What Really Happened in Ferguson?

Historically, black Americans have had a tough time living here.

The horrors of slavery are almost unimaginable to us today. Later, when slavery was abolished after the Civil War, blacks had to endure ingrained racial prejudice, Jim Crow laws, lynchings, the rise of the Ku Klux Klan, and segregation.

After World War II, when the Civil Rights movement began to really build up some steam, the struggle between black and white America reached a fever pitch. I was a goofy white grade-school kid in the 1960s, and I vividly remember the TV news coverage of the peaceful Civil Rights marches in the South, and the often violent push-back from white police departments.

Black Americans have a painful history with the white power structure. The distrust built up after centuries of abuse and mistreatment is hard to get past. I get that.

Even today, racism still rears it's ugly head much too often. I have a black friend who was seriously hassled last year while traveling through French Lick, Indiana. I'll spare you the details, but the cops gave him a really hard time, and ended up impounding his car, for totally bogus reasons. Had he been white, none of what happened to him would have happened.

This is just another example of the kind of "slow drip" soft racism that keeps black resentment simmering towards American society. I get that, too.

The Most Dangerous Place to Be

There are some people in the world who just seem to be born with their act together.

They are self-confident, disciplined, talented, hard-working, ambitious and successful. They live a moral, respectable life and make a positive contribution to society.

They create businesses or provide high-demand professional services. They volunteer in their communities and take care of their families. The world is a better place because they live in it.

But prosperous, successful people have one incredible difficulty to overcome if they want to enter the Kingdom of God – they have to forsake the pride of their self-reliance.

If you are a successful Type-A go-getter, it is easy to fall into the trap of self-justification. It is tempting to think that you have earned your way into God’s good graces. You might convince yourself that you have made it on your own and you don’t need anything from God.

That is a very dangerous state of mind.

Jesus once told a parable about a rich man who had just reaped an abundant harvest from his fields and was congratulating himself for his great success.

“A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. In fact, his barns were full to overflowing – he couldn’t get everything in. He thought about his problem, and finally exclaimed, ‘I know – I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones! Then I’ll have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Wine, women and song for you!”’
“But God said to him, ‘Fool, Tonight you die. Then who will get it all?’
“Yes, every man is a fool who gets rich on earth but not in heaven.”
 (Luke 12:16-21, Living)