A Reflection on 2020

2020 is gone. It was a year like none other in my lifetime. From February on, our country was under siege, with basic rights and liberties that we have taken for granted being restricted as the result of an invisible enemy. Gone were regular gatherings amongst family and friends. Gone were trips, both business and pleasure, seeing the sites and sounds of different cultures and experiencing the scents and tastes of their cuisines. Gone was worship as we know it, times of communal gatherings focused on the Creator and Sustainer of life and fellowshipping with likeminded believers whom we have poured our lives into. Instead, we all, like couch potatoes tuned into “virtual experiences”. We engaged family, friends and coworkers through the medium of remote meeting platforms. We dined outdoors, weather permitting, socially distanced from other diners or enjoyed our favorite restaurants via carryout at our homes. We worshipped in front of television screens and computer monitors tuned into YouTube, Facebook Live or Zoom. Handshakes were replaced by fist bumps and elbow bumps. Toilet paper, paper towels and hand sanitizers became luxuries that people hoarded at home resulting in purchase limits being imposed at shopping centers. A new cottage industry emerged as masks became the norm rather than the exception with individuality being expressed through our particular tastes in these face coverings.

As I reflect upon the year that was, the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the soft underbelly of our country, removing the rose-colored glasses from over our eyes and revealing to everyone some of the ugliness that has always been a part of the American experience. I watched in disbelief as self-proclaimed “patriots” took up arms in opposition to government orders that citizens should demonstrate social responsibility by obeying stay-at-home orders and donning masks. In the name of “protecting our constitutional rights” these voices declared, “Give me liberty or give me death,” unconcerned that the purpose of the orders was to protect others and not oneself. I witnessed a vacuum of leadership from the White House as the highest government officials in our Executive Branch attempted to minimize the potential impact of this deadly virus, continually declaring that it was “fake news” and that the threat was overblown. As I witnessed this, my heart too was tugged towards embracing the mindset, going back to my favorite restaurants, taking off that uncomfortable mask that fogged my glasses. Yet, every time the thought came into my head, I could hear Scriptures resonating that agelong question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Because of this, I wore the mask and remained socially distanced.

At the same time, the disruption to life as usual sensitized the conscious of our country, igniting the dried embers of our base humanity and setting into motion a racial awakening that rivals the Civil Rights Movement, revealing another reality that had been conveniently ignored. 2020 exposed how our country has never truly come to grips with the racial sins of its past, exemplified by the untimely deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, to unfortunately only name a few. The loss of their lives reverberated throughout the greater society that justice is still an ideal just beyond the grip of chocolate skinned people. Many took to the streets to remove the monuments erected during the dark days of Jim Crow honoring Confederate figures who, in an act of treason, fought to perpetuate a world where an individual was consigned to a lesser caste of chattel servitude based on the color of their skin. For me it resurfaced feelings of inadequacy and frustration in my own life, where I have been overlooked for promotions and understood that I had to work twice as hard and be twice as good in order to get half the credit. After all, who has ever been told that they were given a new boss so that they can mentor them? Maybe it was the combination of isolation and frustration that catapulted me into that place where I looked angrily with a critical eye on all of White society. The White House stoked the flames of bigotry by embracing this legacy and calling peaceful protestors “hoodlums and thugs” and encouraging vigilantism. As I witnessed the rise of animus from radical extremists who also took up arms to “protect” society from the “socialist Black Lives Matter” movement, whether in Kenosha, WI or St. Louis, MO, I found myself wondering why God would allow such blind ignorance to persist. Why have we taken two giant steps backward regarding this racial divide? And then there were all of the “Karens” around us, from “Central Park Karen” to “San Francisco Chalk Karen”, who epitomized the injustice met out against people of color under the guise of protecting White women from violence at the hands of Black men. It felt to be too much to shoulder. Maybe in the church I could find peace in the midst of this chaos.

It was not to be. In the place where I believed that truth and integrity would reign, in the place where God’s rule of Law should take preeminence, I saw the White Evangelical Church, individuals who declare themselves to be representatives of the gospel of Jesus Christ, who have been called to be a prophetic voice of righteousness and justice, enamored with a President who provided them everything they have ever wanted in their fight against Roe v. Wade. And because of this temporary euphoria, they were not willing to speak truth to power. The final veil removed was the age long blindness that the White Evangelical Church has so conveniently ignored. Consigning themselves to being single issue Christians, they have trumpeted for the rights of the unborn while standing silently as those who are here, underrepresented minorities and disenfranchised people of color, continue to suffer indignities at that hand of law enforcement and the powers that be. They fought and continue to fight against saying “black lives matter” because, in their words, “all lives matter”, missing the irony of the statement, namely that far too long black lives have seemingly not mattered. Because of what appears to be Marxist and socialist rhetoric espoused by Black Lives Matter national leadership who tout that the solution to the American race problem is the dismantling of the system, they have completely rejected the reality that systemic racism is real, that people of color are still disenfranchised, and that the Church has not only turned a blind eye to it, but has, in many cases, perpetuated it. 2020 was a year that exposed the hypocrisy of the “Religious Right” and their willingness to disown President Barak Obama because of his association with a pastor whose politics they did not agree with, but wholly embrace without criticism President Donald Trump, whose moral failings, aversion to the truth and overall lack of integrity has been unmatched in modern history. With the former we have a man who, apart from the divergence of his political position from the Christian conservative mainstream, is upright with minimal flaws. With the latter we have a man whose politics may align with their politics, but whose life and dealings regarding the “least of these” betrays a heart that is self-consumed. President Trump disrupted a peaceful demonstration with force and teargas for a photo op with a Bible in front of a church. And White Evangelicals applauded it. It was Jesus that said, “You will recognize them by their fruits.” Matthew 7:16 I am befuddled not that they have embraced his political agenda, which closely aligns with them. No. The confusion comes from their silence regarding his moral failings. It is this “ends justifies the means” mindset that betrays the heart of the White Evangelical Church.

What saddens me most is that this only scratches the surface…

I visited a church in January of last year and the pastor had coined the cliché, “2020, The Year of Vision.” In hindsight I can say for certain it was indeed a year where our collective vision regarding who we are and the world around us has been challenged. It was a year where we all have been forced out of our comfort zones to confront some difficult truths regarding our worldview and the unconscious bias we all have. It has been a year where we have come to realize that we are not as safe as we thought we were, that the ills of faraway lands can impact our lives, no matter how insular we are. It has been a year where we have had to embrace the ugliness of racism, to look head-on at the disparity in the justice system as it pertains to meeting out justice to black and brown people, a justice system that would result in a black man being shot seven times in the back by police while not posing a threat but a white vigilante can casually walk past police officers armed with a semi-automatic weapon without a question of suspicion. It has been a year where the White Evangelical Church has again aligned with the wrong side of history. Like in the days of the antebellum South where they turned a blind eye to slavery, or during Post-Reconstruction where they supported the rise and rule of Jim Crow, or during the Civil Rights Movement where their silence compelled Dr. King to write his famous “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, the White Evangelical Church has consistently erred on the side of bigotry and racism, holding fast that they have no individual guilt and therefore, racism is not their problem. However, in the words of Plato, “Your silence gives consent.”

Where then, is the hope for this new year? I am not as safe as I thought I was, people will continue to rear their ugly side regarding bias, and the Church will continue to not respond the way I would like it to. The writer of Ecclesiastes summed it up nicely when he said, What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Ecclesiastes 1:9

As I reflected upon this year, a passage of Scripture from Exodus came to my mind:

During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.
Exodus 2:23-24

It is with great joy that I embrace this passage on this first day of this new year. The context of the passage is familiar to all of us. Israel had migrated to Egypt during the days of Joseph, and as immigrants began to flourish in the land. However, because of fear things became progressively worse for them, until eventually they found themselves in bondage to the Egyptians. Their lives were dreadful. Their young males were being killed without cause simply for being male Israelites. They were denied the basic rights of citizenship that they enjoyed when they first came into the land. They toiled and labored without fair wages. They were beat down and mistreated. All they were allowed to do freely was worship their God. God raised up Moses in the house of Pharoah. Yet when Moses tried to be a savior of his people he was rejected by them (“Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Exodus 2:14.). As a result Moses went into exile. It was then that the text says “…the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help.” The situation appears that they have gone from one bad year to another one. The future does not seem bright. Yet, God introduces a pause in the action, a supernatural commercial if you will, a reminder to His people that He is indeed the God of hope, giving us three truths to hold fast to as we walk into this new year.

1) Know that He is listening to your prayers – “And God heard their groaning…”

God hears when we call upon Him. Much of the struggle that we have gone through in 2020 was for the purpose of bringing us back into a place of relying upon Him instead of ourselves. Far too often we have trusted in our own abilities to bring about the results that we desire in our lives. Yet, what I have learned from my experience in 2020 is that though I like to say, “I walk by faith and not by sight,” I actually prefer to walk by sight. The challenges of this past year have revealed to me that I don’t see things as good as I think. I don’t interrupt people and circumstances as well as I think I do. I, frankly, get in my own way, fueled by emotions that can quickly cloud my judgement. The year forced me to acknowledge that I cannot get it done without Christ. Except He intervene in my life I am destined to stumble through as a blind man seeking my way. The vehicle for accessing His will for my life is prayer. I demonstrate my trust in Him through my prayer life. When I let go of trying to do it myself and seek His will through prayer, things work out better. And the good news is that He is not just hearing me pray but is actively listening to what I am praying. Through the power of the Holy Spirit He goes beyond just listening but also hears my heart and intent in my prayers. This is liberating because now I don’t have to sound fancy and carryon with all of the Christian clichés but can come to Him broken and earnestly, knowing that He will not only hear my cries but also provide me the answer I need for the moment. That indeed is good news.

2) God will keep His promises – “…and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.”

Again, the Lord has taught me that faith requires that I must trust in His faithfulness. True faith requires me to believe God despite what my eyes see and call on Him, recognizing that only He can deliver. Again, I cannot protect myself from a plague that looms invisible, nor can I change the perspective of a bigot who sees me based on my ethnicity and not my character. Yet, what I can do is trust that God will keep His promises towards me. If He said it, that settles it. If He said that I will be the head and not the tail, I must hold fast to that truth despite what others may say or do. God is not forgetful like me. He remembers what He said He will do. And what’s more, He will do it. One of my favorite lines is, “God can and God will.” Holding fast to His promises, especially in the midst of difficulties, is a life source for the believer, fueling our faith. It was the Apostle Paul that declared, “For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” (Romans 8:24-25) The truth of the matter is that it is the promises of God that is the foundation of our Christian walk. We, like Abraham, hold fast looking for a city Whose Builder and Maker is God, a city that is not yet here, but that is coming soon. God has promised to keep us. He has promised to protect us. He has promised to provide for us. He has promised to give us favor. Though 2020 has been a year of setbacks, I believe that 2021 will be a year of breakthroughs.

3) God sees what you are going through – “God saw the people of Israel – and God knew.”

Strangest of the three items in this passage is the fact that it says, “God saw the people of Israel…” Why is that important? As I reflected upon 2020, my mind raced through not only the events but also the wealth of emotions that I experienced. I remembered my many prayers to the LORD. I remembered the times that I searched the Scriptures to find a word of encouragement, a promise or something I could hold on to. But what pierced my soul the most was the times when I felt all alone and wondered if God really saw what I was going through. Did He really care? Well, this verse tells us that He sees us where we are. He sees all the forces that are at work against us. He sees the struggles that we are contending with. He sees us. This does not do a whole lot for my spirits. It almost feels like God is a Supernatural Spectator eating popcorn watching with amusement the plight of His people. Yet, it does not stop there, but tags on those three final words: and God knew. Marrying God seeing us with the notion that God “knew”, we are being reminded that He was not passively watching the maltreatment and suffering of His people. He was not helplessly observing as the events of life played themselves out. No. Instead, we are being reminded that He was watching the unfolding of history, more exactly, the unfolding of His plan, waiting for the opportune moment to interrupt history and breach time and space, to provide what His people so desperately longed for – salvation. You see, the reader must naturally ask the question, “What did God ‘knew’?” When you think on it and His glorious person, You cannot help but go to that place of rejoicing and celebrating. You see, He knew that He was going to visit Moses in a burning bush. He knew that He was going to execute judgement on Egypt with ten nasty plagues. He knew that He would lead His people out of Egypt in a cloud by day and a pillar o fire by night. Need I go on? He knew that a vaccine would be produced in record time. He knew that corporations worldwide would have their conscious pricked by the need to address diversity, equity and inclusion. He knew that a groundswell of Evangelical Christians would begin to address the pangs of the past regarding race relations and see themselves as pioneers of racial reconciliation. He knew that all of this was according to His plan, and that as the Sovereign of the universe He was in complete control working things out for our good. God knew.

If 2020 was the year of vision, 2021 is the year of fulfillment. It is the year where God demonstrates, through Christ, that He is faithful despite our faithlessness. It is the year that He shows us that He is a prayer answering God, true to His promises, delivering for His people when they need Him most. The call for the Christian is to be that prophetic voice of righteousness to this world, pointing them to Jesus Christ Who alone can save them. It is our call to remind them that by His stripes we are healed. It is our call to be Micah 6:8 Christians, calling those within our sphere of influence to repentance and reconciliation. It is our call to be the unifying voice of the Church Universal, remembering the words spoken in Philippians 2:1ff. 2020 is gone. And good riddance. Yet, it is our call to work while it is still day for when night comes no one shall work.