Why Do We Keep Doing This?

Genesis 3:4-6 – But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate.

Romans 3:23-24, 28 - …since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from the works prescribed by the law.

It has been heartbreaking, disconcerting, and downright scary to see the events that have unfolded across our nation during the past few weeks. However, I am now old enough to say, “I’ve seen this before.” I was born during the heart of the Civil Rights movement of the ‘60’s. I was a wee young lad learning to walk during the last violent protests and riots in Minneapolis. I witnessed Los Angeles in turmoil when an African American man named Rodney King was the victim of police brutality. Despite these incidents, we can’t seem to learn enough lessons or make big enough strides to keep them from happening again. Racism still exists. Injustice still exists. Positions of power and authority are abused. People still treat each other cruelly. As a nation we will try again to repent, become more aware and sympathetic of those who are different, make some statements, make some symbolic gestures, pass some more laws, congratulate ourselves for doing so, then be confused when the same circumstances arise again. Why can we never seem to break free from this tragic cycle?

The disturbing truth is that we will never be able to pass enough laws to eliminate any of the “isms”. One of the prevalent motifs of world history is that people gravitate towards tribalism and are always eager to find “others” on whom to project superiority. The Hebrews despised the Canaanites, and vice versa. The ancient Greeks hated the Macedonians. The Chinese hated the Mongols. The Japanese detested the Chinese. The Nazis hated pretty much everybody. It goes on and on, and not just among governments and countries. Think of all the smaller conflicts that occur within us and around us regularly: young vs. old, black vs. white, liberal vs. conservative, heterosexual vs. homosexual, fit vs. flabby, educated vs. ignorant. Ultimately, the central cause of every conflict, every embedded prejudice or bigotry, every instance of cruelty is rooted in the Genesis passage above. The temptation to be “like God” or in other words, to be god of ourselves and everyone else is endemic to our fallen and sinful human nature. Every one of us is guilty of this. We can’t be a god if others are equal or better than us in any way, so we try to find something different in them to demean, despise, and demonize, and even destroy.

The answer to this problem is not found in more laws, nor is it found in putting a symbol on a Facebook post, or even walking in a protest march. These things are helpful in raising awareness of the issues but won’t remove the issues. The answer lies in something that we proudly proclaim without always fully understanding: Repent and believe the gospel. Once we understand (and it takes a lot of reminding) that we can’t possibly fix ourselves no matter how hard we try or no matter what actions we take, that we are not God but are instead in deep need of God’s healing, the message of the gospel is that relief from our situation and the world’s endless conflict is available. It lies in accepting the grace and love of God as expressed in Jesus Christ. Christ is our ideal; the perfect role model; the only person who has ever been capable of being unaffected by any cultural or societal “ism”.

The end of racism, injustice, and violence will never be found in anything we do, no matter how noble the intention. That is Paul’s message to the Romans. Such an end will only be found in who we are – a people transformed by the Holy Spirit into the image of God as revealed in Christ, and a people who are willing to share and exhibit (not just talk about) the gospel to the world around us.