This morning I began participating in a book club. Send Me St. Louis, which is part of the Lutheran Foundation, invited me to read and discuss the book “The Color of Compromise” by Jemar Tisby. It is subtitled, “The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in Racism.” It surveys our nation’s history and how the church reacted to racism. I highly recommend this book.
It’s written by a man who loves the church. He quotes Martin Luther King who said, “Only with great love comes great disappointment.” The first four chapters cover the European settlement through the Antebellum era. I was surprised to learn that from 1500 to 1700, slavery was not woven into the fabric of society. It wasn’t until later that the slave trade aggressively sought a new market in the new world. The church had to decide how to deal with slavery. Many saw it as a golden opportunity to evangelize. Save the soul but keep him in chains. These Christians falsely believed that the Gospel is purely spiritual and not physical. The truth is Jesus often healed as part of the saving Gospel. God’s love brings spiritual life but it also changes the world. Bad theology led to a complicit church.
Even the giants of the colonial church failed when it came to race. Pastor George Whitfield purchased slaves for his orphanage in Georgia. He justified owning human beings because the proceeds provided for a good cause.
Calvinist Jonathan Edwards was the most powerful pastor of his day but he never objected to slavery. He cautioned masters to treat their slaves well so that they would be receptive to the Gospel. There was a belief in the church that slaves were primitives unable to care for themselves. The slave could be part of the church but with limits. They were treated like children and not men and women. Ultimately, the church ignored the basic commandment, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
The Lutheran Church was not around in the founding of this nation. We were back in Germany in a feudal system not familiar with slavery. But this book made me ask myself, what would I have done if I lived back then? The answer for most Christians was to be silent. Most Christians did not own slaves but they also did nothing to love them. We have to ask ourselves, what are we silent about now when we should be loving our neighbor?
