People lie. Cretans lie. Anglos lie. African Americans lie. Accusers lie. The accused lie. Friends of both lie. One of the things we lie about is what we truly believe. Those who say that racism is dead are lying. Those who say it is thriving are lying. The difficulty is that the lying protestations of the guilty sound exactly like the truthful protestations of the innocent. The lying accusations of false accusers sound just like the truthful accusations of true accusers. Throw in the internet and the ease with which we slither out of this skin or that and suddenly, we just don’t know.
If only we would learn this truth, that we just don’t know. Over the Thanksgiving holidays a donnybrook, a bru-haha, a kerfuffle broke out on the interwebs. Shocking, right? What was shocking wasn’t the battle but the armies. Many who had been co-belligerents just went belligerent with each other. Accusations of racism were made, then purportedly verified by prosecuting attorney Kevin Bacon, who uses the same lawn service as known sinner and divorcee Brad Pitt.
I don’t want to make light of the accusations. Both sides promise they are gathering receipts like it’s April 15th and the clock just struck 11. I can assure you that I haven’t the faintest idea who is guilty. I’ve been lied to and lied about by the (s)kinists who liked me because I don’t care for the feds, until they hated me when God blessed me with a son with melanin to spare. I’ve been lied to and lied about by Big Eva, who once liked me because my father loves me, but hated me because, well, there’s lots to hate about me. Though I haven’t been allowed to join in any of the reindeer games for many years, the accusations and rumors continue to swirl.
I don’t need to know who is guilty and who is not. My convictions haven’t changed a bit. I’ve never been a Christian nationalist. I’ve always been a Christian Internationalist, looking to the day when every tongue and tribe worships the Lord together, when every leader kisses the Son lest He become angry. I find CRT to be shameful and laughable and utterly missing from the Bible. I’ve never been a racist and never had much patience with those who are. I share a dream that a day will come when all men will be judged by the content of their character, not by the color of their skin. Shouldn’t this be true of all of us?
I’m in favor of rebuking liars. That said, there’s much that can be said for taking the approach of reducing the demand for lies. If we all recused ourselves from matters that don’t concern us, if we all were agnostic about matters we’re not privy too, if we all remained indifferent about the convictions of the friend of a friend of the cousin of the guy we’re trying to destroy, maybe there would be less lying. The truth is that the One who has all truth likewise has all power. And He is altogether trustworthy.