The Root Issue

Well it's been a long time since I have written a blog. I wrestled with writing this on my facebook page as a post, but in all honesty it was too much to write for a post. I have been disheartened, angry, sad, depressed, numb, and any other feeling or disposition that I can think of. I asked the Lord a few questions over these past few weeks. Why is it so hard? Why is it that blacks have to have a different set of guidelines when it comes to encountering police? Why do black parents of boys have to sit down with them and explain what not to do and what to do when they get pulled over? Why don't people value other people's lives? I have had many face to face and phone conversations with family members, and friends (black and white).

However it wasn't until I was studying through Esther with a friend of mine that I finally started to get some answers to my questions. In Esther chapter 3 we read about a man named Haman who had a deep seeded hate for a man named Mordecai. His hate didn't stop just with Mordecai but he began to hate all the people that were like Mordecai.
"Yet having learned who Mordecai's people were, he scorned the idea of killing only Mordecai. Instead Haman looked for a way to destroy all Mordecai's people, the Jews, throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes."      Esther 3:6

We see this same type of hate today, whether it's a man who has hate for another man and instead of killing just that man he wants to kill all men that resemble the one he hates. The question still remains of how does a person get to the point of choosing to take someone else's life. Well again the answer is in the pages of scripture.

Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, "There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from those of all other people and they do not observe the king's laws, so it is not in the king's interest to let them remain." Esther 3:8

 In this passage you see how man devalues another human and in essence a whole nation.

  1. A certain people - he doesn't recognize them as Jews they just become those people.
  2. Scattered and dispersed - he is annoyed that they are everywhere.
  3. Their laws are different - he doesn't like that they are not like him, their customs are different, they don't think like him, etc...
  4. They don't observe the laws of the king - note that the law that Mordecai is referring to is the the law that the king made concerning the honor that was to be bestowed on Haman. Everyone was supposed to bow in his presence.
  5. They serve no purpose thus we can kill them.
Another way of looking at this is:
  1. Don't see people as individuals but rather just a group (i.e those black people, those cops, those ........)
  2. Despise the presence of them. 
  3. Note the differences rather than the commonalities.
  4. Allow your pride to make you superior to them. 
  5. Their lives don't benefit my life. (this is when racism becomes an action and not just a thought)
As my friend who is white and I were discussing this passage and the truths that it reveals, her response was, "that sounds just like racism". That was confirmation for me, I had seen that in the passage but I wanted to make sure I wasn't seeing the word through my own pain but really seeing it for what it reveals. The root of racism on both sides is found in these 5 truths from Esther 3:8. 

The Lord didn't create us to hold ourselves superior to one another. We must recognize that Genesis 1:27 states that God created man (all races) in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. So we don't have the right to tell someone that they don't belong. 
 
I'm not sure if this will encourage anyone, who knows it may make some people upset. Regardless of that this passage truly helped me to get some clarity into the wickedness that we are seeing played out in our nation. I needed answers and it wasn't enough to keep reading posts or talking to friends but I needed the WORD OF GOD to tell me something to stand on. I matter because God created me, you matter because God created you. 

Now I can't just leave you here, there is hope. Just like their was hope for the Jews during the time of Esther. It is the Lord, He strategically placed Esther in a position to make a change, to influence the heart of the one in authority. For us that person that God has strategically placed in our lives to make a change and to influence the heart of the ones in authority is the LORD JESUS CHRIST. He has the power to change a pride filled heart to a humble heart, He has the power to change our views of one another. We must begin with prayer and ask the Lord to pursue the hearts of men and women.

MY HOPE IS BUILT ON NOTHING LESS THAN JESUS' BLOOD AND RIGHTEOUSNESS!!!!

I pray this blog causes people to do a heart check, go through those 5 ways that we devalue someone and see if you feel that way. I pray that in all our conversations regarding the issues of the day that we will take people to the word. 

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