pilgrim people

Whomever we voted for yesterday, all of us should be able to rejoice that in our own lifetimes we had the privilege of seeing the first African-American elected to the highest office in the United States. 150 years ago, black men and women were still legally in slavery in America and considered property of whites. 100 years ago, in many parts of this country, they were still being lynched frequently. Only fifty years ago, a black president would still have been an unthinkable prospect. Yet, last night, we witnessed history in the making: an African-American was elected to be the 44th President of the United States.

While this does not mean that post-millennialism is true or that our culture is being transformed into a more heavenly status, it is, nevertheless, a great reason to rejoice. The damage that the sins of racism have afflicted upon countless black families and individuals in this country over the past 400 years has been horrific - something that white Americans cannot truly understand, regardless of how sophisticated and cosmopolitan we may think we are.

How many whites have grown up in a predominantly black country that was founded on Enlightenment principles of equality for all, etc., etc., yet kept white people in slavery for 250 years, practiced segregation for another 100 years, and elected black men for its first 43 presidents? How many whites have truly known what it is like for every member in our family to have personal experiences of discrimination and receiving hateful speech directed at the color of our skin? Hopefully, you get my point. For a white person to say that he or she truly understands what it is like for a black person to suffer is to marginalize that person's suffering.

While racism will always be present in the world as long as there is sin in the heart of humans, let us pray that God will use this historic event in his providence to bring some measure of healing to the afflicted wounds on his image-bearers of color. And may his church, which is his spiritual nation and chosen race made of redeemed sinners from every tribe and tongue, continue to bear witness to the one Lord, one faith, and one baptism that defines us. And may we treat all human beings - believers and unbelievers alike - with the dignity and respect demanded by virtue of their status as those who bear the image of God.