I understand reluctance to offer the "cheap grace" that stops with forgiveness and does not bear the fruit of repentance. However, "no grace" is self-defeating when it comes to reconciliation and community building.
Forgiveness is a powerful motivator for repentance and reconciliation. Without forgiveness, the burden of guilt is likely to transform into hatred for the one who inflicts the guilt, and this hatred so often finds justification for new offenses.
Where some see only unrepentant racism in the backlash against DEI, I perceive that the unintended consequences of what this article describes is a major factor.
Who bears the brunt is always the question before us. If all of life is repentance and the servant who owes more continues to rely on the servant who owes less to be more forgiving, then we are in fact discussing the need for defining Equitable Systems of Grace. It isn't just that White Guilt makes you feel bad, it's the lack of recognition of how White Systems have long perpetuated INEquity even within repentance. Who gets to decide how repentant you need to seem, and what does your church system perpetuate in the process of church discipline and the qualifications of those with power? It's all connected. This is not talking in vague, broadbrushed terms. Get specific. Trying to place blame on entire groups is what got us where we are in the first place. The guilt treadmill should be calibrated for the person walking on it.
I think this thread is missing the key point that many sins, such as racism, are sins against two parties: God and the victim of racism. Yes, God does and has forgiven us for this sin. That doesn't free us from our obligation to obtain forgiveness from the actual victims. Speaking as an Anglo male, we have caused victims of racism harm. We need to make that right not to gain God's forgiveness but for the reconciliation of society.
In Confessional Lutheranism we try very hard to get the law/gospel balance correct. C.F.W. Walther always believed that the Gospel (the good news part) should perdominate.
I understand reluctance to offer the "cheap grace" that stops with forgiveness and does not bear the fruit of repentance. However, "no grace" is self-defeating when it comes to reconciliation and community building.
Forgiveness is a powerful motivator for repentance and reconciliation. Without forgiveness, the burden of guilt is likely to transform into hatred for the one who inflicts the guilt, and this hatred so often finds justification for new offenses.
Where some see only unrepentant racism in the backlash against DEI, I perceive that the unintended consequences of what this article describes is a major factor.
Who bears the brunt is always the question before us. If all of life is repentance and the servant who owes more continues to rely on the servant who owes less to be more forgiving, then we are in fact discussing the need for defining Equitable Systems of Grace. It isn't just that White Guilt makes you feel bad, it's the lack of recognition of how White Systems have long perpetuated INEquity even within repentance. Who gets to decide how repentant you need to seem, and what does your church system perpetuate in the process of church discipline and the qualifications of those with power? It's all connected. This is not talking in vague, broadbrushed terms. Get specific. Trying to place blame on entire groups is what got us where we are in the first place. The guilt treadmill should be calibrated for the person walking on it.
I think this thread is missing the key point that many sins, such as racism, are sins against two parties: God and the victim of racism. Yes, God does and has forgiven us for this sin. That doesn't free us from our obligation to obtain forgiveness from the actual victims. Speaking as an Anglo male, we have caused victims of racism harm. We need to make that right not to gain God's forgiveness but for the reconciliation of society.
In Confessional Lutheranism we try very hard to get the law/gospel balance correct. C.F.W. Walther always believed that the Gospel (the good news part) should perdominate.