Yesterday was Father’s Day and that’s always a hard day for me. Especially now as police officers are being devalued and renounced. The incident in Atlanta where the suspect wrestled with the officers and grabbed their Taser has been especially painful. You see my father was murdered by a suspect he had pulled over who wrestled with him. Once subdued, the suspect complained of a painful ankle so my father and his partner took him to the General Hospital.
When they got the suspect into the exam room, he wrestled with them again and managed to get my father’s gun out of its holster and shot my dad pointblank. My father only lived long enough to throw the gun to his partner and with his last breath say, “He got me in the heart . . .”
When a suspect obtains possession of an officer’s weapon, the officers are in danger!
The man who shot my dad one week before his thirty-seventh birthday was a thirty-six year old high school music teacher. I was ten, my little sister was four. My mom was a thirty-two year-old widow.
Cancel Culture Instead of Kingdom Culture is Feudal!
Nothing I can do today will ever change the horror of what happened to our family. My father was protecting his community. He didn’t deserve to die doing it. His family didn’t deserve being deprived of a husband and father. My daughter didn’t deserve never knowing her heroic grandfather.
I don’t know if the murderer had a family or if he has grandchildren or even great grandchildren now. What good would it do for me to find them and demand their shame and reparations for the years their ancestor took from us?
Are they responsible for what this criminal in their heritage did to my family sixty-three years ago? Would I feel better if I rioted on their streets or defaced their homes with graffiti?
Should I hate all high school music teachers? Are music teachers systemically evil because one teacher did something despicable?
I think you would agree that the answer to all those questions is no. He and he alone murdered my father. He is the one responsible for our pain magnified by him getting off on an insanity plea and only two years in jail! But justice is mine says the Lord and the murderer died of a heart attack shortly after his release from prison.
Don’t insist on getting even; that’s not for you to do. “I’ll do the judging,” says God. “I’ll take care of it.” Rom. 12:19 The Message
It is true that this man’s actions forever changed our family. But he was the only one who could have tried to make restitution. If he had, which he didn’t, it would have been our choice whether to forgive him.
Hanging on to anger and bitterness causes torment and turmoil but never solves the root problem.
I can’t rewrite the large-letter headlines in the LA Times telling the world of my father’s tragic unjustified death. In 1957, it was big news when a police officer was killed on duty.
I can try to go back to find all the newspaper archives and demand all records of his murder be removed from history. I can rip up the yellowed newspaper articles in my family albums. I can research the murder’s family and demand they give our family restitution and destroy all his pictures in their family albums.
But nothing will bring my father back, change history, or heal any wounds in our family or theirs.
I hope you can see the parallel with what is happening in our cancel culture today.
Trying to blot out our country’s history or take blame for our ancestors’ actions will never solve the problems we’re facing today. It’s not a good use of our time, emotions, or energy.
The Truth About Forgiveness
In last week’s blog Every Life Matters to God, I wrote the following:
We can’t change the past or a past that we weren’t responsible for, but we can show the love of Christ to everyone God puts in our path. You can only apologize and repent for what you’ve done personally. If there’s racism in your heart, ask God to remove it. If you’ve shown racism to someone, go to him or her and ask for forgiveness, but you can’t ask for forgiveness for someone else’s sin. Likewise, someone can’t forgive you for something someone else did.
When it comes to the past sins of our forefathers, Ezekiel 18:20 speaks to it.
“The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them.”
Our Christian faith is built on forgiveness. We were forgiven of all our past transgressions and sins when we asked Jesus into our heart. The slate was wiped clean for us.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
We have to ask God personally to forgive our own sins. No one can ask God for us or on our behalf. Likewise, we can’t accept blame or responsibility for our ancestors or anyone else’s sins and we can’t ask God to forgive them. That’s between each person and God and whoever they wronged.
My grandfather was prejudice. I’m not accountable for his beliefs that I don’t share. I chose to NOT follow his example and raised my daughter to not be racist or prejudice as she is also raising her children. It only takes one generation to make a difference, positively or negatively.
Just like I don’t expect the generations of my father’s murderer to be responsible for his sin, we aren’t responsible for our ancestors past sins and it shouldn’t make us feel righteous trying to do the impossible to make amends for something we didn’t do. We shouldn’t feel we’re doing something virtuous because we aren’t.
What we can do, as I said in last week’s article, is ask God’s forgiveness if you’ve participated in racism, or any sin, either in your heart or actions. If you need to go to someone and ask for their forgiveness for your unrighteous behavior, do it.
Then ask God to guide you to where He wants you to be a source of peace and reconciliation between all people!
If we’re not part of the solution, we’re part of the problem. We certainly see many problems in our world today that we could help solve by intercession, prayer, and personal action.
Every morning I pray “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matt. 6:10) Ask the Holy Spirit to help you envision what a Kingdom culture looks like from God’s perspective and then pray it infiltrates our world.
We need to realize that Satan’s goal is to divide us both as Americans and as Christians in any way he can. Race. Religion. Relatives. Relationships. Regions. And the Devil is using politics, media, and anarchists to achieve his goals.
Differences don’t need to divide us unless we let them. We have a choice.
How I Found Kingdom Peace Amidst Earthly Injustice
Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. Rom. 12:17-18 NLT
It’s easy to say we need to forgive but it’s so hard to do when the offense is egregious. The year after my father’s murder, I was invited to a church camp where a camp counselor sat on my cot and said, “I know you’ve lost your earthly father, but would you like a heavenly Father who will never leave or forsake you?” I accepted Jesus into my heart that day when I asked Him to forgive my sins.
I don’t think I ever intentionally “forgave” the man who murdered my father, but I was able to not let that tragedy define my life. I had peace in my pain. I grew up fatherless and my mother never worked. Somehow, someway, checks came in the mail I guess from his life insurance and maybe the Highway Patrol. I know the CHP did set up a fund for my sister and me to go to college.
Life wasn’t easy for us and we lived frugally, but God used those hardships to develop me into a woman He could use someday to be About His Work. It didn’t happen early in my life, but once I completely surrendered my will and my ways to Him, it’s been a joy serving my Lord and Savior. My ministry tagline is “Sharing Life Experiences and God’s Faithfulness!” God has certainly given me many experiences to share of His faithfulness to all generations.
My mother sadly turned away from God after my father’s murder. She said no just God would ever do this to a man who was just trying to protect his community and her heart hardened toward God. I watched her physically, emotionally, and mentally deteriorate over the years. As I look back, she probably had a mental breakdown.
Only Jesus can heal a hurting grieving heart.
It was a tumultuous relationship with my mother, but I did eventually forgive her for the hurtful abusive years even though she never asked for my forgiveness. That’s what kingdom Christians do.
“If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. 15 But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.” Matt. 6:14-15 NLT
Will our country ever come to a place where we settle the past and move forward to the full potential of actually living again as the United States?
Only God knows and only God could bring that miracle to fruition. We can pray and hope!
Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. 2 Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. 3 Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. Eph. 4:1-3 NLT
Last week, I asked you to send examples of Christians ministering during the riots and protests. I did receive the same video from several of you. It’s a beautiful example of what Kingdom culture looks like and what God can do when we answer the call He gives us to share the Gospel and help others find eternal life, the only life that really matters.
