Over the past few weeks we have seen most of America
respond to the Donald Sterling situation with disgust. The point of this blog
post is not to discuss that actual event; it has been discussed by many others.
The point of this article is to stimulate our thinking as it pertains to what
it means for morality and Christians.
To be honest, I wasn’t surprised by the NBA’s response to
the situation. The response of the majority of people seemed to follow the typical
pattern. Person says dumb racist comment, world screams for justice. Racism should
have no place in the world, our society, and especially the church. We should
be offended when people act this way. But Christian, are we offended or are we
pointing people to the Gospel?
After I watched several news conferences, interviews, and
read a bunch of various comments, I came away with one question: on what basis
does anyone of these people say what is moral? Is it based on society? Based on
preference? Based on laws?
If we remove the Bible as the source for standards and
morality, what becomes the defining standard? What if no one was angered by his
comments, would that have made them ok? The Bible states that we are all
created in the image of God, so to me it doesn’t matter how others respond, God
already has. In a country where half of every marriage ends in divorce, we kill
unborn babies, where drunkenness is rampant, profanity is everywhere, adultery
is accepted, and immorality has no limits, why is racism not allowed? In a
country where morality is almost always left to the individual (you can’t tell
someone they are living wrong, period.) how do we then tell someone he is
living wrong? On what basis do we make those statements?
As a Pastor, the angered response of so many people
reminds me that God has placed inside each of us a divine conscience that
constantly points us to our Creator. People are offended because they know that
human life has value, it means something. What they don’t know is why they have
these internal feelings and thoughts. The discussion of racism, morals, and
society is a perfect chance to point people to the designer and perfect moral
compass.
May we point people to the Gospel more often than we
point out the problems of this world.
