Matt Chandler – More on Ferguson and White Privilege: The challenge with white privilege is that most white people cannot see it. We assume that the experiences and opportunities afforded to us are the same afforded to others. Sadly, this simply isn’t true. Privileged people can fall into the trap of universalizing experiences and laying them across other people’s experiences as an interpretive lens. For instance, a privileged person may not understand why anyone would mistrust a public servant simply because they have never had a viable reason to mistrust a public servant. The list goes on.
What is so deceptive about white privilege is that it is different from blatant racism or bias. A privileged person’s heart may be free from racist thoughts or biased attitudes, but may still fail to see how the very privilege afforded to him or her shapes how he or she interprets and understands the situations and circumstances of people without privilege.
I don’t have to warn my son in the same ways that a black dad has to warn his son. I have never had to coach my son on how to keep his hands out of his pockets when going through a convenience store. Many of my black brothers are having these conversations with their boys now. Again, the list goes on.
John Perkins: The Sin of Racism Made Ferguson Escalate So Quickly: For years we have been tiptoeing around trying to work out a human response to biblical reconciliation. I don’t know enough about this incident to speak to it directly, but I know that how we act shows that we haven’t developed an understanding of reconciliation that is tough enough to deal with these incidents. We need a biblical response, not a human response.
Joshua Waulk – Seeing #Ferguson With New Eyes: For the sake of the great name of Jesus Christ, and for the sake of his Gospel, those of us who have experienced the good life, the pleasures of the American Dream, must be willing to move—in our hearts, and our literal bodies, if we must, in order to identify with those who are in any trial, tribulation, or temptation so that we might minister to them more effectively.
The Other Side of Ferguson: Local Churches Fighting Injustice: the church has quietly worked from dawn until dusk without much notice from the press. Many of Ferguson’s citizens recognize a narrative missed by the press. Eighteen pastors along with their church members of various denominations and races gathered together Wednesday night in Ferguson, Missouri, not to demonstrate but to pray. At 8:00 p.m., they honored their city’s encouragement to head home. Other churches raised prayer tents around the town. Speakers and crowd members expressed hope in the gospel’s power to change lives and communities, but many complained that for centuries, no matter how pure, nonviolent, and prayerful the community at large has been, authorities have continued systems of oppression.
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