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Editorial
The Center for Pastor Theologians exists to equip pastors to be theologians for today’s complex world. That’s our mission, and it’s one we believe in strongly. All the more so these days, as we’re confronted on an almost daily basis with reminders that the world in which we live is indeed stunningly complex.
Consider the death of George Floyd. It is criminal when a white officer digs his knee into an African American’s neck, snuffing out his life. But it is also complex.
There is, to be sure, nothing subtle or complex about the unvarnished brutality of killing a man with persistent force. That is simple and straightforward, not to mention tragic and appalling. But George Floyd’s death is, at the same time, highly complex in what it reveals about the reality of race in America. (The same could be said of the deaths of Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery or the shooting of Jacob Blake).
The truth is that race is a complex issue. And race in America—and in the American church—is surely among the most complex of issues we confront today.
Acknowledging this should be uncontroversial. For the history of race in America has been convoluted, at best. So, too, the Evangelical church’s part in that difficult story—at times courageous, at times complicit, all the while complicated.
Evangelicals have a set of biblical, theological, and cultural tools we use for dealing with the problem of race: the necessity of personal responsibility, the possibility of heart renewal through faith in Jesus, the transformative impact of interpersonal relationships, and the bedrock conviction that every human being is made in the image of God (imago Dei) and is thus of equal worth and dignity. These are our go-to weapons in the fight against racism. And in many ways, they have served us well. Strides in race-relations have been made, and moral victories have been won. Evangelical Christianity today, on the whole, is certainly not what it was in the antebellum South or even in the era of Billy Graham integrating his crusades.
And yet the problem of race has been stubbornly persistent, not only in America, but in Evangelicalism. Perhaps if anything, Evangelicals in the post-Trump world seem to have taken one step forward, two steps backward. Black Lives Matter, “law and order,” immigration and border security, kneeling for the National Anthem, safe spaces, cancel culture, the Squad on Capitol Hill—each of these are racially laden, some obviously, others less so. Introduce any one of these as a topic of conversation around a table of white Evangelicals and watch what happens. The complexity of race will reveal itself.
For American Evangelicals, part of the challenge with race is that there are no easy answers. Yes, the complexities abound. And yet, regrettably, Evangelicals are not known for their penetrating analysis of difficult subjects. We’re better known for our enthusiasm, collective energy, and entrepreneurial verve. Leading historian of American Christianity, Mark Noll, spotted this problem decades ago. He subjected Evangelicalism to a scathing criticism in his famous book The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind. The punchline of the book? The scandal is that there is no Evangelical mind. Noll explains: “The evangelical ethos is activist, populist, pragmatic, and utilitarian. It allows little space for broader or deeper intellectual effort because it is dominated by the urgencies of the moment.”
Precisely. This is why Evangelicals are often ill-equipped to handle the difficult and recurring issue of race in America and in the American church. Too often, our approach is painfully one-dimensional, rather than creatively multi-dimensional. As with most issues, we tend to flatten out the question of race into a fairly simple set of issues, with a very actionable set of solutions. “Check your own heart.” “Get a black friend.” “Pray for God to work.” While heartfelt and helpful as far as they go, these attitudes and approaches simply cannot sustain serious engagement on the issue of race or catalyze deep transformation in the matter of race relations.
Which brings us back to the CPT and its mission. We want to engage this issue differently. We’re not on the hunt for easy answers or quick solutions. Rather, we’re prepared for the intellectual slog that real progress necessarily entails, knowing that what is required is sober-minded, serious, even sacrificial reflection on the issue of race and the challenges (and opportunities) it presents, as well as a readiness to trace the deep implications of these insights into our own lives, congregations, and communities—all for the sake of Christ.
During the month of September, the Center for Pastor Theologians will be featuring content that serves to advance this discussion; indeed, we pray not only advancing the discussion but deepening it. For the sake of pastors responsible to shepherd people in the way of truth and reconciliation and hope, and for the sake the congregations they serve—and the communities who will benefit from a more compelling Evangelical engagement on the issue of race, one that takes its complexity seriously while also pointing the way to life-giving paths forward.
This resource is part of the series More than Imago Dei: Theological Explorations on Race. Click here to explore more resources from this series.
Todd Wilson is the President and Co-Founder of the Center for Pastor Theologians. He previously served for 10 years as the Senior Pastor of Calvary Memorial Church in Oak Park, IL. He holds a PhD in New Testament from the University of Cambridge. He is the author of several books, including The Curse of the Law and the Crisis in Galatia (Mohr Siebeck, 2007), Mere Sexuality (Zondervan, 2017), and The Pastor Theologian (Zondervan, 2015).
