Join us sundays at 10:00AM

Part 3 | After Ferguson: What do we do? by Brandon Smith

ferguson1

This is a three part blog series in response to Ferguson that will be posted throughout this week. Each part will be written by a different leader of The Well and offer next steps to guide our church family.

Part 1 | After Ferguson: "What do we do?" by Eric So
Part 2 | After Ferguson: "What do we do?" by Matt Klingler
Part 3 | After Ferguson: "What do we do?" by Brandon Smith

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Part 3 | After Ferguson: "What do we do?" by Brandon Smith

The car rode on the bumpy streets of Baltimore city as my cousin and I sat in the back of a Ford station wagon owned by the mother of one of our Little League teammates. We had just concluded a fun sleepover in the countryside of “Wherever-ville”, MD. As we approached the duplex that my cousin and I grew up in within a neighborhood in the West Side of Baltimore City, I can hear murmurings of our friend’s mother coming from the driver’s seat. It remained silent for a few more blocks until the repetitious lining of liquor and corner stores blurred passed her driver side window. She broke the silence with a comment that I’ll never forget: “This is ridiculous! How could you guys live here?”

That comment, for me, was the very first time I had ever been a part of this thing that we all deal with when it comes to multicultural integration. That thing is ignorance. Let me be clear, when I use the term ignorance, I’m not using it in the culturally accepted form of “terrible person” or “uncaring” or “inconsiderate individual”. I am using it in its literal form:

noun ignorance: lack of knowledge or information.

Before I delve deeper into the plaguing effect ignorance has in our culture, let’s continue from where Eric So left off during a segment in his blog post. Eric posed the question of what it would require of us in order to rise above the evil, spiritual influences that affect our society. He says, “It will require gracious, proactive movement towards people who are not like us, for Christ did this very thing.” This is a key principle.

As a Black man who has experienced it firsthand, I can attest that racism is real and alive today. But it is not something that can be eradicated on our own. There is a much deeper root when it comes to racism; it is called evil. We as humans do not have the ability of eradicating racism because that is synonymous to eradicating evil from the world. As long as this world (Satan’s domain) exists, there will always be evil. Racism has greatly and meticulously affected the Black American culture in this country. Over time, Black people have become accustomed to this culture and have developed detrimental mindsets in order to benefit or survive from/against this culture. There are so many intricate nuances that have surfaced because of racism’s lasting effects in this world and there are so many suggestions for its cure that are greeted with twice as many rebuttals. But may I strongly state that the only cure for this evil is JESUS CHRIST. That may seem cliché, but let’s truly reflect on “the work and person of Jesus Christ.” Jesus was about relationships and one of the major underlying principles of the Bible is reconciliation. We were separated from God because of our sin but the blood of Jesus has reconciled us. Reconciliation is the restoring of relationship.

One specific way we can counter ignorance is how we actually respond to it. How understanding are you when you encounter ignorance? For many people, I would say tolerance for ignorance is incredibly low. In a world affected by prejudice and racism, this is understandable; but as a follower of Christ with a renewed mind, this is unacceptable. The unfortunate habit many have gained from racism’s prevalence is wrongful labeling. The moment someone makes an ignorant statement regarding race or cultural difference, we have become accustomed to tagging the heartfelt emotion that birthed this statement as racism. But we must be reminded that cultural differences will inevitably yield cultural misunderstandings. Matt spoke transparently of how his blind spots and presuppositions initially brought forth an ignorant mentality regarding the situation in Ferguson. There was a lack of understanding. Now, what was impactful and transformative was that his loving friends did not respond with anger and move away from him. Instead, they responded with grace and moved towards him with love and engaged him with open and honest conversation. This type of interaction increased understanding of all parties through the extending of patience and grace. This is the way of love.

I have been in plenty of scenarios in which someone from a different cultural background made statements that were completely ignorant. What would grace look like in that scenario? Do I blame them for hating me or mislabeling me as a person and get angry and/or speak ill-natured words behind their back or to their face? Or do I simply educate them on the reality of the matter? Let’s get back to Jesus. What was His response to indifferent words that spawned from ill will or plain ignorance? To make another point, what was his method of action when it came to those different from Him? In Mark 12, one of the commandments Jesus labeled as having no other command greater than it is, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” When we truly reflect on this command from every angle, we see compassion, selflessness, sacrifice and grace. These are all important when it comes to how God transforms us to be more like His son.

To be intentional with developing relationships means to draw closer to discomfort for the sake of your neighbor, to reach out to those different from you; whether it be mentally, physically, culturally, etc., and to extend grace in times when it is undeserved (which is the essence of grace). How do you respond to ignorance? How ignorant are you towards others? Being colorblind is not the solution to ensure the introduction of Jesus’ love to the lost. Are you lacking knowledge and understanding? Be intentional with relational development. Be intentional when it comes to spreading the love of Jesus Christ. Let us break down our barriers and mental security systems that alert us every opportunity to jump on someone on the grounds of “racism.” Let us combat hate with love and ignorance with grace. God Bless this world and those of whom are here to bring forth its saltiness!

Leave a Comment

Comments for this post have been disabled.