November 2nd, 2024

Promise Keepers Tried to End Racism 25 Years Ago. It Almost Worked.

Date:

R

andy Phillips didn’t want to watch the video of a Black man being killed by police, but his son asked if he had.

“No,” Phillips said, “but I’ve read a bunch of articles.”

He knew the details—both of this specific deadly encounter between Derek Chauvin and George Floyd and the larger context of racial division in America. He knew too the history of Christian efforts to combat racism and bring about reconciliation. He had, in fact, been president of Promise Keepers 25 years before, when the leadership decided that racial reconciliation would be its No. 1 priority and then the men’s ministry almost immediately started to flounder.

“Honestly, son, I’m not going to watch it,” he said. “It’s just too painful.”

“Dad,” said Tim Phillips. “You need to feel it.”

When Phillips watched the video, he was overwhelmed by the pain of Floyd’s slow death. He felt the Holy Spirit show him a tornado over Chauvin’s head, as if the police officer were the pinpoint of the destructive, swirling evil as it touched down. And he wondered: If he had let God change him 25 or 26 years ago, and let God shift Promise Keepers the way it was supposed to shift, maybe none of this would have happened.

America could have been different. God could have used Promise Keepers to reconcile Floyd and Chauvin and help Chauvin see Floyd how God saw him—as someone so deeply and impossibly loved that God would send his only Son to die just for him.

Promise Keepers was, after all, the largest movement in modern America pushing white people to reckon with racism and the most significant since the civil rights marches resulted in legislation, assassination, …

Continue reading

News brought to you by Christianity Today

Share this post

spot_imgspot_img

Popular

More like this
Related

How the Critical Race Theory Debate Distracts from God’s Justice

In the conflict over racial issues and critical race theory, the position to “just preach the gospel” misses the gospel.

White Fragility: “Eat the Meat, Spit Out the Bones”

Robin DiAngelo’s 2018 book White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism is experiencing a resurgence amidst a national reckoning surrounding issues of racism and its consequences.

Racism and the Church: What’s the Play Call for Team Jesus?

When it comes to racism and the church, there is a prescription for all believers, white and black, to follow. Let's talk about it. Watch this video.

White Blessing vs. White Privilege with Giglio, Cathy & Lecrae

There are lessons to be learned when trying to reframe white privilege as white blessing. Try these tips to improve conversations about race.
X