Past, Present and Future

During the viewing of the short film I've now mentioned a few times . . . David Fleer suggested to me that a Q and A be added at the end of the film. I'd spent five minutes or so introducing the film discussing the concept Dallas Willard calls "vampire Christianity"--the reduction of the meaning of the life Jesus (which Willard famously writes, "The tendency to only want Jesus for his blood" ignoring the tenor of the life and teachings that got him crucified in the first place).

After the short film--an eighteen minute re-hearing of the King Story in Jim Crow South (think: MLK as America's Moses set to Springsteen) . . . I fielded several questions and comments. Brian McLaren, of all people, told an incredible story about two different generations and their wrestling with the legacy of apartheid in South Africa.

At the very end of the discussion, with a room full of scholars, preachers, theologians (including Brueggemann, McLaren, Cleo LaRue, etc.) . . . one good man stood up and asked a very honest question. "Don't we run the risk of making racism worse when we continue to tell the stories of Jim Crow South and Martin Luther King?"

It was, as I said, a good question.

Immediately my mind went to two places at once. First, I thought of Elie Wiesel, who had just lectured at Rochester College/Church on the power of language for reconciliation (and the role of memory) . . . and I thought the reason Darfur can happen today is because we've forgotten the Holocaust of the twentieth century.

My mind simultaneously went to a different place. I thought of my beloved friend, James ("Doc") Shelton--one of the most respected high school basketball coaches in Nashville. Doc and I became friends when I was a grad student at Lipscomb. He has deep roots with two of my mentors (Rubel Shelly and John York).

So this is the gist of what I said . . . "If Doc Shelton (an African-American leader in Nashville) were to answer your question, he might remind all of us that Christian institutions (such as David Lipscomb) were the last to integrate in major urban areas all over the U.S."

"Moreover, I've yet to meet a minority in this country who wants to completely forget the past. So, and I mean this with all the generosity I can muster . . . we cannot forget. And sometimes our questions betray our own bias, forcing us to ask better questions."

There are many facets to the gospel. Some of those facets include: personal forgiveness, faith, hope, and love. Some also include race, gender, and economics, and spiritual formation.

Different seasons call for different emphases. In all of those . . . be it addiction, divorce, sexual abuse, abandonment, pride . . . the way to the future runs through the past. We must always remember, lest we cease to be human. For it is in remembering that we remain human. Remembering the stories of God preserved through the church (called the Bible). Remembering the grace poured out in our lives.