Father In Heaven Calls Him ‘Son,’ So He Must Be My Brother

Every truly powerful preacher should go to the pulpit each Sunday with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other!

So spoke a nationally recognized seminary professor. If America is to calm, conquer and create a new unity out of our present crisis and chaos, then prophets are needed to again call us back to our higher reality.

I have no space for details here on what happened in

Minneapolis between two imperfect men, one white and one black. It was simply Genesis 4 all over again. The sons of Adam and Eve had a conflict, and Cain killed Abel; solve that old sin, my friend, and you’ll solve Minneapolis. Demanding perfect justice from another flawed human being is impossible. All we can hope for on earth is to find our “life key” and then strive for increased perfection. The big question is where do we get the mind, the heart and the power to succeed at this most worthy goal? We have only two choices: We either seek and trust the true God or we anoint our imperfect selves and play god.

I assume that most of my readers are Christians or spiritually hungry people so let me talk to “us.” I wish I had a dozen columns to make my case, but I must be brief and risk your misunderstanding. First, America both is and is not a racist nation. Many Americans are racists, and many have racist attitudes without realizing it, but multitudes of us are not. We are creating a “more perfect union,” but the pace has been agonizingly slow, especially for people of color who have suffered most. Many know a guarded caution and trauma that whites can’t imagine. Our hearts must change, not just policies, and we believe only the perfect one, Jesus, can do that for those who yield to His ways.

Second, in my 30 years as chaplain of the Razorbacks, I came to love scores of athletes, black, white and Hispanic. In fact, the Lord gave me one of my best life friends whose name most of you Hog fans would recognize. He was one of our greatest players, and he is black. I boldly proclaim him as one of the finest, balanced, gracious, successful and most spiritual men I have ever known. Black lives do matter to me and should to us all. That I matter to him, and them, is one of my greatest blessings.

Third, when I came to Fayetteville 55 years ago the church that called me as pastor was segregated. I commend, gratefully, them for following my leadership. We became one of the first white churches in Arkansas to welcome black students and families into the church as members. One of my favorite professors resolved the race issue for me more than half a century ago. Sharing his thought with my church sealed it for them, and I hope will do likewise for my dear readers. My case is summarized completely with this one quote.

My beloved professor put it this way: “How can I refuse to call someone ‘my brother’ when the Father in Heaven has called him ‘my son.’”

“How can I refuse to call someone ‘my brother’ when the Father in Heaven has called him ‘my son.’”