Responding to David Platt's T4G Speech on Racism (Part 3)

All right, this is part three of my live reaction response to David Platt's t4g

Social justice speech, so we'll see where this goes Could it be that as much as we'd like to think of the church as a force for countering racism right now?

The church is actually a force for continuing it It could be but I'd like to see some evidence because the

Bible tells me That without two or three witnesses, I'm not supposed to even entertain an accusation against an elder

We've forgotten that as a church Because I see on these on these discernment blogs I see on in these speeches and things like that a lot of accusations going out and not a lot of evidence because the

Statistical disparity is not evidence of a sin Why couldn't it be that No But predominantly black churches are in predominantly black areas and there is no sin

This is just people how to people have chosen to live And that's their explanation.

I'm not saying that is the explanation because I haven't studied this But I'm not the one making the claim

I'm waiting for you to explain it. I'm waiting for you to prove it I'm not gonna entertain an accusation against an elder or a group of elders

Without two or more witnesses. That's what the Bible commands. That's the justice that Amos was talking about Okay, that's the justice that I'm concerned with.

I'm not concerned with Karl Marx definitions of justice Okay, and you might not be either but you're accidentally applying them at the very least

And in this way, I just wonder if instead of looking out there for all the reasons behind racism

We actually need to start by looking in here in here

You got that, right? You got that, right? And I'll add one more thing look into the scripture You look into the scripture to tell you how to define these things.

You don't look to Karl Marx You don't look to what the culture is saying because that's kind of how this is being presented Like oh the church is being so countercultural here.

We can be the leader. No, no, no, no, no, no, no Maybe you don't know maybe you don't know but but this this social justice movement is everywhere

Everywhere even in places where you wouldn't expect like even gaming tabletop gaming is Experiencing an inundation of social justice nonsense.

This is this is the spirit of the world Everyone is talking about this. The church is behind on this

The church is not salt and light on this the church is going with the flow on this issue

Maybe that should be your sign Look at the reality of racism not just in what we consider to be the isolated extremes around us

But in the overwhelming facts among us, maybe you debate this story or that statistic But in the end we cannot be comfortable as the people of God with a clear white black divide in our country

And we can't be content with deepening that divide in the church But he kind of makes it seem like if you debate this statistic or this situation that that's just kind of irrelevant and trivial

It's not it's not because we're talking about the foundations here. We're talking about is is this

Is your presentation proving what you're saying it's proving I'm contesting that it is not and so yes

We do have to look into the church first. We do have to look into the scriptures first and what the scriptures say about these things

Not the world But we have to do it with a discerning eye. We have to do it with we have to The scriptures say that you inquire diligently to see if these things are so because every person who states his case first seems, right?

Where'd that come from? That's from the scriptures men everyone who states his case first seems right until someone cross examines him that's a critical part

He kind of just throws it out there. Yeah, you can debate this and that but it's no no, that's the key We gotta establish what's actually real first before we can go and propose solutions because if we don't

We could be solving a problem. That's not a problem and thus creating a problem and that's my contention That's what's gonna happen here because we're gonna attempt to solve a problem.

That's not there and thus create a problem That's not justice. That's not what

Amos was talking about It is not just and it is not right and we will not be found to be worshiping

God if we ignore Injustice or far worse Increase it. So what do we do?

Second exhortation, I want to be clear. I don't presume there are easy answers here This is a battle that has been fought and will be fought for many years, but God is calling us

There is an easy answer There is an easy answer But it requires God to regenerate people requires

God to move because here's the thing the easy answer is what we do I don't know what he's about to say. I'm not gonna predict this one

But what we need to do is look to the scriptures and say what is justice How do we apply this in our personal lives?

How do we apply this in our families? How do we apply this in our church? And then finally, how do we apply this to the civil culture as a whole?

Okay, so we apply it to ourselves we apply to our families we apply it to our church and then we apply it to society

Those are the four realms That's what we do It's easy But it requires people to be committed to the scriptures acquire it requires people to bend the knee to Christ and to say you define

Justice we do not You know, what is loving we do not You define righteousness.

We do not that's what it requires that and that's impossible Beyond a move of the

Spirit of God People don't just do that because they want to people do that because the Spirit of God moves them to do that It's a simple answer

The but it's impossible to do without God moving. That's why we need to preach the gospel to the nation's

Teaching them to obey all that Christ has commanded to fight it and to be at the forefront of it

Which leads to a second exhortation a starting point if you will let us look at the reality of racism and Live in true multi -ethnic community

Let us live in true multi -ethnic community biblically think Ephesians to we know first century

There was a massive cultural divide between Jews and Gentiles. You didn't eat with each other associate with each other You called each other dogs.

You had different traditions different customs different lifestyles, but what happened? Yeah, that's all pretty prejudiced.

That's all showing partiality. Is that what we're doing today? You don't eat with each other and we call each other dogs

That's not been my experience I mean, maybe maybe people have evidence of that and I'll condemn that with you

But is that how most people are because this is again, this is not about the fringe. He's made that very clear He's not talking about the fringe people that the extremists because we see that and we can condemn that he's talking about everyday folks

I live in Vermont, right? So that means that I don't have a lot of options for multi -ethnic friends

I mean there are some of course, but there's not that many so Am I in sin because I live in front?

Maybe I should move to some more like Washington DC I mean the only place to be truly Christian is in a multi -ethnic cosmopolitan setting.

No No, that's not how it works You can go to Ethiopia and tell them they're in sin because they're in a monolithic

Sort of African culture and most everyone there is Ethiopian. Are they in sin because of that? They're not living in a multi -ethnic

Church No You go to Japan and tell them that they're in sin because there

I mean Japan is an ethno state Let's just be honest. Is that a sin automatically? Well could be

You have to prove it though. I mean you have to actually prove that Jews started following Jesus and so did

Gentiles which was a problem for many Jews we know in the book of Acts that it was a controversy when

Gentiles wanted to be baptized and Gentiles wanted to be a part of the church It was scandalous when they started eating at the same tables and worshipping in the same rooms

And Paul writes Ephesians in part to say this is right This is something that social justice warriors typically do they'll take an example.

That's very clear from the past So this whole situation with the Jews and the Gentiles very clearly partiality

It's very easy to see you could do this even in Jim Crow era It's very easy to see how racist and systemic racism and institutional racism was back in the days of Jim Crow and in slavery

That's very easy. But then they don't really they want to transport that to today without proving it Show me the church that says well, you know

Blacks and whites they really shouldn't be eating at the same table In fact, we should set up a separate communion table for them.

We'll have a white communion table and black community show me that church. I Will condemn it if almost everyone will condemn it by the way

You're one now you're no longer divided Ephesians 2 14 for Jesus himself is our peace who has made us both one and has broken

Down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances

Then he might create in himself one new man in place of the two So making peace and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross thereby killing the hostility

He says the same thing in Galatians 3 20. I Amen, I love that passage man. I do that's that is so applicable to this issue.

That's so applicable to this issue so the problem is It's like that it's like that Paul Washer speech where he's like, why are you clapping

I'm talking about you Why I mean why are why are people apply they talking about you you're the ones doing this

David pot when you talk about the white, you know Evangelicals and Matt Chandler when you talk about white people and this is that you're the ones trying to raise this dividing wall back up No, no, you exhort the brethren.

You don't go. Why white people you guys got to do this the black people, you know Okay Now you do it brothers.

It's not how you do it You want to live in light of that reality that you just said beautiful reality that Paul just described there

Then you have to stop doing this you have to stop doing this dividing up the church in different skin colors.

It's ridiculous There's neither Jew nor Greek either slave or free. No, there's no male and female for you are all one in Christ Jesus We know this verse is not denying ethnic or gender distinctions

It's saying that over and above these real differences together. We're one in Christ. The gospel has unique Transcendent power to bring different people together.

Amen, and it makes sense Amen, doesn't it? Ultimately division among people over race or anything else goes all the way back to Genesis 3 when man and woman sinned against God Separating themselves not only from God but from one another and ever since that day it is sin

That is stood at the root of all racial pride and prejudice But Jesus went to the cross.

He conquered sin He made the way for people to be free from it restored to God and in the process reconciled to one another that's why followers of Christ regardless of skin color have one father as one family and one household with no dividing wall of hostility based upon ethnic diversity

Amen I just wish that him and the people who grew with him would would apply this to themselves

Apply this to their own rhetoric He's so right there man. That's beautiful. That's why

I love the gospel man. It's applies to everything. It's so beautiful. It's awesome It has the only answer to these ethnic tensions.

It's the only answer to these tribal tensions. It's the only answer that works. I Think about One a

Good Friday in Birmingham, Alabama, we're at the privilege of preaching at 16th Street Baptist Church 50 years before I stood in that church.

It had been bombed by white people killing four young black girls Outside that church on a

Good Friday Martin Luther King had participated in a peaceful march and he was arrested and put in jail We faced harsh conditions in solitary confinement

So there I stood 50 years later invited by the pastor of that church to preach in front of a room full of black and White Christians and I was keenly reminded on that Good Friday that the cross is what made that good scene possible the cross makes true

Multi -ethnic community possible and I want to exhort us to pursue that kind of community

Well, here's the thing about this because he's so right But this is a present reality

Whether you like it or not, if you're a Christian you are in a multi -ethnic community. There's no question about there's no debate about that That's what the

Bible presents Why does it have to be that everything needs to be

Disproportional everything has to be exactly according to percentages and things like that in your church before I guess that would make them happy I don't know what would make them happy.

We'll see I guess in the rest of the speech. I Again am

I the Koreans in Korea in sin because they go to a Korean church. I mean According to this standard there has to be something wrong with them.

I Don't think so Because they're already in a multi -ethnic church because the fact that they're going every

Sunday on the Lord's Day to worship the God that we all Worship, we all adore we all serve at the table

We come to the same table every Sunday every Lord's Day. That means they're in a multi -ethnic church

Whether that whether the percentages add up in their specific context or not. See that's the Marxism That's that's what

I'm talking about when I talk about Marxism because a Christian looks at this and says well If there is some partiality being shown by these

Koreans if they're not letting in other ethnicities or other Nationalities then yeah, that is partiality and that's something to be condemned

But you can't assume just because it's all Koreans in the Korean church that that's what they're doing You can't assume that you need evidence

I won't accept an accusation against a Korean elder without evidence I won't

Why are you? Just like Jews and Gentiles in the first century could have chosen to stay separate from one another to live and eat and worship

Separate from one another we could do that, but I want to exhort us not to do that instead to pursue true multi -ethnic community

I Mentioned earlier. I've been Convinced Little confused by that because He talked about what they could have pursued separate, you know situations

I mean not not the way they were doing it. That was a sin. That was partiality but if he's talking about maybe in an alternate timeline where they pursued that kind of Outside of sort of those realms of partiality and sin and that's just how it shook out.

I suppose so but then but what's the problem? What why are you exhorting us here? If this is if you're saying that that would have been fine it would have been biblical then then what's the point?

Why are you holding us to some other standard? I don't know. It's a little confusing what he said there, right?

Maybe you're confused as well on this issue Because I look at my life in ministry and in so many ways

My world has been so white Or Might have to say that for next time but Hmm.

Yeah, I'm gonna say that's next. I'm gonna chew on that one a little bit. My world has been so White, you know,