But Jacob said, “I won’t let you go until you bless me.” – Gen. 32:26
If you prefer a dynamic sermon from the heart, you have George Whitefield to thank. Whitefield is a fundamental influence on the American religious experience. Dubbed “America’s First Celebrity,” he moved preaching from the monotone, manuscript-reading pulpit to the open air. Tens of thousands gathered to experience this new form of preaching that touched the heart and transformed lives. Whitefield led John and Charles Wesley and the Methodist movement out to the impoverished and uneducated masses.
A more subtle and overlooked legacy of George Whitefield is his relationship to the black population. When he first encountered slavery in America, Whitefield spoke boldly against its abuses. He believed black men and women had souls and therefore must hear the Gospel and be saved. He even argued that they should be educated so that they may grow in their faith.
But as wealthy slave masters became his converts, Whitefield accepted land and slaves as gifts from them. But Whitefield did not just placidly become a kindhearted slave owner. His life’s vision was to create Bethesda orphanage near Savannah, Georgia, and he believed this endeavor was impossible without slaves to run the place. When the Georgia trustees banned slavery from the colony, Whitefield used his celebrity to become one of the largest proponents for the legalization of slavery. By the time Georgia lifted the ban on slavery, it seems clear that Whitefield had already been using slaves throughout the ban.
Separating Body and Soul
Today, evangelical Christian beliefs are profoundly shaped by another celebrity, Billy Graham. While Graham spoke against the ills and abuses of racism, he taught that change does not come through public policy but through personal conversion. He was willing to integrate his movement but unwilling to support Martin Luther King, Jr’s actions for social justice. Graham believed the Second Coming of Christ was so imminent, all that mattered was converting people to Christianity to bring about a new heaven and a new earth.
Like Whitefield before him, Graham’s legacy is one that disintegrates body from soul. All that matters is personal salvation of the individual soul. Opposing racism becomes nothing more than a theory, an idea based in the idea that I am saved, and therefore I can’t possibly have any residual racism in my heart. One can praise Martin Luther King, Jr.’s spiritual ideas but reject his actions to attain equality.
Perhaps the most telling slogan of this legacy is the phrase, “All lives matter.” It sounds so spiritual, so holy. I don’t want to single out black lives because there’s loads of other people with problems. I don’t want to say “Black Lives Matter” because then it sounds like I support the actions of a movement seeking to prove with policy changes that black lives don’t inherently deserve violence at the hands of the police.
You are separating body and soul. You are okay with a Christ who says, “Your sins are forgiven” but forgot that then he healed the crippled. You are uncomfortable with a Christ who leaves the 99 (all lives matter) for the 1 (black lives matter). You are okay with the God-side of Christ, but uncomfortable with the humanity of Jesus.
You are spiritual. You are a beloved Child of God. You are bought by the blood of Jesus Christ. No one is denying the security of your salvation. But unless you believe Christ has already made you perfect and incapable of making mistakes, I implore you to think twice about what is happening in our society right now. To say “Black Lives Matter” is to speak a benediction, a blessing. It is to say to black people, “God made you the way you are, your life is valuable to God and to me.” It is to say to black people, “I hear your complaint that something remains wrong in the way society treats people who look like you.”
Think about the reasons you’ve given for not saying “Black Lives Matter.” Think about the excuses you’ve given for saying “All lives matter.” Do you believe God created you to be white and black people to be black? Do you believe diversity is inherent to God’s creation? Do you believe Christ died equally for all people regardless of how they were born? Are you capable of saying, “Your life as a black person matters to me?” Like Jacob wrestling the angel of God, the cry of “Black Lives Matter” comes from a people saying, “I won’t let you go until you bless me.”
May the legacy of this generation be one of integrity: integrating body and soul.
New Charlie Baber
The Rev. Charlie Baber, author of Wesley Bros cartoon.
Creator of the Wesley Bros cartoon, the Rev. Charlie Baber, a United Methodist deacon, serves as youth minister at University United Methodist Church in Chapel Hill, N.C. His cartoon appears on United Methodist Insight by special arrangement.