Before we begin this week's letter, we ask that you please hear our hearts and not confuse what we are writing with the various liberal, socialists, anti-police or other politically-correct agendas or rhetoric. Having been born and raised in the inner city, we speak from personal experience. Like many who are standing up for the unborn and abused, we also speak for those who have no voice. We call upon true Followers of Christ to respond to the 'least of these' in America today.
As the election draws closer and the lines of division increase, we have found ourselves privy to a wide variety of views and opinions concerning Black and Brown people in the cities of America. With their often-times violent responses to police actions, reactions from many Christians have ranged from “Shoot to kill” to “They’re just getting what they deserve.”
In this era of very low social media IQ, we won’t waste time trying to explain the negative history that has led to the explosions of violence and the eruptions of protests that we have watched on our televisions and mobile devices from the comfort of our homes and offices.
A couple of years ago, a brother in the Lord asked Chris if it was true that Blacks get stopped by police officers for no reason. Tears filled this brother's eyes when Chris told him that it was just a normal part of our lives. This man was one of the few who have actually tried to understand what was happening in our inner cities beyond the headlines, sound-bytes and the 10-second video clips of riots.
For the record, Chris grew up in the city where the Black Lives Matter movement got its launch, following the shooting of Michael Brown in the same St. Louis suburb and apartment complex where we once lived as a young couple trying to make our way in the world. Although we do not agree with all of the ideologies of the movement, you need to know that in some cities in America, these terms are synonymous: KKK, Christian, Republican, Conservative, Racists, Police officers. Chris' home town is such a place. Following the shooting of Michael Brown, the KKK was passing out flyers that read: Be a Good Christian Brother and Join the Klan.
Our personal history there is very, very negative. It was part of the reason we got our sons out of there. It is nearly impossible to describe what it is like to live in a city where the following words were spoken from its downtown historic courthouse: “The black man has no rights, that a white man is bound to respect.” And the spiritual powers and influences of that statement still dominate all aspects of society there; be it business, education, media, government, family, health care, criminal justice, law enforcement, religion, etc. Don't take our word for it. Listen to the words of a former St. Louis police officer at
https://www.facebook.com/fusionmedianetwork/videos/1466892363336737/
https://www.c-span.org/video/?400567-1/redditt-hudson-police-race-relations
Just last month, a black employee came in to work, in a major downtown St. Louis corporate office, to find a noose hanging over his cubicle. That just happened in 2016! So there really are pockets in America where many things have not changed since the 1960’s. So, our dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we simply cannot sit in judgment of a people group's negative reactions, basing our verdicts solely upon our own personal (and somewhat naive) experiences from our small parts of the world.
It was the mid 1980’s, when we lived in Ferguson, and police pull-overs were regularly part of life. It was frustrating. It was humiliating. Did you hear us? It was humiliating! It was humiliating because it meant stepping out of your car to be searched from head to toe, including your private areas, in full public view, with people watching as they drive past. What do you think happens to a person who has to endure constant and persistent moments of humiliation?
It's easy to judge from the outside and say,"All you have to do is just comply." But you don't know what happens to you over months and years of this type of humiliation. We don't have the space to write about the beat downs and harrassments that family and friends were going through almost daily. Most of you will never know the terror of having a gun pointed at you.
And please don't give us the "What did you do wrong?" question in the effort to justify this level of mental and emotional torment. From our experience, all you have to do is walk out of your front door... and that's what we did wrong. Chris has endured this from the time he was eight years old. By the time you're a teenager or young adult, somehow, you’re supposed to try to maintain your composure and not give any officer, any reason to mistake your actions as aggressive or threatening.
Now we fast forward thirty years and from our perspective, things are far worse for everyone on all sides. Another generation of young adults has come forth and they are not like us at all. Many of them are not optimistic and hopeful for the future like we were at that time. For them, the systems have failed and they have been raised on a steady diet of fatalism, futility and disappointment. They have grown weary of the stories of their parents, grandparents and great grandparents. We’re the ones who were alive in the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80, and 90’s; and we have passed on that history to them.
Special note* - the phrase, “Slavery and racism happened a long time ago.” - has no meaning in our communities. It wasn’t a long time ago. It was yesterday. It’s today. It’s tomorrow. Most of the people we are writing to will never know what it's like to sit at a simple traffic stop by a police officer and pray in the Spirit that you will make it home alive. This was and is our reality in 2016.
We are not exaggerating and to ignore us is the same as ignoring a child who tells you that their dad or uncle is sexually abusing them. Many families go into denial when this kind of accusation comes forth and we're watching Christians, all over America, sink into denial about what is going on in inner city neighborhoods. It sort of parallels how the Christians stood by in denial while Hitler and the Nazis exterminated the undesirables of their day.
Many of our family members, since they were not necessarily Believers, did not pass on any spiritual understanding to their children, today's inner city youth. (Watch for next week's letter titled What's Wrong With Our Black Kids?) So, Christians must stop expecting a Godly, biblical, or spiritual response from a Biblically deprived and socially marginalized generation that doesn't have a relationship with God.
And that’s what many don’t understand or they choose to ignore. The historical disconnect is REAL. There is a reason for the unrest. All of the protests do not involve a bunch of lawless, wild and out of control youth. We do not endorse or approve of any of those type of violent reactions. We are addressing the multi-generational outcry from tortured and distraught souls, who are desperately searching for peace and justice. We are not condoning their methods, but we are asking for TRUE Believers to stop their ungodly reactions where there is no compassion, love, or mercy for lost souls.
Do you see them as lost souls, or have you allowed the media and your personal prejudice to make you hardened and indifferent?
When you blast away at what is happening in our community, please realize you are talking about OUR people and OUR families; the same people God called Chris and Carol Green to reach with His love and power. We do not and cannot see them as a plague to society. We feel like Moses did about his people, who were under the heavy hand of Pharaoh. Our people are under the heavy hand of satan, and true followers of Christ must see it that way or else, they will become just another set of religious executioners.
When we hear Believers say that a kid deserved to be shot because they talked back to a cop, ran from a cop, or was disrespectful to law enforcement, then I wonder if that’s the way God responded to them when they were rebellious against Him. Did the Holy Spirit take on the role of Judge, Jury and Executioner when they lashed out against Him in their moment of hurt, anger, rage and despair?
As long as Believers see all of the emotional responses of people of color as merely acts of lawless rebellion, instead of an agonizing cry for help in the midst of unimaginable pain, then they are no different than the religious folks who wanted to stone (execute) the woman who was caught in adultery.
Jesus saw a woman who was so desperate for love that she was willing to risk death, just to be with a man who was not her husband. Do you see hurting people who are willing to risk death, just to experience what it is like to have peace and justice? Or do you only see the hoodlums and thugs?
Many Believers say they live by the Golden Rule; wherein we are supposed to treat others the way we want to be treated. That does not mean you wait until people of color respond to life in the same manner that you do. It means just what Jesus said. In fact He actually gave Believers a new commandment under the golden rule. He said we are to love others in the same way He loved us.
If we actually live by the Golden Rule, we will realize that we’re called to reach the lost. Why is it easier to reach across the globe and help the less fortunate on the other side of the world, and yet remain cold and unfeeling with those who are trying to survive, only a couple miles away?
After all, they are still just lost souls, and all souls matter; don't they?
For the least of these,
Drs. Chris and Carol Green
