Representing Jesus in Troubled Times
By Doug Bing, Washington Conference president
Last week I watched a news article about a young African American woman who had been caught in a sudden downpour. She took shelter in a porch like area of an apartment building and called an Uber to take her the rest of the way home.
While she was waiting, a Caucasian woman came out of the apartment building and told her that she couldn’t wait there out of the rain. She then called the police to come and remove this woman.
In the era of cell phone cameras, this was all recorded and then shown on social media. These types of events have made it into the news quite a bit lately and highlights the racial tensions that still are felt in our world.
Christianity in general has the answer for moments like these. Jesus stated these words: “These things I command you, that you love one another,” (John 15:17, NKJV). Romans 13:10 adds: “Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law,” (NKJV).
The entire chapter of John 15 points out, if we love God, our love will spill out to each other no matter what color of our skin, or what culture that we come from, or what language we speak. Love like this comes from a continual relationship with Jesus Christ and as Christians we can make a difference each day to tear down racial divisions and all sorts of divisions that exist in our world.
As Adventist Christians with a special emphasis on the three angels of Revelation 14, we also know that the last day message of the first angels message clearly points out that the gospel is for everyone.
Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue and people.
Randy Maxwell in his book Bootcamp for the Last Days states:
The last message for the last days is free from prejudice. Racism has no place in the kingdom of God, period…This first message of the first angel proves to us that the gospel is universal and that everyone is equal at the foot of the cross.
May we all fully embrace this gospel and may we make an impact as Christians in these troubled times to fully represent Jesus and His love toward us. May we also share that same love with others no matter how different they may be from us. This is true Total Member Involvement in sharing (and living) the gospel to our local communities and around the world.