Following the example of Daniel, we must take ownership of the crazy family members in our culture. Is it painful? Yes. Will there be a sense of shame?Absolutely. Are we guilty? You better believe it. But guilt and shame are products of the fall, confession, ownership and restoration are rooted in the gospel. What Daniel does is stand in the gap on behalf of a foreign nation. These aren't sins that he is complicit in. However, he joined in lamenting and repenting because he was a part of said community. We must name our brokenness and sin, if we are to ever change it. You may not have done this, but the culture you’ve been a part of has been complicit. 

The white evangelical church has historically divided the gospel because of the way it’s been conditioned by whiteness, which comes from Europe and is influenced by Greek thought and the Enlightenment

Whiteness was specifically created for power. This power has manifested itself since them in slavery, lynchings, housing segregation, school segregation, etc.

We’ve all been shaped by culture, in both redemptive and sinful ways. Culture is what it is. It’s neither good nor bad. No culture is chosen by God over another and no culture is to be worshiped, particularly by those who follow a different kind of a King and Kingdom.

I couldn’t believe that I came from this culture of whiteness that has oppressed, marginalized, and brutally murdered those that don’t have white skin. I get angry, frustrated, and deeply agitated knowing that it was my own culture that erected things like the Confederate Monument in Stone Mountain, GA.

The only hope for surcease, the only possibility of stability for the person, is to establish an Island of Peace within one’s own soul. Well within the island is the Temple where God dwells—not the God of the creed, the church, the family, but the God of one’s heart.”

"We can't save the soul of America without saving our white brothers. And they aren't free. When you enslave an individual, you enslave yourself. I mean, all white brothers are slaves to that fear–slaves to their prejudices.”

It sounds eerily similar to the words of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. when he stated; “We have fought hard and long for integration, as I believe we should have, and I know we will win, but I have come to believe that we are integrating into a burning house.”

When you visit places like this, the reality of how the deep sin of racism has shaped everything sinks in. There’s something significant that only the Holy Spirit can do in you as you look at the evil of racism directly in its face. I’ll never forget what Cecil, my friend who’s black that went on the trip with us said to me on the van ride home as I sat in shock at what I had experienced. He looked at me and said, “I think you now get it.” By the grace of God I got the pain that he was in. I got the context of his past history.

I ask myself the question, why did mom want to call all five of her boys early Sunday and proclaim, “He is risen”? I believe it’s because mom had experienced the same renaming that Mary experienced early Sunday morning. This is the beauty of Easter resurrection! Christ renames us.

The same thing happens when we perpetuate the structures of white culture. We are expecting Christians to assimilate to white cultural norms, rather than being born into the kingdom of God. We are missing the beauty of God by only operating in one cultural norm and not seeing the beauty in other cultures.

Through the incarnation of Christ, he became one of us; “he too shared in their humanity” and, “For this reason he had to be made like them.” Christ became like a brother and sister to us. Because Christ has incarnated himself into humanity, he fully feels the pain of what we’re feeling through the curse of sin. 

Martin Luther King Jr. writes in Strength to Love; “Only through an inner spiritual transformation do we gain the strength to fight vigorously the evils of the world in a humble and loving spirit. He recognizes that social change will not come overnight, yet he works as though it is an imminent possibility.” We have to build up an inner strength in Christ to be able to fully live into Christ’s ministry of reconciliation.

Jesus is the Good Samaritan. He’s the hero. Which means we don’t get to be the hero. Ever. Our over zealous applications of the Good Samaritan parable have led the Church to embrace the role of hero. We have played God for others and encouraged a type of dependence on us that should be reserved for God alone. We have refused to receive help and learn from those in distress, trumping their skills and hopes with our resources and plans. Our efforts have led to a toxic codependence, which has resulted in tragic cases of burnout, resentment, and shame.

May your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. May your new humanity invade our world here and now as you reconcile your church across color, class and culture. May we capture your heart for righteousness and justice here and now as you reconcile as back to you and to each other.

We are a part of this system that did this, particularly the white majority culture. Like pollution, we have inherited something. None of us caused pollution, but we are affected by it by what happened before. We now know that trauma carries over generations and those of us from the majority white culture have to enter into this trauma.