leader in that group chat asked me why I asked the question in the first place. They never thought to ask who I had in mind when I mentioned their example was a concern. They never thought to offer to pray for the Lord we all claim to love and that loves us to heal the hearts of those I stated concern for or bring them into a saving knowledge of Himself. For an evangelistic and apologetically minded group it’s baffling that their care to fill their minds with tools and tactics but not grace, deference, humility, or curiosity when a brother tells you of wounded image bearers we should consider. How is that love?

Discrimination is a Gospel issue. In Galatians 2:11-14 after Peter’s hypocritical discrimination of Gentiles, Paul states that his “conduct was not in step with the truth of the Gospel.” That “he stood condemned.” If our version of the Gospel only affects the destination of our spirit without implication to the physical world around us, we are out of step. If our Gospel closes a blind eye to those around us that don’t look, think and act like us, we are out of step.

Because of Him,

Ron