All Who Are Under The Yoke As Slaves #2

So last week, we started studying what the Bible teaches about slavery. And what we learned was that the Bible does not, in fact, teach slaves that their first and only priority is to run away, to get away from being a slave. But rather, Paul's words to slaves were that they ought to honor their masters, Christian or not, that their first duty and first obligation was to the Lord, that they serve their masters well, even as slaves, so that the gospel would not be dishonored or maligned. And you understand that as Christians, we bear Jesus' name. And so if someone else who's not a Christian does the exact same thing we do, our actions reflect on our God in a way that theirs don't. So we're held accountable, even by the simple name Christian, to have all of our words and all of our actions examined according to the word of God and also that they reflect back on our God. So when we sin, it speaks poorly of our God, right?

And so this is the reason Paul tells slaves not to be concerned primarily about freeing themselves, but rather to honor the Lord Jesus Christ. I trust that in our country and at the time that we're in, you all realize that that's not necessarily a popular or acceptable stance to take. And yet there's no question that this is what the Bible teaches regarding slavery and slaves. And so we ought to think about these sorts of texts as part of the cost that we have to count as his people of following Jesus Christ. There is a cost to being a Christian, and part of the cost is believing the Bible, particularly at the point where it runs afoul of the world and our expectations. Jesus alone has the words of eternal life, and he's promised to prepare a place for us, and yet it's not without cost in this life. And so as we continue our study of slavery, and really today more of the modern-day child, if you will, of it, which would be racism, I want us to keep in mind that...

We're not going to end our time where everything goes. And everything's going to be fine and there won't be any danger. I promise you that. I can't promise you that. I don't promise you that. I can almost assure you that that won't be the case. That there will be a cost at this very point for being a Christian. And we need to trust Jesus. We need to follow him. And we need to speak on his behalf in love. Last week, I also cautioned us against drawing our conclusions or forming a judgment about American slavery until we saw we understood what the Bible taught. Now, it's not that I don't want us to draw conclusions or to form judgments about our nation's past. I just want those judgments to be built on what the Bible says and not built on the fear of being labeled a racist. And so we should realize also that forming a judgment about our nation's past sins won't be that important or helpful to us if we can't or we won't figure out what our nation's current sins are and how to address them as Christians. After all, slavery isn't the only sin we've committed as a nation, and I'd argue that it's not the worst one.

So we have to have our eyes open, and we have to be trusting God as we study and as we think about these things. Our goal this morning is to look at American slavery and to see what was it, how should we view it as Christians, but also to look around and see, well, what are our nation's sins now, and how should we process it and think about it and think through it? One other comment before we read our text this morning is that typically when I preach, I stay pretty close to the text and tell you exactly what I think the text means. And then I make applications from it. We're going to have a little longer leash this morning. And the reason is because in verse 3, as we read it, Paul tells Timothy, teach and preach these principles. And that is, in my understanding, Paul letting the leash out and saying, you have obligation to your people to help them understand these things. And I don't think I'd be doing you all the good that I should if I only talked about something that happened 200 years ago in our country.

I think we have to have our eyes open to what's going on right now and how we ought to process and consider those things as Christians. And so the leash will be a little longer today, but we are going to be starting out talking about American slavery as it was, and then what it's turned into, which would be modern racism today, so-called. How should we think about that? What is an appropriate Christian response to that? That's what we're going to do today, okay? Our text is 1 Timothy 6, verses 1-5. Would you please stand now for the reading of God's word? This is the word of the Lord, and it is eternally true. All who are under the yoke as slaves are to regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and our doctrine will not be spoken against. Those who have believers as their masters must not be disrespectful to them because they are brethren, but must serve them all the more because those who partake of the benefit are believers and beloved. Teach and preach these principles.

If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing. But he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. This is the word of the Lord. You may be seated. I want to start by reiterating what I said last week and what I've introduced already this morning, which is that our passage teaches us that slaves are to treat their masters well. They're to submit to them and they're not to try to get themselves free by any means necessary.

They can try to get themselves free by any lawful means, but the Bible doesn't teach that slaves ought to run away and hide and lie and do all these sorts of things to get away. That actually, as a slave, if they are a Christian, they have an obligation first to the Lord. And the Lord tells them not to get free of their slavery by any means necessary. And that's a hard thing to hear, because we've been taught most of our lives that slavery is bad, bad, bad, always bad, and that there's never anything appropriate or anything more to consider other than getting rid of it. And that's not the whole story, and it's not wise to make our decisions based on very small amounts of information. Is it true that slaves have been mistreated by their masters? Yes. No one's denying that. I'm not denying that. I'd be like saying the Holocaust never happened.

Slavery is a stain on our country's past. It's not a good thing. I'm not defending it as though it was a good thing. All right? And I'm not saying that you ought to. I'm not saying that the scripture ought to. You remember last week I said that the Bible teaches us, the law teaches us both not to steal and what to do with thieves. It gives us instructions for people when they sin, when there are things that aren't as they should be. God hates divorce, and yet Moses gave them certificates of divorce. And so scripture is very... down in the trenches of life with us, instructing us and teaching us where we're at. And that's what I think we get with the instruction with regard to slaves and masters. Simply that being a slave does not exempt you from your responsibility and obligations as a Christian to honor Jesus Christ and to love your God and your neighbor. And that is not to defend the sinful manifestations or abuses within slavery. It actually matters.

How someone became a slave. If we were to look back at American slavery and go, how is it that they became slaves? Were they the people that got carried off from conquered nations through war? No, they weren't. How did slaves initially come to our country? Well, they came to our country in the way that they came to a lot of the West. They came on ships. They were bought and sold. They were considered pieces of property. And so it actually matters how someone became a slave. And if sin was a part of it, and in that instance, that's sin. to buy and sell people, then repentance is necessary. And yet, even when we repent, even if we look back and go, well, that just never should have happened, we can say that never should have happened, and it doesn't do anything to resolving the fact that it did happen. You know, you hear sayings like, don't cry over spilt milk. Well, fine, don't cry over it, but someone's going to have to clean it up, right? You can't just be angry that the milk got spilt and then leave it there on the floor. So repentance is necessary, and yet when we repent,

We have to consider the ramifications of our repentance. We have to think, when I do this, will that honor God? Is that the right way to repent? And we have to make sure that our repentance isn't selfish or unloving toward those that we've sinned against. I'll give you a couple of examples in case that's not clear. It's not uncommon for people who've been married and divorced and remarried that come to faith, and they read scripture on divorce and remarriage, and they go, well, me and my wife, we just hated each other, so we got a divorce. And then I got remarried, and now, wait, the Bible says that that's adultery? And then they start asking questions. They start wondering because they're a new believer, and they start going, well, I want to know what the Bible says, and that's kind of gnarly. It says that that's adultery. It says my marriage is adulterous. What am I supposed to do? It's their question. And what are some of the options on the table in their mind? One of the options that's on the table in their mind is whether they should divorce their current wife. Now, some of you might think that's crazy and go, no one would ever think that. And I'm telling you, people think that.

They really, really do. They're happy. They're Christians now. But they're looking and they're going, what am I supposed to do? How do I repent? Because now I'm just an adulterer forever and ever. And there's nothing to be done. It's as if they feel that the only way they can repent is to put off their wife. So what do we say to them? Yeah, divorce your second wife? No. Their repentance, you understand, is going to have to take the shape of... faithfulness to their current wife and repentance before God and their current spouse and their children or those who've been involved saying, what I did was wrong. What happened between me and, you know, mommy or my first wife, I never should have let that happen. It was wrong of me and I repent and I'm sorry. But it would be wrong for them to say, well, I'm going to divorce my wife now and be single.

because they'd be doubling down on the sin. It would be a selfish thing of them, saying, well, I want to get myself free and clear. I want to be free and absolved of being titled an adulterer. I say, well, then you just abandoned your other wife. What ought you to do? It's a hard question. Repentance isn't always clear and easy. And so as Christians, we have to work out our responsibilities and balance them with our repentance, and it's often hard. You run into the same sort of thing with slavery. We can say that being bought and sold, Buying and selling other human beings is sinful. And they'd say, you're right. Now, what is the slave owner supposed to do who has slaves? For instance, should he continue to buy slaves? You might want to say, no, there's no way he should continue to buy slaves. And I go, well, what if he'll treat them better than the other people who will buy them? Should he buy slaves? It's a hard question, isn't it? And I fear that we look back at our past and we just think it's very simple.

And I'm telling you, it's not very simple. To be faithful and to be a Christian and to work through American slavery is hard work. Because I could see my way clear to telling a man that he ought to buy slaves and take care of them and that he actually ought to be, at the same time, working to get himself out of being a slave master. That he ought to take care of his family, that he ought to change the way he does his business, that he ought to change his life all around and in the process, do good by the people that are under his care.

I could see telling a man to do that. I could also see telling a different man not to buy any more slaves and to sell the slaves that he has. It's very difficult balancing our responsibilities to the Lord and to those that are under our care and to the situation we find ourselves in with our repentance when we're convinced that that's what's necessary. So is American slavery something that Christians should support? That was a good thing. Should they oppose it? No, it was a bad thing. Or should they be indifferent to it and go, well, you know, it was. It just was. I think we have to be opposed to it. We have to say that was a bad thing. That was sinful. It's a stain on our society, and it's had lasting effects. Even though the Bible gives us instructions about how Christians should participate in slavery, honoring your master, caring for your slaves, and giving up threatening.

All of these commands amount to is loving your God and your neighbor in the context you find yourself in, even if your neighbor is your master. I also think we can look back and see that as God's kingdom has been established and has grown, slavery has been one of the things that's gone away as a result of it. I think slavery fades away and dies as a society and as a people become. Christians and as they mature. You ever hear the saying that hindsight's 20-20? It's easy to look back and to see with clarity what was right and what was wrong and even to formulate opinions of what should have been done. It's very easy for us to do. We do it all the time. And yet, in our own lives, as we're walking out the decisions of our own life, the decisions aren't so clear and easy for us to make. The options aren't so cut and dried because the conclusions, it's not over yet.

What we do still matters and affects how things are going to end up. And so slavery is one of the things you see that as Christianity spreads through the West, slavery dies. It goes away. It takes time. Because Christians are figuring out what it means to love their neighbor. They're understanding that all men are image bearers of God. And that there's no partiality with their God. And so there ought not to be partiality as Christians among them. One better than the other. Even though God calls them to different work. And so reform takes time. It also takes God's spirit for it to take root and for it to grow. We might prefer for it to happen faster, to be more decisive, but that hasn't been God's plan. That's not been his way. When I read you the scripture lesson this morning, how long after Isaiah spoke those words about Ethiopia were they cut down? The picture that he gives in that chapter is of a tree being topped, having all of its productive...

fruitful branches cut off, and all that's left is an ugly stump, trunk of a tree with these just stubs sticking off of it. How long was that? I bet if you were an Israelite, you would have loved to seen it happen right then. But God took time. How long was it before they repented? Even longer. And so as Christians, we have to content ourselves with the fact that we live in a sinful world, and there are many things that go on around us that aren't as they should be. We don't do the things that we should do. Our neighbors don't do the things they should do. And God could change all that right now if he wanted to. And so since he hasn't, we should see that it's not his will that everything just poof and be different, but that we have to walk out and live our lives in the midst of this disarray and in the midst of this mess. We have to sort through the rubble, if you will, of our past and figure out what's good, what's bad, how should we think about it, and what should we do about it. Another way...

that the Bible speaks about slavery in addition to slaves and masters. More generally, it speaks about slavery or bondage to sin. And that's how we're all described. And the New Testament especially uses this imagery of being slaves and the gospel setting you free from that slavery. And making you a slave to Christ. But I think that imagery of slave to Christ is just a continuation of you were a slave here. You were in bondage. You were controlled. You had no other choices. Now you've been set free from that oppressive, deadly bondage. You've been set free from that. And now you have the same obligations and the same responsibilities to God. But it's a willing slavery that is a delight to you. And so big picture.

The gospel sets us free from slavery, being slaves to sin. Details are helpful in understanding how and when we become free from sin, how and when slavery should have ended in our society, how and when it has ended in other societies. But we have to be able to step out of those details and see the big picture God has been doing away with slavery in this world. Is it all gone? Is it all done? No. We still have slavery in our world today. The buying and selling of people not considered human. Where? We could think, oh, well, in other countries they still do that. And I grant, yeah, they still do it in other countries. But how do we have it in America? Well, you have it with abortion. A life of no value. Tossed away. Killed, taken because somebody didn't value it. It wasn't important to them. Their body parts. Bought and sold. To turn a profit. No value. Sex trafficking. Same thing.

leftover eggs from in vitro fertilization. What happens to them? What happens to those souls? Does anyone care? We still have these problems in our day where life is only considered valuable if we consider it valuable. And we as Christians still have obligation today to consider life valuable and to look for the areas where it's disregarded and to say, no, we won't do that. Because the message of the gospel and Jesus Christ is that the slaves would be set free. That's what Jesus came. And one of the first things that he said or was said about him is that he would be the angel prophesied and said that he had come to lead a host of captives free. And so we should look back on American slavery and go, that was a mess and that was not a good thing. And I trust that there were faithful Christians in there who were doing what they understood to be the best thing. And there was disagreement even about that, what that was.

If you were to talk to a northerner, they'd have one opinion, and if you were to talk to a southerner, they'd have a different opinion. We're not going to be able to sort out all the details of American slavery and say, well, this is exactly what should have happened. And so the message of the gospel is freedom from slavery. So how should we think about American slavery? Well, it's not really a question of whether or not it was permissible or good or not. It wasn't a good thing. It's not something we should defend as acceptable or biblical. It is something that happened. There were Christians involved in it. Some of them sinned in the way that they were involved in it, and some of them fought for reform. Some of them fought for the ending of slavery, and they even disagreed about how it should be done. Was the war necessary? Did 600,000 American lives have to be lost to end slavery? That's a question, and different men will answer it differently. Some saying something had to be done, and some saying something was being done.

There was enough sin in American slavery to condemn it and for us to be opposed to it. I don't want you to feel like you have to defend it as a Christian because the Bible talks about slavery. It's possible to tell a slave that they need to submit to their masters and they need to not try to run away and say that American slavery wasn't a good thing. You can say both of those things with a straight face and without blinking. There's nothing wrong with those. They're not opposed to each other. There are some who would want to fight about those details. And there's some sort of healthy...

about how to view our past. And I'm not opposed to it. But there needs to be, at some point, you're going to have to say, and there are other men who disagree in some places, and that's all right. Because even as we process through our past, our nation's past, our own past, we have to process through it in such a way as to not dishonor the word of God. Because that's what Paul tells the slaves. And later on in our passage, we'll come to it next week, where he talks about men who like to fight, who advocate a different doctrine. And the reason he opposes them and he says that they're no good, why they're conceited, why they don't understand anything, is because they're willing to have the name of Jesus Christ dishonored for the sake of being right. And yet we should seek out the truth, but not in such a way as to fit the description that Paul has here of men who are not doing it for God's glory. So what about modern racism?

What we have today, we have all kinds of manifestations of it now. The Black Lives Matter, arguing with All Lives Matter, arguing with Blue Lives Matter, with a bunch of people who don't care, just want it to go away, not worry about it. You have talk of systemic racism. The fact that you're white, the color of your skin determines whether you're a racist or not. Some of you are more racist than me because you have lighter skin than I am. And some of you are less racist than me because you have darker skin than I do. There's common talk in our society of it being determined that way. What you think, what you say, what you believe, none of that actually matters, just the color of your skin. How are we supposed to process that as a Christian? What are you supposed to do? It's very common that we get irritated about it. That's not right. That's not fair. How does it tie into American slavery? Well, American slavery is not helpful in this discussion, but I also don't think it's the primary cause that we're in the situation we're in. As bad as American slavery was, the troubles that it's...

It's brought on our land. The tensions that have arisen from it, segregation and all the rest, are not helpful. They're not a good thing. And yet American slavery is not all there is to blame for where we're at today. Where we're at today is not the only destination of having slavery 200 years ago. It's not the only possible outcome. We've actually steered ourselves into this parking spot as a nation. I would submit to you and argue that we're in the position we're in today. with race as a result of many, many years of unconfessed sin and justifications for our behavior. And I don't just mean of one side or the other. I mean of both sides. Both white people in America and black people in America have been entirely complicit in getting to where we're at. Our fathers and our grandfathers have not helped the situation as much as we would like them to have. And my hope is that we will help the situation more than they have. In our day, what's it mean to be a racist? Well, it means...

doing or saying or thinking anything that's not governed by race. Listen carefully. You're considered a racist if you don't make all of your decisions and judgments based on the color of someone's skin. If you don't do it, you're a racist. That's a mess. And it's wrong. And it's wicked. And it doesn't help. Because what you're told is that, and here I am talking to a bunch of white people, except for Jairo. But you're not black. We're told that you're to make all of your decisions as white people based on the color of someone's skin. That's how you can be not a racist. That's how you can not participate in the systemic racism that started with American slavery and is perpetuated on through today. You have to look and you say, oh, that's a black person. Nope, that can't be wrong. Or look at that white person said that thing. They're wrong. This is what's expected of you.

along with a healthy dose of hating our country and where we've come from. This is hard for me to talk about because I don't want this to turn into a TED Talk, and I don't want this to be political. Politics has been a large contributor to what's wrong with our nation. Neither side has been helpful. So where does our tension come from? How many of you are frustrated at what I just said about being labeled a racist? Have you walked out and talked to anybody that... on the society and you said, yeah, I think that people ought to be held accountable for their actions, you'd be called a racist. And they wouldn't even bat an eye at it. Say, well, that's just racist of you. What are you supposed to do about it as a Christian? I bet a bunch of you are frustrated with it. I'm frustrated by it because you can't even talk about it without the conversation just sort of taking this hard left into the ditch. Is American slavery really what's caused all of this? I'd say no. What's caused all of this is lust and greed.

What you'll hear white people say, conservative white political people, they'll say things like, well, the reason I have these sorts of concerns about black men is because they only make up 8% of the population, but they commit 60% of the violent crime. They'll say things like that. And is it true? It's a true fact. But if you say it, you'll get in all kinds of trouble. The conversation will be over because you're a racist and a bigot. You'll hear other people say, I'm not going to talk about racism until you deal with abortion. These are things Christians say. Circles I run in, these are the things they'll say. I'm not going to deal with racism until you deal with abortion because abortion has taken exponentially more lives than slavery in America ever has, and it's still churning along at over a million a year. And I'm not going to talk about it and deal with it until with racism. That can just go away until you deal with this other issue. Is it true? Yeah, it's true.

But I'd ask you, if you went to a doctor and you had three broken ribs, and the guy that came in after you had ten broken ribs, would you and your three broken ribs say, no, don't worry about me, just take care of him and I'll just wait? If you were a doctor, would you be considered a good doctor if you just let the guy with three broken ribs sit there and wallow in pain while you only took care of the other one? That wouldn't be a good doctor. If I had three broken ribs, I wouldn't want to go to that doctor. I want a doctor who understood that there were two problems, not just one.

And both of them needed to be addressed, and it was his job to address them. And it's our job as Christians not to say abortion doesn't matter because we have this racism thing to deal with, nor is it to say racism doesn't matter because abortion's a problem. They're actually both problems. And one of them is far more deadly, and yet they're both problems. And as Christians, we shouldn't say either one or the other. Have you ever been upset, as a white person, at the preferential treatment of minorities? You should all say, yes, you have. I know you all have. Now, what have you been upset about? That's the question, isn't it? You go, well, that's just not fair and right. And I'd say, yeah, it's not fair and right. But is there anything more to it? Is there anything more that irritates you about it? I suspect that part of the reason you're frustrated about it is because it means you have to work harder than other people to get the same treatment, or you perceive it that way. And what I want to know is,

If someone would give you preferential treatment, would you still oppose it? Or are you actually jealous that other people get preferential treatment and you don't? Think about it. If someone would treat you the same as someone who did twice as much work as you, would you accept it? I bet you would. Just like the slaves that came and worked in the vineyard, the parable that Jesus gave. And one of them came at the beginning of the day and he worked. All day in the heat, and he gets this much pay. And another one shows up, and he only works a couple of hours, and he gets the same amount of pay. That's preferential treatment. That's not fair. And what's really going on is that slave's going, I don't want to have to, I want to get the same sort of preferential treatment as everybody else. And I think a lot of white people, that's actually the truth. The reason you're upset is not because you have to work harder. It's because somebody's getting something that you don't get. And you can feel that way and say, and it's not a good thing to have.

You can still say that's not fair. I want to be treated preferentially. I don't want to have to work as hard as I do to get what I want. And this is our lust and this is our greed. James in chapter 4 says, what's the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Now oftentimes we apply this to individuals or to couples. This is a very common verse in marriage counseling. Why are you fighting? Well, is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust. and you don't have, so you commit murder. You're envious, and you cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You don't have because you don't ask. You ask and you don't receive because you ask with wrong motives so that you may spend it on your pleasures. Does this not apply to our society? Does this not apply to white people and black people as opposed to just husbands and wives or brothers and sisters? Do you not have any envy in you?

Don't you wish you could go around and say whatever in the world it was you want without getting in any trouble? Isn't a lot of the outrage that Christians and Americans are having, white people are having about Antifa is that they get to go out and wreak all kinds of havoc and cause all kinds of destruction without any recourse. And we say, well, it's not fair because if I did, then I would get in trouble. Do you want to go do that? Do you want to go do that if they come take your guns? I know you do. That's a line too far. So what are we supposed to do as Christians to combat and to deal with modern-day racism? How do we position ourselves and how do we sort through all of this mess? It's a hard question to answer. It's not easy. It's difficult. It's going to have a cost. The first thing I think we need to do is turn off the politics. You are not going to be helped by Rush Limbaugh or Ben Shapiro or Glenn Beck or Mark Levin or Michael Savage.

or whoever it is you listen to, they're not going to help you. Because I'm convinced they're all greedy men, and they're scratching your ears. Because they're not telling you, you know, I think that you've contributed to this problem as well, and I think that the place we need to start is with ourselves. How have I lusted? How am I jealous? How am I happy for other people to suffer as long as it doesn't affect me? I'd never support or encourage you voting for a Democrat. But they at least talk about caring about the poor. Their answers of how to care about the poor are atrocious and destructive. But they at least talk about it. And I think most conservatives just go, well, you got to make your own way in this world. But they don't know how that plays out for people who've grown up in a mess. And as long as your mess doesn't come get in my yard, that's okay with me. Now, is that all conservatives? No. There are Christians in there who actually do care and love for their neighbor, care for the poor. And it's my hope that we will be those people.

But this is not a political question. This is a spiritual question. The problem in our society is not the color of someone's skin. It's their sin. And it's not just the sin of black people being greedy and selfish and envious and wanting to be given free stuff. I bet that the vast majority of you who received checks from the government cashed them, the free stuff. And you all did it knowing it wasn't free. Somebody's going to pay for it, but you cashed it. And so I'm only saying that to say I don't know how deep our principles go when free stuff lands in our lap. So we ought to be careful to remove the log from our own eye before we remove the moat from our brothers. Am I supporting riots and the destruction of property and livelihoods? Do I think that's okay? No, I'm not. But guess what? I don't think any one of you were out doing that. Those aren't your sins. Those aren't the things that you struggle with.

I think bitterness and selfishness and greed are the things that we struggle with. And I mean me too. These are the things we need to look into our own hearts for. What are we going to do with the poor black in our society? We need to get to the point where we love them as our neighbors. Realizing that a lot of the differences between them is a cultural difference. They actually have a different way of doing things. It's true of all kinds of cultures. If you want to know what I'm talking about, just go to Jairo's house. He's not black, but go to his house. It's a completely different culture. Completely different. If you want to know what I'm talking about, ask Aaron, who grew up in Germany, what the culture was like there. Or ask my wife, whose mom was a missionary kid in Germany, what the culture was like. Completely different. Probably drive you nuts. Sarah, in Swedish, in Sweden, very different. But in America, our culture is we have American culture and we have black culture. And we don't know what to do with black culture because it's not American culture.

Their culture is not their problem any more than our culture is our problem. Our sin is our problem. They have sin and we have sin. And our first job is to repent of our own sins and to stop calling for everyone else to repent of their sins first. Because the Bible teaches us to remove the log from our own eye and to love our neighbor as ourself. Also that the kingdom of heaven is being, the kingdom of God is being built and it's going to be filled with people from every tribe and tongue and nation. And they're not, and this is a good thing, they're not all going to be like you.

And me. They're going to be different. Different languages, different cultures, different food, different everything. But children of God. So when you think of racial tension in your own life, I want you to think, is the fact that the majority of crime committed in our country done by black males, does that cause me to wish they'd just go away? That's the culture I grew up in. I don't know how many of you guys know that, but that's the culture I grew up in. Going to cookouts at the park. Playing basketball, music, dancing. Loud, very loud. Everybody was very loud. That's where I came from. Jody, you know something about this, right? Yeah. Very different, isn't it? Can you imagine if I was saying this to black people, what they'd be saying? They would not all be sitting there quiet like good little white people. They'd be arguing, or they'd be saying amen, or they'd be doing something. They wouldn't all just be staring at me. Different culture. We have to distinguish between what's sin.

And what's just the difference of culture? The same way that we have to distinguish with our children between what's childishness, what's a two-year-old, and what's a two-year-old sinning. Parents make this mistake all the time. I wish you'd just stop it. Stop doing that. I don't like it. We do the same thing with grown-ups and with other cultures when we get older. I wish you'd just stop doing that. Stop being like that. The sum of it is I want you to look at your brother. who's black, or your countryman who's black, and say, he needs Jesus just like I do. Desperately. Not any less than I do. Not any more than I do. He needs Jesus Christ. He needs to love him and he needs to put his trust in him. And you need to have faith that they can, that a black person or a Hispanic person or anyone different than you can actually repent of their sins in the same way that you had to. That they can be set free of the slavery and the bondage to sin that they're in, just like you were.

And that will give you something in common that's sweeter than anything our country has to offer you. What else can you do? What else should you do? I think we need to be praying not just for our own repentance, but for the repentance of our nation. And not just praying for it, but calling people to it. And be like, that's sin. That's not right. It's not that I don't love you, but that's wrong, the thing you're doing. It'd be wrong if I did it. It's not wrong because you're doing it. It's wrong because it's opposed to God and to his word. We need to have faith to speak to our brothers and to our sisters, to our neighbors in this way and not go, oh, well, they're black, so I can't say that. Oh, well, they're Hispanic, so I can't say that. Sure you can. I guess I'd ask you, are you any more comfortable doing it if it was a white person? Do you say it more often? Do you tell white people that they need to repent of their sins any more than you do black people? I don't know that I do, which means I think it's a failure from top to the bottom, not just with black people. And so we really need to grow in loving our neighbors.

How do we end racism? How do you end the tension? Our government's not going to regulate it. Our military's not going to squash it. We're not going to get rid of the problem that way. We're not going to legislate it away. We're not going to vote it away. As Christians, we're going to pray and we're going to love our neighbors. We're going to care for them. We're going to speak to them about the things of God. That's how you're going to get rid of it. When you stop letting race... And social class dictate who you'll talk to and who you'll care for and who you'll be friends with. That's how it will change. That's how it has to change. That's how God builds his kingdom. By tearing down those differences that we have as men, as women, as black, as white, as young, as old. He tears down those differences and makes peace between us through Jesus Christ. Let's pray.