As political candidates compete for the national spotlight and Olympic athletes around the world compete against each other, it seems that the recent intensified discussion surrounding our ongoing racial tensions has died down.
This is predictable. We are quick to move on to the next story, the next headline.
This is also tragic. Something is not right.
The media’s fury over the recent racial tensions in our country have once again proven to be short lived. A short while ago this was the only thing we were talking about, and that is good given the ongoing and unresolved nature of the conflict.
So why have we stopped the discussion already? Oh yeah, the Olympics are a bigger story. But in this instance, “bigger” only means most recent.
The Pinnacle of Sport
The Olympics represent the pinnacle of what sport can offer to us as fans: entertainment and distraction.
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Sit back in your recliner. Grab the remote. Grab a beverage. Forget about everything for a while and watch in amazement.
The Olympics provide us with the perfect opportunity to forget—briefly—the race discussion going on in our country.
Don’t take the bait.
Don’t let the entertainment and distraction the Olympics offers excuse you from continuing the conversation surrounding race, from continuing to wrestle with proactively challenging the way power works itself out in our country.
The Problem Has Not Gone Away
After two weeks of brand new headlines clogging and sensationalizing the news, we can easily forget: something is not right.
Our country still has deep seeded roots of racism.
The social media frenzy that ensued after the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile is proof enough that we live in a jacked up world that values life based on the color of one’s skin.
Read the comment sections. Read the tweets. Read the posts. Don’t just pay attention to the words, read the emotion behind what people are saying.
Read—and try to feel if you do not naturally do so.
The issue still exists and majority culture Christ-followers cannot afford to simply ignore it.
We are a divided people across racial lines, it just takes a tragic situation like we saw in early July to bring it to the surface.
The two shootings on consecutive days were the spark that ignited a country still soaked in the gasoline of racial hostility.
Can Sports Contribute Positively To The Discussion?
Talking about sports is petty when viewed against the backdrop of racial tension.
Sport, however, has and will continue to be a universal language that does not merely give us an opportunity to numb the pain of reality, but provide a picture of what could be.
I have played sports my entire life and now work as a minister of the Christian gospel within the athletic department on a Division I campus. Within my context, I have rarely, if ever, seen the type of tension anywhere close to what others experienced after the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile.
I think a big reason is the power of sport.
One of the things I love about sports is that in the midst of competition, race does not matter. This is not colorblindness. This is the reality that, in the moment of competition, something greater is at play than skin color.
The Win.
Teammates are able to rally around a common goal to the extent that it trumps all other issues going on. It does not change the fact that we were created differently (uniquely and intentionally) by God, but the common goal unites us. I believe that the gift of sport allows us a tiny glimpse of racial harmony—emphasis on tiny.
Jesus Fixes People
Ephesians 2:11-22 gives us a beautiful picture of a how God reconciled the dividing wall between Jews and Gentiles. Two separate groups, existing hostility. Verses 11, 12 explain the existing division. Verses 18-22 explain the unity.
What happened to make that possible?
“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.” Ephesians 2:13-16
Something is not right. But that will not always be the case.
Because of the gospel, we will one day see this potential become reality because of God’s ultimate goal.
Every tribe.
Every tongue.
Every nation.
What is our role? A couple weeks ago one of our AIA staff members, Amethyst Holmes, put together a great piece on how change starts with you as an individual.
Here is what she recommends to all of us:
“Press into the discomfort of feeling ill-equipped or not fully understanding the struggles of people who are different than you. Listen to people of color and believe us when we let you know what life is like for us. Affirm those lives in public and private spaces when you see an opportunity. Silence is no longer an option in this moment for anyone or any institution. As believers, we have a gospel mandate and a shared responsibility to love God and His people. I pray that God will guide us and give us the strength to love actively. Our hearts may be broken but our spirit is not.”
Enjoy watching the greatest athletes on the planet, but not at the expense of forgetting the bigger issue at hand.
Want help becoming a person capable of seeing the world from someone else’s perspective? Check out lensesinstitute.com and read any three of the articles to start.
