I grew up in Arkansas. Arkansas is typically seen as redneck and a supporter of the Confederate flag. That is somewhat true; it is somewhat true because it depends on what part of Arkansas you are in and what Arkansans you are talking to. I grew up in Cabot, AR and when I was in high school, the rebel flag caused controversy in my little town. Cabot High School asked one of its students to remove the rebel flag from the back window of his pickup truck. To give you a little context, Cabot was mainly an all white town. So, you would think that the rebel flag would be supported in an all white town in Arkansas. But, Cabot also had a rumored reputation for being racist. Therefore, the difficult situation the school was put in when school officials saw the rebel flag on display in the back of a student's pickup truck. In protest to the school's decision, some students and their parents protested that night at a commuter parking lot in town. They protested by waving rebel flags, thus making the evening news and adding more unwanted attention. Imagine if this happened in the age of social media.
The rebel flag is back in the spotlight because of the recent shootings in Charleston, SC. It is a sad day on so many levels for our country. This incident further sparked racial tensions that have been on the rise lately. Now, there are calls for the rebel flag and other Confederate symbols to be taken down for the sake of calming the racial tensions and for unity.
You may assume that growing up in the south that I was a racist to some degree at some point in my life. I will admit that I was taught that it was wrong to be romantically involved with someone from another race because the Bible taught that. But, I guess I would be considered a rebel because I never understood why people treated other people of a different color differently. I never understood why the civil rights movement even happened because I saw people as people regardless of their skin color. I did not have many black friends because I never had the opportunity to have them. But, that changed as I got older, but I did not see them as my black friends; I saw them as my friends.
Today we are striving for unity. But, our first step towards that unity is to drop the labels. We label ourselves as well as other people. And, I think the group that has to lead the way is the Church. Christians cannot claim innocence in all of this. We label people outside the church as well as inside the church. It is our human nature to do so, but we have a new nature now. Paul said in II Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone and the new has come." So, if we are a new creation, then we have to act like it.
The Church has to lead the way in this quest for unity. We have to seek unity within the Church so that we can carry that unity out into the world. It breaks my heart to see people act as though the Civil War is still going on. It breaks my heart to hear members of the Body of Christ put labels on people because a label ignores their humanity and makes them a category.
Our example is Christ and Christ did not label people. He saw and treated people as people. He told his disciples to love one another so that all men would know they were his disciples (see John 13:34-35). To love one another is to love one another as people not labels. Does this mean we accept one another's faults and sins? No because Jesus loved people too much to accept the things in their lives that would hurt or destroy them.
The Church was saved and called to be different. We are supposed to be the trendsetters. We are supposed to be the ones to lead the way in the quest for unity. The way we are going to do that is obey the commands of Christ and love one another regardless of skin color. Paul said in Galatians 3:28-29, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." For Paul to write these words shows the transformation that took place within him because of Jesus. Paul was a staunch Jew before he met Christ. He thought the Gentiles were scum and unworthy of God's mercy. He would never dare to say that they were Abraham's seed. But, after Christ changed him, Paul realized that labels cause division. Paul understood that Christ brought unity; therefore, the attitude Paul had towards the Gentiles changed. Instead of seeing them as scum, he saw them as people in desperate need of Jesus.
This is the message that the Church needs to lead the way with. True equality will not be achieved without Christ. We can try all we want to eliminate labels, but it won't happen because only Christ can eliminate the labels. Under Christ, we realize that we are nothing apart from him. He is the One who gives us purpose and meaning. He is the one brings us from death to life. He is the one who unifies us.
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