Image: "As It Flows",2013, Kepler Cascades, Firehole River, Yellowstone Nat. Pk., Wyoming
Ezekiel 18:19–20 “Yet you say, ‘Why should the son not bear the guilt of the father?’ Because the son has done what is lawful and right, and has kept all My statutes and observed them, he shall surely live. 20 The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.
Ezekiel 18:28 Because he considers and turns away from all the transgressions which he committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die.
Ezekiel 18:31–32 Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,” says the Lord GOD. “Therefore turn and live!”
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
There's an ongoing debate about how much, if any, modern generations still bear the guilt of previous generations' sins. It is asserted that because of those sins there are gross inequities still present in how various cultural and ethnic groups are viewed, treated, and even oppressed. There is even talk of "reparations" paid to current members of the Black community for the indignities put upon them in the historical institution of slavery. These questions arouse intense passions, on both sides. It seems to me that Ezekiel's words in these chapters bear on how they should be answered.
The Lord speaks through Ezekiel and dramatically repudiates sin. He makes no room for wickedness. If a man sins then he bears the responsibility for that sins. If a man does good and seeks after righteousness then "that righteousness shall be upon himself." In both instances, God makes it clear that the children of either man do not stand before God based on what their father has done. No sinner can claim God's reward because his father was righteous. Similarly, no regenerated sinner who has, in his own life hungered after righteousness, will be condemned because of his father's depravity. God's view of man is collective, yes, but membership in the righteous collective is individual... and vice-versa.
Spiritually we Christians need to take this to heart. When we are confronted with the question of "sins of our fathers", especially that of slavery and decades of "Jim Crow" prejudice, North and South, we can often be quick to dismiss them as being relevant to now. The troubling truth is that there is a sense in which this is correct... there is also a sense in which it is in error.
The OT is replete with stories of how the Israelites "continued in the sins of the fathers." Now, this is a different thing than inherited guilt or righteousness. Every generation must pay close attention to the inheritance of values, attitudes, and practices that are passed down to them. We are commanded to honor our parents and submit to their discipline and instruction. But there must come a time when every generation examines its own ingrained presuppositions, no matter how they came to hold them. Now, this holds for both sides of the current question.
White and Black alike stand before God as answerable to their present attitudes, anger, suspicions, intolerance, disrespect, stereotypes, etc. There is not a mortal man alive who has not been guilty of racial prejudices to some extent. It is a universal circumstance. It is inherent in the fact of power structures. "Power structures" are necessary to human social order and economic development but by their very nature, they tend to generate "classes" of people. The Russian nation did not "free" their serfs until 1920 or so. To this day the ethnic distinction, Slav / non-Slav, is important. Immigrant workers have always been viewed with anger and often hatred by those whose jobs are threatened. The point is this, racial/ethnic tension is one important category of class friction. It has to be addressed in a Christian perspective but it also cannot ever, be isolated from the broader category of which it is an instance.
This is only to say that Christians, by Divine Command, are to oppose injustice and sinful discrimination wherever it appears. But it also means that every generation stands accountable for its own practices and prejudices in this and all things.
It would not be a solution to racial sins in this country for some coercive policies to be undertaken to essentially demote White citizens simply because they are white. This "reverse affirmative action" idea is being pushed in some circles. Neither will we find a solution simply by telling those who argue that racial prejudice is "systemic" that they are full of beans and that there is no "white privilege" in our culture. The solution, if any can be found, will come as Whites and Black Christians together accept responsibility for their own contributions to racial tension. This is how God will judge us when we stand before Him. It is how we ought to judge ourselves now.
Comments