Allow me to speak boldly as a white man. I can do no other and I will not make any apology for it. One of the things I see at present, as our country is being troubled by rioters, radicals, and reactionaries, are youngish white people burning down their own country. I realize there are people of other colors doing it too but it is the white ones I focus on here, especially as, in my opinion, they are to be pitied. By the seeming accident of their births they were born into the shadow of a society that had long abandoned its light. Like fools the parents and grandparents of these young pseudo-revolutionaries abandoned the Christianity of their forbearers, preferring a novel yet suicide-inducing secularism. The fruit of this secularism, now ripened and matured, is a generation madly burning down the house around them. Yes. That is what I see in much of the hubbub that surrounds us today. And it’s pathetic. But why are they doing this? The answer is simple - they know of no other way to deal with the guilt and shame of their sin. Secularized young whites are greatly burdened with guilt and shame (whether real or imagined – and I think for many whites, guilt on the issue of race it’s entirely imagined). Secularized young whites who, joining their parents and grandparents, have shamelessly abandoned their cultural and spiritual heritage. These are secularized young whites who seem to be desperately looking for a way to alleviate the guilt and shame that all men in Adam bear. These are secularized young whites born into a godless age and who wouldn't recognize the gospel if they tripped over it in the park. To these people I now speak directly: Your guilt will never be alleviated – much less atoned for – through capitulation to mob-demands, through showy public displays of secular penance, and/or by pretending that your forbearers were all evil bigots, when they actually weren’t. At present your actions appear to be merely the self-justifying nonsense of people who desperately want to feel righteous and have others affirm them as such. But alas! It will not work. In fact, it is evil. Yes, you can try to deal with the guilt you feel by pulling down statues, shouting slogans, denying history, condemning your neighbors, kissing black men’s feet and/or engaging in other narcissistic expressions of self-flagellation in the hopes that the world will take notice and affirm you. But God won’t take notice. God is not moved by the egocentric, and pharisaical, foibles of people desperate to justify themselves in the eyes of others. Indeed, all of what you are now doing is reminiscent of the arrogant Pharisee in Luke 18, whose public ‘prayer’ began: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men...” So... Do you actually want to deal with your guilt? Know this; guilt and shame can only be dealt with by the grace of God, through the cross of Jesus Christ. It was on the cross that the Lord Jesus took upon Himself the guilt and shame of sinners, suffering in their place, that they might go free, being reconciled to God and to their fellow man. I bring you good news! God is willing to forgive the humble and broken who turn to Him and to free them of the burden of guilt. How can I be so sure, you ask. Because God Himself told me so: " Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. " (Matthew 11:28-29, ESV) Would you be free from your guilt and shame? Step out of the shadow of a crumbling narcissistic culture and step into the light of God in Christ. |
Rev. R Crabtree"...a son, a husband, a father of 6, a friend, a Presbyterian Archives
November 2022
Categories
All
|

RSS Feed