Dragonspeak: The Race Crisis in America

By Ivor Myers

hose who believe in the fight for freedom from oppression will recognize that the God of Heaven is with them in that battle. But they must also recognize that His plans are not like our plans, and His ways are not like our ways.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9, KJV).

It is frustrating to many in this country that the fight for equality has been going on now for hundreds of years. Every battle won only helps to highlight the next battle to be fought. What we want is a society at “rest.” The way to get that rest appears elusive, however, and it is often fraught with violence.

God’s plan to deal with oppression connects closely with the true Sabbath. Martin Luther King, Jr. acknowledged that “[m]orality cannot be legislated, but behavior can be regulated. Judicial decrees may not change the heart, but they can restrain the heartless.”

Please note this. We have been fighting the wrong battle. The heartless can manifest racism regardless of the judicial decrees making their actions illegal. For example, create laws to ban the practice of redlining, and racists will find ways to create new barriers for black people. Create laws to ensure voting rights, and racists will find ways to intimidate or create new laws to disenfranchise black voters. It becomes a never-ending cycle and an unrelenting war that only leads to increasing frustration.

Racism is an issue of the heart and cannot be defeated by legislation. quote

Racism is an issue of the heart and cannot be defeated by legislation. This is not to say that legislation is not part of the battle. It has been a necessary tool for progress and equality. It has, at times, slowed the frequency of racist acts and the aims of racists. Yet here we are, still fighting what seems to be an unending war. Legislation can’t, then, be the only method of cleansing America from its original sin.

There is only one way to defeat racism. Not only must the battle be fought externally, that is through legislation, but it must also be fought internally, that is through a change of heart. This is God’s battle plan. It is summarized in these words,

“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them” (Ezekiel 36:26-27, KJV).

Racism, the ultimate expression of oppression, must be rooted out in the heart. Demonstrating in the streets cannot do that. Changing laws of government cannot do that. Again, these are important and should be pursued with passion and purpose. Yet, lasting, real change remains elusive without heart change. This is why God wants to write His law on the hearts of people.

I think God desires to do this particularly through the fourth commandment. Note the words connected to how the Sabbath should be observed. Have you read Isaiah 58 lately?

“Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it” (Isaiah 58:6-7; 10-14).

Note it carefully. God calls those who care for the oppressed to be repairers of the breach by keeping the Sabbath. This goes beyond the mere letter of the commandment. In other words, true Sabbath keeping involves not only honoring the seventh day, but specifically cultivating the spirit of the Sabbath, which is the spirit of anti-oppression.

…care for the oppressed… be repairers of the breach by keeping the Sabbath. quote

The political and civil unrest and divide we see today in America is well defined. The “left” generally claims to have the interest of human beings at heart. They are the ones concerned about oppression, systemic racism, and racial and gender disparities. The “right” generally claims to care about uplifting God and spreading the news of Christianity. The missing link between both the right and the left is the Sabbath.

The Sabbath commandment that calls to the “left” to embrace God’s battle plan defines what it means to care for and advocate for the oppressed. In repairing the breach of the Sabbath, those who lean right, on the other hand, become balanced by learning to show empathy for their neighbors, the “stranger” or immigrant, the less fortunate, the poor, the naked, the homeless. Those who lean left learn that God is a God of love and mercy, and will learn to love Him and trust Him. Understanding the nature of battle helps us to also understand racism from a new perspective, one that reveals the power of the weapon of compassion.

IVOR MYERS is a pastor, author and Bible teacher. You can learn more about his ministry at www.powerofthelamb.com

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