Selma Revisited

The recent release of the film Selma brought forth a flood of memories long dormant in me, of just how explosive the Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s truly was; a movement that transformed a culture and demanded to be heard.  From the opening line I was drawn into the pages of history as the horrific realities of the sinfulness of man unfolded before my eyes.  Evil slithered into Selma, causing brother to be pitted against brother, replaying Cain’s violent encounter with Abel just outside of Eden.  

Good entertainment? Yes.  Powerful message, of course, but Selma was so much more.  Emotionally stirring? Check, Inspirational? Check, Motivational?  Check and double check!  At a point, I wanted to get up and march along with Dr. King, right then and there.  Movie goers are afforded a rare, intimate, genuine and entirely human glimpse behind the curtain that is Dr. Martin Luther King and the struggle that he and others endured to bring about equality, as it rolled out, in the land of the free.  

Dr. King moved people, he was powerful of speech, eloquent, persuasive, passionate, driven, singularly focused and yet very human and real.  We see him as a man, like any other man with weaknesses, detractors and self-doubts, as he wrestles with insecurity and concern as to whether the cause he is heralding is making a difference.  These thoughts threaten to side track him and move him off course, but to his credit Dr. King persevered and gained support from Americans of all shades, as injustice was laid bare in living rooms from coast to coast.  Images that reshaped the civil rights movement permanently, were broadcast live; images, that could not be simply brushed aside, images that gruesomely and painfully exposed with humiliation, the inhumane treatment imposed on the defenseless, by the authorities in seats of power.

Selma was, prior to 1965, just a town on a map easily overlooked, but it was poised to launch a movement through which God himself, set into motion events which ushered in a time of lasting change.  The fingerprints of God are evident on Selma, as a nation witnessed good overcoming evil, as it saw the weak overcame the powerful and as justice prevailed over injustice, by not accepting the invitation to fight back when wrongfully attacked.  Dr. King stressed time and again to his warriors, non-violence no matter the cost, was the game plan.  He knew that, might does not make right and only truth can truly set a man free, even if justice is denied by the majority.  

Dr. King most certainly knew that Branch Rickey, owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers once counseled a young black man named Jackie Robinson, as he was preparing to break the color barrier in major league baseball, “Your enemy will be out in force.  But you cannot meet him on his own low ground.” To which Jackie asked the obvious question, “You want a player who doesn't have the guts to fight back?  But Mr. Rickey offered Jackie wisdom borrowed from his Christian faith and replied, “No. I want a player who's got the guts not to fight back.”  These are not “natural” responses in the face of extraordinary circumstances; no, they are supernatural responses grounded in a faith that only God himself can provide.  The Bible warns us that there is a process in place to resolve injustice, “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody.  If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.  Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.”  

Dr. King’s courage and non-violent approach elevated his cause above the usual political trappings of today’s civil rights movement.  When politics drives causes, everyone sees, except the politician and their followers, that injustice is not addressed, but rather a political agenda is being advanced, for which there is always a compelling counter position to be argued.  Dr. King was not interested in arguing; he knew what today’s political activists fail to grasp, namely that justice is self-authenticating.  When injustice is scrutinized under bright lights, as the Selma marches revealed fifty some years ago, America is not divided 49% for and 51% against, along party lines; no, real injustice is always soundly defeated.

This movie exposed the contrasting styles between a civil rights movement courageously advanced upon the principles of God, richly rewarded and blessed; undoing centuries of oppression in a matter of a few years, as compared to today’s politically minded civil rights leaders that breath fire and volatility over combustible crowds, deceived into believing that the propane tanks of hatred they carry, are instruments of peace. 

God will not be mocked; progress has been made in the arena of civil rights and yet there is more work to be done.  Ferguson Missouri, Trayvon Martin and so many other names have become rallying cries for slithering civil rights leaders and false prophets, used to stoke the fires of rage and discord into flames of political unrest and death, just like Cain before them.  I long to see leaders emerge that embrace the spirit of Selma and douse the flames of injustice by instructing their followers in the non-violent approach of Dr. Martin Luther King and Jesus before them.  Leaders who are courageous, driven, passionate and singularly focused on overcoming injustice with justice; who can help a nation heal and be unified around a cause, rather than, divided by it.  Racism is a terrible thing which no man should have to endure, but it is rooted in sin and cannot be defeated with political wrangling, it is however a cause, worthy of our collective attention and one that can be solved, but only through the love of Christ expressed one person to another. 

Stephen C. Weaver Esq. is an attorney and President of the No Walls Ministry, Inc. located in Lynchburg Virginia, whose mission is to help churches work cross culturally and cross denominationally to address the needs of the local community.  He has been teaching, speaking, writing and engaging in inner city ministries for over twenty years with his particular interest and passion being in the area of race relations.       

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 http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0141990/quotes, The Jackie Robinson Story.

 Romans 12:17-19. 

Don't Mix the Kool-Aid

Martin Luther King Jr. Day, January 19^th, is always a special time for me every year. If it was not for Martin Luther King's passive resistance against the racist powers at be, I and many other young black men and women would not have the rights we have today. It is a cause for celebration and remembrance for a great man and an even greater God who raised up Martin Luther King. But this year January 19th was a little different, I had the opportunity to celebrate it with the director of my ministry and many students from Randolph and Lynchburg College. The dinner was not only delicious (shout out to Julia Bradner), but it represented how far we have come as a society. Blacks and whites having an opportunity to enjoy a dinner together would have been unspeakable in King's day, let alone allowed. But one question that was brought up by my director made me realize that we still have a long way to go. This one question, though seemingly harmless, made me realize that the racial tension is still alive.

Much racial tension is happening throughout America, like Mike Brown and Eric Garner; both of which were brought up in discussion. From those two cases alone you could make a strong case that racism is not only alive but is thriving within the very fiber of the American psyche. But in all honesty those topics, though important, were not the topics that sparked this article. The one particular question asked does not seem like it would have major implications for Americans and Christians alike. But as we look below the surface or beyond face value this one question that was asked by my director on MLK day could be evidence that America just isn't ready to tackle the race issue. The question was "How do your parents/families react to interracial relationships?" 

Perspective Problem

What does the asking of this question prove? Well nothing. It's just a question, but the responses to this question from blacks and whites alike shed light on the fact that America is not ready, nor in many ways willing, to tackle the race issue. Though the people sitting at the dinner table are not racist, they all have been offended or exposed to racism at some point in their lives. I truly believe that the people sitting at the table would not mind being involved and ultimately marrying some one of a different ethnicity. That is not the problem. The problem is how their families would feel about them being involved with someone of a different ethnicity. Most at the table believed that if they brought someone of a different ethnicity home (particularly black or white) that many people in their family would not take kindly to the relationship. The Huffington post in December of 2013 did a poll of the most frequently asked question people in interracial relationships hear from friends and family, here are the top three:

" 1. How does your family feel about your partner's race?

2. You're dating a [insert race or ethnicity]? Aren't you worried about [insert country/ethnic stereotype here]?

3. Wouldn't it be easier to just date your own race?"

Think about each question. None of the questions have anything to do with whether or not the individuals involved in the relationship really love each other, care for one another, are compatible. The person asking each question is really asking "is this really convenient for you to do?" Interracial relationships should not be a problem, especially in today's society. But even though our President is black, it does not mean that our perspective is in the right direction. Many people still feel the hurt of past racism. Those same wounds still plague us today and are instilled into America's youth. Though we have come a long way, there is still a lack of trust between races in America. For some blacks and whites the thought of their child marrying someone of a different ethnicity is worst than a nuclear bomb exploding. 

Mending the Wounds

By no means am I saying that once we solve the issue of interracial relationships will we solve the racism as a whole. The issue of interracial relationships is evidence that America is still not ready to confront this issue head on. But the question now becomes how can we mend these wounds that have been open for so long? I believe we find the answer in Ephesians 2:14 "He Himself is our peace, who made us both one and has broken down the dividing wall of hostility…". "He" being Christ, died so that we could know the Father intimately and know one another intimately. When Christ died he destroyed the social structure of Jew and Gentile, Black and White. Jesus abolished the notion that one race is better or worse than the other. What Christ did was bring us into one new body, a body undefiled by sin and a body that represents all cultures and glorifies one God. In order for us to mend the wounds, we must believe that His wounds have already mended us.    

Julius Thomas currently works with Campus Outreach at Randolph College in Lynchburg, VA. He is pursuing a Masters of Divinity at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Va. He hopes to do ministry in the inner city.

The Healing Power of Love

She was eleven years old. She had big brown eyes and wore her hair in puff-ball pigtails almost every day. At first glance, she looked like other girls at the summer program her age who loved listening to Justin Bieber and jumping rope. But something was different. When the other girls were turning ropes and jumping, she would run in when it wasn’t her turn and mess up whoever was jumping; she would rip the rope out of their hands. On her brother’s birthday, she wrote him a card that said she hoped he died. It wasn’t long before the other kids avoided her. And that was how she wanted it.

It wasn’t because she was a mean kid inside. It was the only way she knew how to protect herself.

While I never knew her full story when I taught her that summer, I could tell she had been hurt. She came from a broken and mixed up world where people let her down and abandoned her. So, the only way she thought she could protect herself was by being hateful and pushing people away.

She was not an easy kid to love.

But I was determined to get through to her. While her outward behavior was rude and unsettling, her inner heart was that of a broken and hurting young girl who desperately wanted someone to care about her.

By the end of a summer of hugging her when she pushed me away, encouraging her to play with us when she would rather mess up the game and consistently telling her how much we all loved her, she had transformed. She was able to play nicely with her peers and was happy and sociable. She even cried when I had to leave at the end of the summer. That was progress.

I can’t tell you five easy steps to heal the hurt and pain in this world. I can’t tell you the way to reach the lost. All I can point you to are the words of God found in 1 Peter 4:8, “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.”

Love. It sounds simple, but it is an incredibly difficult, complex request. It doesn’t matter what color skin someone has, what job they have, how much money they have, what their reputation is or what kind of family they come from — God’s love is able to break down all those barriers to bring healing and hope from the hurt of this world. We are God’s hands and feet in a dark world. It is our job to love. It is our job to invest in the lives of those around us — in our family, our church, our community and the world. It’s not going to be easy, but it’s what we are commanded to do.

Who have you loved today?

Chelsea Flowers Anderson is a Marine Corps veteran and current student at Liberty University. She is passionate about helping kids in need through foster care and community outreach. She is the proud mom of daughter RJ.