Responding to David Platt's T4G Speech on Racism (Part 4)

Well, let's get started on the next section of this David Platt speech about racism.

And in so many ways, my world has been so white.

Alright, I forgot that's where we stopped. Okay, my world has been so white.

You can see the guilt in this man's eyes. You know, one of the things that I thought was interesting about this talk, my brother had listened to it and he told me to listen to it.

And, you know, the other day he asked me, How's it going? How are you liking the speech? And I told him what it reminds me of.

And this is definitely what it reminds me of. It reminds me of somebody reading a hostage letter. It really does.

It looks like, you know, someone's got a gun to his head and he is saying these things that he does not want to say, but he has to say them.

You can just see like the fear in his eyes. It's pretty incredible. But my world has been so white.

Wow, God forbid that your world is so white. I don't even know what that means, first of all. And maybe he's right.

Maybe, you know, he only hangs out with white people. He only likes to hang out with white people. I don't know what he's exactly trying to say. But, you know, at the end of the day, if your world is so white, that's not really a problem.

I mean, show me in the Bible where it says that you have to have a certain amount of your time spent with different ethnicities.

It just doesn't make any sense. I mean, again, I've been saying this a lot, but do you think, you know, Koreans in Korea worry that their world is just too

Korean? Or, you know, blacks in Ethiopia, do they worry, oh, my world is too Ethiopian?

If you're not hanging out with certain ethnicities because you don't like them because of their ethnicity, then, yeah, that's a problem.

That's partiality. You don't want to do that. But if the natural sort of state of how you live your life is you live your life around other white people or whatever, there's nothing to apologize for unless you have partiality in your heart.

Maybe that's what he's saying. I'm not sure. But we'll continue. But I look around at my country.

It's not so white. So why is my world so white? Why have the churches

I've been a part of and led in been so white? Why is the missions organization

I lead so predominantly white? Well, I mean, this is a thing because, you know, we're

Calvinist here, right? Are we not? I mean, you know, the gospel spread, you know, from the

Middle East to Africa to Europe, and God is the one in charge of where that gospel goes and who responds, right?

And so when you set up your church and you're preaching the gospel and you're, you know, you're doing things, you know, not partial or whatever, who's responsible for who comes to your church?

I thought we were Calvinists here, right? I mean, ask God. I don't know. This is something I often wonder about with social justice warriors.

Do you think that God's going to be wringing his hands just so concerned if the eternal state, if the new heavens and the new earth is not exactly proportional according to ethnicity?

Do we have any indication that the Bible says it's going to be exactly proportional according to ethnicity? And if it isn't, is

God guilty of something? I don't know. I mean, I don't have every verse memorized, but I just don't understand this expectation.

I mean, okay, your church is full of white people. I mean, unless you're doing something to keep those blacks and Latinos out of that church, then there's nothing wrong with that.

What's the problem with that? Again, my grandmother, she goes to a small charismatic church in the Bronx, and it's probably mostly

Puerto Rican or other Latino ethnicities. Well, is that a problem? I mean, are you going to start accusing them of sin, the

Latino church down the street? Are they sinning because there's all Latinos there? How can

I, with supposed zeal for the nations, be so blind to such injustice among peoples in my own nation?

I don't know. Are you? Are you blind to it? Because I would have a feeling that he would say, well,

I'm blind to it. I studied this issue. You know what I mean? I looked into these issues. I'm not blind to it.

In fact, I'm a minority myself, so if anyone is not blind to the systemic institutional racism that plagues our nation and holds us all back, it should be me, right?

I mean, maybe he was. I mean, maybe he is blind to it. I'm not going to say he's lying there, but to just – this is something that social justice warriors do.

They assume everyone is in the same boat as them. So he's blind to it, so that must mean everybody's blind to it.

I don't think that's actually true. That's not true at all. That's projecting. These are questions that I have for far too long ignored, and I don't think they're just for me to ask.

Why are so many of our churches so white? This is so interesting because he's – even the way he's framed this, you can see the failure of language because – listen, let me parse this for a second.

Why are so many of our churches so white?

Our churches. The reality is

God's church is not so white. And if it was, that wouldn't be a problem anyway, but it's not.

God's church is not white, right? Because this kind of makes it seem like there's our church and it's so white, and then all the other churches, that's sort of like the others.

You know what I mean? That's not really part of – no, no, no, no, that's not how it works. Because if there's an individual local congregation that has all white people in it, the church is not all white.

If there's a local congregation that has all black people in it, the church is not all black because the church is universal, right?

So if your local body is a certain ethnicity more than others, that doesn't do anything to talk about the multicultural nature of the church.

I'm sorry, not the multicultural, the multiethnic nature of the church. You can even – our churches.

What's your church? I don't know. I mean if you're talking about like churches that are predominantly white, well, yeah, obviously churches that are predominantly white are predominantly white.

What are you trying to say? I don't understand. Because black people could say the same thing.

Churches that are predominantly African American are predominantly African American. Why?

Well, that's because they're predominantly African American. If they weren't, they wouldn't be. I don't understand. What's he actually trying to say here?

Is that the church is so white? It's not. It's not. Look at the statistics. The church of God is not predominantly white.

Why are so many of our institutions, our seminaries and mission organizations so white?

I don't know. But you seem to be assuming the question is racism. So you'll have to prove that.

You can't just accept it. Right? Maybe – so here's the thing.

This is like sort of the unforgivable sin, but I'm just going to go ahead and say it. Maybe mostly white people are the ones who want to go to seminary.

Right? I mean, could it be that just for whatever reason, it's, you know,

Latinos and blacks are just not interested in going to seminary? And I'm not saying they're not interested in Christ. I'm not saying they're not interested in the church.

Maybe they're just not interested. Why is that off the table? Like, is it okay for Latinos not to –

I've never been interested in going to seminary. Is that a problem? I don't know.

I mean, it just seems like such a massive assumption. It's like, okay, well, our seminaries are so white.

Well, that must mean racism. Why can't people just have different choices? Our seminaries are also majority male.

Some people, that proves misogyny. But it doesn't. You know? If I could be so bold and I say this respectfully because I love this conference and have been so impacted by it over the last 10 years,

I'm so honored to be a part of it. But don't we need to at least stop and ask the question, why is this conference so white?

I don't know. I don't know. But I'm pretty sure that when you buy your ticket for the conference, it doesn't say, hey, are you white?

And when you say no, it says, well, you can't come to this conference. I'm pretty sure that's not the reason.

Could it be that just maybe Latinos and blacks are just not interested in a conference like that? Or maybe because they're kind of behind on the income and wealth curve that they're too busy working to go to a conference like this.

Could it be that? What are you trying to imply here?

The T4G conference is racist? Is that what you're trying to say? You see the massive assumptions, the

Marxist assumptions that are being made. If blacks are underrepresented at the

T4G conference, well, that must mean they're being oppressed by the T4G conference. I can't think in these terms.

I just don't understand why anyone would. It's not legitimate. It's just an assumption.

And it's not an assumption that I think a Christian ought to make, because the Christian should be using the standard of, we need two or more witnesses here to establish the matter.

We need to inquire diligently to see if these things are so. That's what a Christian should be doing.

I'm not sure why he's just assuming this. Why is this conference so white? Well, I don't know. Is it a problem? It might be, but you have to prove it.

Look around this arena. Don't we at least need to ask the question?

Sure, go ahead and ask it. But the thing is, you ask it in a way as if it's a problem to be solved.

Is it? Not unless you're not a Marxist. I mean, if you're a Marxist, yeah, I guess it's a problem to be solved.

But it's not a biblical problem to be solved. What's the problem? Look around the conference. I mean, first of all, the conference isn't in the

Bible anyway, so who cares? But look around the conference. There's so many white people. What's wrong with that? You act like it's a white conference.

It isn't. And address it together like we all hate slavery.

We all hate Jim Crow laws. Certainly, we cannot be content then with churches, seminaries, mission organizations, and conferences that look like time capsules preserving the divisive effects of the past.

This is not the kind of distinction from the world God is calling us to. He is calling us to show the world what true multi -ethnic community can be.

And by the power of the gospel, we can do this so much better than the world could ever do this.

So let's do this. Let's pursue true multi -ethnic community. In our lives, in our families, it's been said that the most segregated place in America is not actually the church, but the dinner table.

What? May that not be so. What? What is he talking about?

Let's finish this thought. I have no idea. He can't be saying what I think he's saying. So among us, let's pursue true multi -ethnic community in our lives, our families, and our churches.

And then, so as a part of that, the dinner table? Does he mean that you don't...

Sorry. I'm sorry. I'm trying to think about what he could possibly mean. I mean, my dinner...

All right. Are you talking about like marriages? Like white people tend to marry other white people or black people tend to marry other...

and then the dinner table is single ethnicity? Is that what he's talking about? Exactly.

I guess he could also be talking about like who you invite over for dinner. And then

I guess he was... How could you possibly know? Like, do people take statistics of who they invite over for dinner?

They're like, well, I guess white people only invite other white people for dinner. If you're watching this and you know what he's talking about, comment in the comments below.

I'm pretty dumbfounded. What could he possibly mean? The dinner table is the most segregated place in America.

That's a weird one. That's a weird one. Here's what's critical. I can't stress how critical this is because many

Christian solutions or at least many white Christian solutions to racism stop here. Basically with the expectation to get to know somebody of another race or ethnicity as if that alone will address this issue.

But we have to realize that the problem of racism... No, that's not enough. You got to find the one that...

I can't even say it. You got to find the black person that doesn't agree with you.

That's the only way. Because otherwise they're just trying to get approval or they're trying to win position.

You learn that from Pastor Matt Chandler. It's far deeper than individual relationships.

That's not my view, by the way. Just in case it's not clear. So this is where I would offer a third exhortation in the context of true multi -ethnic community.

Then third, let's listen to and learn from one another. Let's stop this for a second because this listen to thing is very common.

I've seen this so many times. I'll be online and I'll be saying, hey,

I don't believe in systemic institutional racism and then somebody will come up to me and inevitably someone will say, well, you need to listen more to your black brothers and sisters in Christ.

And what they mean by listen is listen and believe. If you don't believe in institutional racism, what you're saying is that all your black brothers are lying to you about this.

And that's a kind of racism as well. I even saw one of my Facebook friends say that. If you don't believe a black person's experience on racism, that itself is racism.

And here's the thing, I do believe them because I've experienced racism myself. I don't have any illusions that it's completely off the face of the earth.

But what I do say is that you could take their stories, but that's different from saying, well, there's all these systems and institutions in place that are automatically racist.

That's a different accusation. We have to actually look at the evidence for that before we move forward. And so while I would agree with David Platt, you should listen and learn from people of other ethnicities.

That's true, but you don't take off your discernment goggles when you do it. So yeah, talk to a

Latino like me. Talk to a black person and listen to what they have to say and all that kind of stuff.

But you don't just say, well, I believe everything you say, no matter what. Because that's what a lot of people,

I don't know if that's what David Platt means, but that's what a lot of people mean when they say listen. They mean listen and just accept what they say and go along with it.

No, you keep your discernment goggles on. You inquire diligently to see if these things are so.

Again, the first person who states his case always seems right until someone's cross -examined.

Let's listen to and learn from one another, specifically from others who don't look like you.

Who may not think like you. Think James 1, right before James addresses prejudice. I love that.

It doesn't look like you. What does that have to do with anything? It's about how you think. It's not about what you look like.

Man, I had somebody tell me this on one of my videos. This person commented and said that I was white and I was a white supremacist.

That's why I think the way I think. And then I laughed at him and I said, well, I'm not white. But thanks for showing how stupid this whole mentality is.

He said, well, your skin looks light enough so it probably has affected you. In other words, my skin is light enough that it's affected my brain to become white supremacist.

That's how stupid this kind of a viewpoint is. It's stupid. I have no problem saying that it's stupid because it is stupid.

To say that my skin is light enough that it's affected my brain to become a white supremacist.

I might think I'm white. Maybe that's what he's trying to say. I don't know. But who cares what somebody looks like? It's about what they think.

And favoritism and partiality in the church. He writes, let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger.

James 1, 19. That is a good word for all of us when it comes to racism.

Sure is. And where James gets that is from the Proverbs and the Old Testament code. And the

Old Testament code also says a lot of other things. And one of the other things that it says is that you need two or more witnesses to establish a matter.

One of the other things it says is that you inquire diligently to see what's true.

Well, the other things it says is that the first person who states his case always seems right until someone cross -examines him. That's the other things that it says.

So yeah, you do all that. You listen. You're patient. You don't speak. You don't get angry quickly. But you also do all that other stuff, too.

You don't throw that out. Because I trust we all realize this issue is emotionally charged.

And we are so prone to think differently about it. Which is why we really need to listen to and learn from one another.

So as I was preparing for tonight, I came across research on people's opinions of why there is such inequality when it comes to race in our country.

I want to show you this on the screen. So basically, researchers gave people different options as contributing factors to racism.

They pointed out the disparities between white and black people when it comes to jobs, income, and housing. Then they asked, why do these disparities exist?

And respondents could answer along this spectrum. One, on the left side here, they could say that these disparities were due primarily to a lack of individual responsibility.

Basically, a lack of personal motivation among individual people to work hard and climb out of poverty.

Two, they could say disparities are due primarily to unequal education. Lack of access to quality education.

Or three, on the right side here, they could say that racialization was due primarily to unjust systems and discrimination in society.

So the researchers questioned white and black people and then asked if they were professing

Christians. And here's what they found. They found that white non -Christians explained racism, these racial disparities, more according to the left side of this spectrum.

So more white non -Christians were prone to answer that racial inequality is due to individual factors.

Some lack of education, less unjust systems and structural discrimination. On the other hand, more black non -Christians were prone to answer that racial disparity is due to unjust discriminating structures and systems, including education.

So more on the right side of the scale. But here's what was so interesting. Among professing

Christians, here's what the researchers found. White professing

Christians were even farther on the left side of the scale. Even more prone to explain racial disparities due to individual responsibility and personal motivation to work and get out of poverty.

And black professing Christians were even farther on the right side of the scale. More prone to explain racial inequality due to discrimination in societal systems and structures.

Very interesting. Now here's the point. I'm obviously not saying all white people believe this, all black people believe that.

I'm not saying this is the perfect way to ask these questions. I didn't come up with the research. Here's what I took away from it, though. What was so eye -opening for me when

I saw this was to realize that basically, the more Christian you are, so to speak, the more divided you are on the issue of racism.

So the idea that if everybody was just a Christian, we wouldn't have a racism problem isn't true. The reality is our faith, which we want to bring us together across races, at this point is actually driving us further apart.

And seeing this was so humbling. We're going to have to come back to that because that was a mouthful.

But his lesson from that is so bizarre. I mean, that's an interesting graph there.

No question about that. I'm not really sure what to make of that myself. However, his lesson is the church is responsible for a lot of the racism divide.

No, that doesn't prove that. Oh, man.

What I find interesting about that is when you talk about the disparities and stuff like that, you've got one side that says, well, it's primarily your responsibility.

And you've got the other side that says, well, it's primarily other people's responsibility. That's a big problem. What does the Bible teach? That's the question.

It's not about what black people think and what white people think. That's not the issue at hand. And if there's a disparity between what black people think and what white people think, and none of it is biblical, it doesn't matter.

I mean, we're all in a world of hurt here. So the question is, what does the

Bible teach? So that's what we need to be talking about. It doesn't really matter what individual Christians think.

But, yeah, to say that, well, that proves that the church is one of the catalysts for this divide.

No. How? How does that prove that? How does that prove that?

At the most, it proves that at least one of these ethnicities is deeply mistaken about what's going on.

Or both. Both could be deeply mistaken. But at least one of them. And so we need to talk about what the

Bible teaches. That should be the goal of this. We shouldn't be adopting the world's standards and methods.

But what does the Bible teach on this? And then how do we teach our flocks better, both black and white? How do we do that?

Sounds to me like probably both of the white people and the black people are being more informed by their political opinions than the

Bible. That's probably what it sounds like to me. I don't really know, because I don't even know the study he's referring to.