Your enemy is not the white man.
Your enemy is not the black man.
Your enemy is not the white policeman.
Your enemy is not the black policeman.
Your enemy is not the white community or the black community.
So where does that leave us? Hold on to the seats of your pants, Christians, I’m about to lay down some truth.
The real enemy is a spirit of FEAR.
The spirit of fear can look like a policeman fearing a known felon carrying a weapon and not complying with officers attempting an arrest. The spirit of fear can look like an aide to an individual with autism laying on the ground with his hands up and being shot by the police. The spirit of fear can look like policemen trying to save their fellow officers in a standoff with a man wielding a high powered weapon shooting both black and white officers. The spirit of fear can look like an officer shooting an unarmed individual who isn’t following orders being shouted at them. The spirit of fear can look like a black man not hearing the orders being shouted at them, fearful of making a wrong move, and having fear and adrenaline taking over into a fog of misunderstanding.
The real enemy is miscommunication.
Lack of communication. We must learn to really listen to one another. We must listen to understand, not listen to reply.
The real enemy is misunderstanding.
Lack of understanding each other. We must open our eyes and hearts to learn empathy for one another’s issues and concerns.
The real enemy is decades of staying in our own little bubbles.
We cannot learn from each other if we do not get out of our comfort zone and usual places. This takes real effort to initiate understanding and change.
Satan wants to use the space between our communities and the racial divide that was once among us to drive us further apart. Baton Rouge, I have seen you after the shootings and after the flood. You have demonstrated that letting race divide us is simply a choice. We can choose to let it divide us or we can choose to overcome it in that same unity we have demonstrated this summer. Let’s not let outside situations influence our relationships with one another. Let’s not allow Satan to creep into the places in our hearts and minds where fear can take over.
Let’s continue the conversation. I have so much hope for our future, our children. The forces that run our governments and agencies now are an older generation, perhaps one that’s less open minded. Generation X has started turning divides among us, and the Millennials are very focused on humanity issues and social concerns. Our children now will be the first generation where caucasians become a minority in America. (Read more here.) The changing community landscape should be changing our conversations too.
My little brown baby daughter will grow up in a society that won’t see her as different, but like her peers. I’m hopeful that our children will close the gap on racial divides and differences.
Our children really are our hope and future. In our perfect love for our children, may they have perfect love for each other, with no room for fear. God be with them. 1 John 4:18
