Video Transcript: Critical Grace Theory

Steve - All right, so topic one, Henry, Critical Race Theory. So, critical race  theory says that everything is race. Everything is race. Everything is related to  race. Everything in our culture that matters is about race. Now, obviously, race  has a lot to do with what's going on in our culture, but critical race theory says  it's everything and it's in everything.  

Henry - It's the lens by which we see all the problems with the world.  

Steve - So, but it's not just about race to get to the next slide, all right, races with the power, use their power to keep their power over the races that don't have the power. Any power so racial inequality, racial inequality, racial inequality, current  social manifestations of this sort of topic. We've got the black lives matter, white  supremacy, affirmative action.  

Henry - So why are those three manifestations of that?  

Steve - I think those are just the latest manifestations okay. I mean, we've had,  you know, a whole history in the United States of racial inequality. With the KKK. People not having the vote. You can go on and on and on. So the whole race  problem is, is a problem that human beings have been dealing with, for forever.  These last manifestations are just what's going on in our day today. 

Henry - Right, in fact, going back to the Roman Empire, going back before to  Egyptians going back 1000s of years, even going back to a very fallen man  named Noah, who after he gets off the ark, there's a racial division that's  occurring so it has been around for a long time, right?  

Steve - So but now, it's this whole critical race theory is saying that it's  pervasive, it's everywhere. And it's the people in power, the races that are in  power, make the laws and the social structures in such a way that they keep the  power, right, that they stay in power. And one author suggested that even when  the race that's in power does something for the races that are not in power, they  do it because it benefits them. So it's very self. So it seems to me that that the  race thing, I think we've made more progress in the last 25-30 years. And many  years, at least in our country, in the United States. But, but listening to what's  going on, you would think that it's never been worse. 

Henry - right the social justice of racial inequality is out of control and who could  be against social justice, right?  

Steve - So I found this quote, Henry, by Martin Luther King. From his famous  speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963. He said, I have a dream that my

four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by  the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.  

Henry - So he is really saying race should not be anything, in comparison to  looking at another person that  

Steve - that should be the goal. Yeah. It would seem 50 Some years later, that  we really haven't that race has become the color of his skin has become more  important. It's like the defining thing, good or bad? Of everything. Right. So  we're embroiled in this conflict of the races, and, you know, how do we get out of it. 

Henry - So what is race? Is it Biology? I mean, like, right, we are we have white  skin. But I think we have the same heart, lungs as any other human on earth.  

Steve - Well, there's a lot of controversy over whether it is biology or it is a social construct. And even Okay, some races it's easy to see because, physically, they  look so different, right. But are Jewish people a separate race, right? I don't  know, right. Scandinavians are they a different race, say people from the  Netherlands. You and I our background is the Netherlands.  

Henry - And there's a new DNA stuff that you'll get your DNA tested. And it's  fascinating how many times people have all conglomerated races within  ourselves.  

Steve - So, so there's some, there's some controversy over what it is. Right? We don't we don't really know what it is. And then the question is, are we all racist?  Is everyone a racist? Some books suggest that. Or some books suggest that the races that have the most power are racist, and the races that don't have power  are not racist. Are we all racist? Or are we all opportunists willing to take  whatever advantages we have to get ahead? In other words, are we all sinners? 

Henry - I know the Bible says, but if you show favoritism, you sin and are  convicted by the law as law breakers, right? So the Gospels take on this is that  we see everybody as a creature of God, an image bearer, and we look at each  other through the lens of Jesus Christ.  

Steve - I think, you know, in some ways, yes, there is racism. But racism,  another word for it is sin, right. One, one race may be in charge, but if the other  race got to be in charge, they would be making laws and so on that would favor  them. In other words, this is what people do. People use whatever they have for 

their advantage. Regardless of what it is, you see that in your family, your kids  will grab on to whatever it is, and they will use it to their advantage.  

Henry - So, you know it's interesting, we've been doing ministry, together since  1989. And we've traveled the world. And it's fascinating. There's racism, there's  tribalism, we've visited places where one tribe is at war with another tribe. And  it's sort of a form of racism, kind of tribalism, right, then we've seen it where it's  actually the color of the skin is one designation, people grew up in conflict with  

the color of the skin and another people group. And that feels more like how the  social sciences construct race theory.  

Steve - So we see that there is racism, but in some ways, the Bible in a way  expands it to sin. We're all selfish, self absorbed. We both read the book, The  Madness of Crowds. And in that book, I forget what's his name, Murray?  

Henry - Murray, Douglas Murray, who was actually a gay atheist right, so we  read a book, fascinating book. 

Steve - But he uses all kinds of examples of how the ones in the minority the  ones that were being pushed around and shoved around and discriminated  against. Once they won their cause. They turned around and did the same thing  to the other side, that they became what they were, you know, they started  treating people the way they were treated. It wasn't like some new utopia, where finally now I'm on top, and now everything is good. No, the role is just switched.  

Henry – Right. And you know what, one thing I want to mention to the word ism,  I remember when I got my philosophy degree from Dordte College, by  distinguished philosophers well trained. And they started the word ism. The ism  part, sort of says, okay, so race ism, and the ism part elevates this. And from a  Christian perspective, often the ism becomes like an idol. Like something that's  so absolutetized, there was a word back in the 1980s. Absolutized. And then it's  like, clouds every other look of everything.  

Steve - And the whole thing of power, right? The idea is that one race has power over another and then uses that power to keep the power. Right, power is a  tricky thing. I, I'm the oldest in my family. And I have a brother who's 14 months  younger, and I had power because I was stronger than he was. I mean, when  we were little, now he's bigger than I am. But when we were little, I was bigger  than him. But he had the victim power, that he could pull some strings where I  was the one that got in trouble with my parents, if I used my power. So it's hard  sometimes to know who has what power and that's sin right. Ultimately, I think  the point is that people will use whatever power they have. And if it switches, 

then the foot will be the shoe will be on the other foot, and people will use that  power. So we could right all these wrongs. But it just means someone else is  now in power. Right. So ultimately, how do we fix this thing of racism? And that's where we talk about critical grace theory. Everything relates to grace,  everything. Those with the grace share the grace with those who do not have  the grace. So what if? What if that was? What if that was the goal here? You  know, instead of thinking of the whole world in terms of power, who has the  power and everyone's grabbing to the power? What if we thought in terms of  everything is grace? How can we apply grace in this relationship situation? How  can we apply grace in different race situations and the laws and who is being  treated unfairly? I mean, if Grace was like our concern, right, instead of the  power, what might we come up with?  

Henry - Well to me, Grace. The God. The plan of God. Pentecost, so here on  Pentecost, the wind, and of all the things that can happen on Pentecost. The  thing that does happen is people from all tribes and races and languages, who  are in Jerusalem anyway, sort of a mecca center back then. And what happens? Languages are shared. Then the Prophet Joel, your sons and daughters will  prophesy, it's like, breaking through all the social construct within the biology  construct.  

Steve - Right. Now it doesn't it didn't do away with people were still where they  were right. And there still may have been some issues. But what an incredible  starting place for the church, for Christianity. That's where the church starts right  there. So the church started as kind of an answer to the race problems.  

Henry - Yes, of all the things, it picks that. It says that in Jesus Christ. We are  one. Well, that probably goes to Galatians 3:26-29. So in Christ Jesus, you are  all children of God through faith. For all of you who were baptized into Christ had been clothed, have clothed yourselves with Christ, there is neither Jew, nor  Gentile, neither slave, nor free. nor is there male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus, if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs  according to the promise.  

Steve - You could not say better than that. So again, we're not saying that there  isn't a race problem. 

Henry – Right. And that's what Martin Luther King meant and he was a martyr  for. He had a world for in Jesus Christ. We are one, and you're judged by the  truth of your person, not by the color of your skin, or the tribe you belong to. You  know Steve, I want to ask you one question. If you look back at your 30 years,  how has race in your ministry impacted your ministry? What have you learned? 

Steve - You know, I lived in the Philippines for a year. I work sometimes in the  inner city of Grand Rapids, I had experiences in Chicago. When I traveled to  Africa, what I discovered is, when I know somebody, they're just a person. Like, I had a good friend in seminary, who was six foot seven. But I thought of him as  my height. Right? I saw a picture of him standing next to me. And I, when I  looked at the picture, I said, you're, you're incredibly tall, right? I lost that.  Because he was just my friend. And I think, you know, if we just would be with  each other. People just become people and they become interesting because  they might look different than you are. The incredible variety that God has  created human beings, and our backgrounds and our cultures. I mean, I love  different cultures. I love that we're not all the same. It expands my life and my  world. Right? So in my ministry has been filled I I've always gravitated towards  people were not like me.  

Henry - The thing I realized is that in the recent days, things are becoming so  narrowly defined, like around economic equality. So the race subject is now  being defined by everybody gets the same amount of money or something, but  then we lose the giftedness of a society where that one thing applied to race  gets people to almost envy each other and hate each other.  

Steve - Right. Like we're trying to make it equal, when I don't know what equal  means when you're a different race than I am, because you have better things  than I do in certain areas, I have bet, you, it's like, it's like the gifts. Right? We all have different gifts and abilities. So how can, I don't want everyone to have the  same gift, right? We don't all want to be the same race. We want to have these  differences that God created,  

Henry - you know, my father and mother were poor. All through their retirement,  they lived in a trailer, we lived in a rented house, my entire childhood, right. And  we were happy, so happy, and in our church, with people with lots of wealth, and we would go to their house and and have fellowship and monetary reductionism  

of like economic, and I, we traveled in other places in the world. And in other  places in the world, you see the beauty of people content,  

Steve – right. I lived on the beach, some beach in the Philippines. This is many  years ago. And this was a little tribe. They fished with a big net that was a mile  long. They fished for an hour in the morning and they fished an hour at night.  That was their only income. Otherwise, they were playing guitar, enjoying each  other. They sat on the most beautiful beach in the world now who is poor and  who is rich. I don't know I 

Henry - Marxism, equality thrown into a racial division and create chaos and  hoping that some new utopia is going to come that would be dangerous. Right.  Instead it's about Jesus Christ. It's about his grace. We are fallen and we have  to be careful never to be racist. Okay, so there is an element of truth in that in  we can talk another time about how slavery developed in the ancient times and  how Christianity was for the slave and slave owner. It was for the victors and the conquered. But a lot of times people today and I've been reading recently, on  the internet, Steve, and people are trying to say, Well, the Bible has slaves and  therefore the Bible is not for social justice. When you see in the Bible, the grace  of God there is neither slave or free.  

Steve - There's something higher than all of that.  

Henry - So very interesting topic. I'm looking forward to this whole study.