How Pastors Can Enter Conversations about Racial Injustice

How Pastors Can Enter Conversations about Racial Injustice

As pastor theologians, we can no longer afford to ignore the pain and suffering caused by systemic racism, particularly, anti-Blackness. The murders of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and George Floyd, and the recent protests have made this abundantly clear. As those charged with leading the people of God and serving as theologians for the church, we have a responsibility to engage these issues with humility, compassion, grace, and truth. But I have found that many of us ask “what can I do?” The answers are many.

The Spirit of Pentecost, Suffering, and Bearing Witness

The Spirit of Pentecost, Suffering, and Bearing Witness

According to Paul, ‘the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us’ (Rom. 8.18). But let us not misunderstand: this does not mean that our current sufferings are merely compensated by the future glory, but rather, it is through our sufferings that we are enabled to participate in the sufferings of Christ, which are revealed to us as God’s glory.

Does God Want Us to Be Happy?

Does God Want Us to Be Happy?

Christian theologians, most notably, St. Augustine of Hippo and St. Thomas Aquinas, pick up the ancient philosophical notions of eudaimonia/happiness and reflect on them theologically. In short, they agree with Aristotle that true, Christian, Biblical happiness is connected with goodness/virtue and wisdom. What they add to the Hellenistic philosophers is that the triune God is the source of all goodness and wisdom, and therefore, the source of all happiness. One cannot be happy without God. Not in any real, true, and lasting sense anyway.

On Visiting the Sick and Dying

On Visiting the Sick and Dying

We extract the sick from their communities and place them in sterile hospitals, with frequent noises and interruptions that prevent the sustained silence through which God often speaks. The protocols being implemented by many hospitals in light of Covid-19, with extreme restrictions on visitations, will only compound this isolation.

Visiting the sick helps to close the isolation gap, reminding the suffer that they are not alone. It reminds the frail that their community is not comprised of impatient doctors and harried orderlies, but the body of Christ, a community that shares each other’s burdens.