Hughes’s Critique
Essentially, Gabe posits a few main premises contra Vischer:1. The gospel - the power of God for salvation (Roman 1:16), where He demonstrates His fatherly love through giving His righteousness as a gift - alone has the power to change hearts such that true life change can happen. The outward effect is not only that societal ills can be corrected, but people can rise above any oppression of which they’re subject. As I’ve heard from several black voices this week, you don’t do people any favors by focusing them in on how oppressed they are. Instead, people are served better by having possibilities shown to them if they’ll commit to rise above the problems, believing that the God of heaven has lovingly equipped them with all that they need for life and godliness (2 Pet. 1:3), and refuse to let people drag them down. The gospel of God’s grace motivates to get your house in order and overcome issues, knowing that He cares for you.
2. The data Vischer shares is at points shortsighted - much of it only tells one side of the story. One example is his data sharing that black people moved from the South to the Northern cities for work, after which white people left said cities taking the jobs with them. But I’ve read examples of black people moving to certain parts of town and essentially running whites out who wanted to be neighbors.* Granted, at that time whites could relocate much easier than blacks due to unjust redlining (which has now been illegal for 50 years). But my point is that this aspect of the story changes the narrative a little bit and makes it not so obvious what the “problem” is.
3. Much of the data simply addressed past ills with which most of us wouldn’t argue. But what exactly is the solution today? Vischer admitted that he doesn’t know, suggesting that a good start is for white Christians to simply care more than they do. Naming problems with lots in life (socioeconomic positions) but not naming solutions is dicey especially when Christians are told to humbly live in their lot (1 Thes. 4:11, 2 Thes. 3:12, 1 Tim. 2:1-2) and seek faithfulness where God has them. If one is faithful over their little, God will put them over more (cf. Mt. 25:23, Lk. 12:44).
The Issue
There isn’t a lot I can say that hasn’t been said already. I don’t want to contribute too much to the endless barrage of what seems like propaganda from each side. I’ll just add a couple of more points.First, here’s the rub for me: I was raised in a midwestern Christian home and went to a Christian college in the urban South. But it wasn’t until I was in ministry that I began to read the Bible intently. Jesus changed my life - I was born again. I finally understood the gospel of repentance, faith, transformation of heart, and living for God’s glory. All that I had experienced prior might have prepared me for that, but it certainly wasn’t the source for that. The sovereign working of the Holy Spirit (John 3:8) is the source. The circles in which I ran before did not major in Gospel clarity, but could rather be characterized as driven by a concern for mercy ministry and state of the art church music. I don’t want to say it was legalism, because that might be unfair to those true believers within those circles. But there wasn’t any clarity about the fact that we’re not saved by the good things we do but rather by the good things Jesus has done (Rom. 5:19): Not by our righteousness, but by His. This Gospel wasn’t the plausibility structure. And if the Gospel is not the plausibility structure some form of legalism usually is. Judging by the seemingly well-intentioned capitulation to cultural narrative by those within these circles, it seems like the Gospel still isn’t. Even sadder, leaders in circles where the gospel was recently quite clearly the plausibility structure seem to have capitulated, undergoing what has been called “mission drift.”
The above paragraph is why many of us struggle with the prevailing narrative in news and media: We believe that the Lordship of Jesus is minimized when Christians treat policy as the healer of society’s ills. Voddie Baucham has recently said that social justice has roots in Marxism. Whether or not all of those advocating social justice are Marxist (Black Lives Matter organization is explicitly Marxist), many of us are concerned with what at least seems like dressing worldly justice methods up in Christian-ethics clothes. Further, worldly attempts at justice never actually work. Controversial Christian writer Doug Wilson has argued that addressing the evil of slavery in an unbiblical way is why America still has racial tension today.** As Thomas Sowell often suggests, problems not addressed soundly lead to further problems. To be a Christian is to believe that Jesus alone can heal, even ethnic barriers. He has been doing exactly this for centuries (Eph. 2:19ff; cf. Ac. 13:1).
A Few Resources
Second, I would add a couple of more points to Gabe’s counter-data:-Harvard professor Roland Fryer has led a comprehensive study suggesting that police are actually less likely to shoot a black suspect than a white one. (See page 39 for the conclusions of the highly technical study.) See here for another study that suggests the same conclusion. Contrast that with the narrative that white cops are hunting blacks (George Floyd’s lawyer said that black deaths at the hands of police “feels like genocide.” Potential Biden running mate Val Demings has made similar comments.) Claims like this are at most false and at least counterproductive.
-A Chicago Tribune study has suggested it is no longer the case (if it ever was before; Larry Elder has said there are issues with past studies) that blacks are getting less calls for jobs.
-My favorite Christian rapper Shai Linne has said that Christians denying systemic racism today is akin to previous generations dismissing charges of racism by essentially saying “At least it’s better than it used to be.” But this skirts the issue: If systemic racism exists, the data should back it up quite clearly, and it doesn’t seem like it does. Instead, it seems to me that the data suggests residual effects of past racism. Watch Larry Elder and Ben Shapiro to see counterarguments to the notion of racism as a major problem in America today. In particular, Elder’s video from the 1:30 mark is devastating to the notion that systemic racism is obviously still the problem. Also see Elder’s twitter feed for fact after fact and graph after graph suggesting quite compellingly that the typical talking points of media are at least dishonest and at most not factual. Seriously, Larry Elder is a whirlwind of data. I can’t recommend enough watching his video linked above.
Is the Gospel enough?
We want the Gospel preached because it has changed our lives and it always delivers on what it promises. People come to God through His Gospel promises (2 Pet. 1:3), and their Father teaches them to live new lives (Tit. 2:11-14) characterized as “adorning the doctrine of God our Savior” (Tit. 2:10). People can change their lives even if they’re still effected by societal ills from past generations. There are certainly injustices in our day. But we’re suggesting that this world will always have injustice (for only will the new heavens and the new earth have true righteousness, 2 Pet. 3:13). People who follow Jesus in their lots in life not only have the promise of His blessing as they walk in His wisdom (see all of Proverbs), but they can learn to have contentment in the here and now (Phil 4:10-13). This promise is minimized when Christians follow the world’s solutions to its problems. The reason I oppose critical race theory, intersectionality, and any other thought school is not because I don’t see injustices. It is because these devices are man-made while the Gospel is divine (2 Cor. 10:3-4), and the reporting of said injustices are not only dishonest, but are proposing solutions that will just create more injustices. Only Jesus saves through true repentance, and only He can give you the dignity and the joy which you long for.I’ll admit with Vischer that these issues are very complex and it is hard for any of us to have the final word. But we think that God does. And faith in Him and His Son is to be crucified to the world and the world to you. The twist is that it is at this point that the believer is empowered to live in the world even with all of its darkness. That’s why we set our hope fully on Jesus (1 Peter 1:13.) He won’t disappoint us, but will lead us gloriously into His Kingdom. That is our true home.
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*See Lyle Dorsett, A Passion for God: The Spiritual Journey of AW Tozer, Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2008, 147-150. There Dorsett relays the story of recently migrated black residents moving into the region of Chicago where AW Tozer pastored and, in no uncertain terms, asking Tozer and his mostly white congregation, along with other white residents of the region, to leave the area. Because of redlining, it was indeed easier for whites to move, while blacks were really locked into certain areas. That is significant. But the point is that the history is not simple, but complex, as sometimes people respond to sin (racism) with sin (pressuring friendly people to leave an area.)
**Doug Wilson, Black and Tan: Essays and Excursions on Slavery, Culture War, and Scripture in America, Moscow, ID: Canon Press, 49-50.
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