Let the Sins of the Past Go; Act Like Free Men

On Sunday, Feb. 7, I read an opinion piece carried in our local paper that really bothered me.  The writer did not understand that there are things that transcend the color of one's skin.  I responded to both the writer and the local editor (who published it on Feb. 13).  Here is what I wrote:

Let the sins of the past go; act like free men

Syndicated columnist Leonard Pitts Jr. asked (Feb. 7 column) why black men would “fight for ideals that exclude them,” citing the treatment received because of skin color.  The answer is as self-evident as the truths for which these soldiers are fighting: freedom.

This struggle, though birthed in a desire to overcome enslavement, transcends the pettiness of class and ethnic distinctions to demonstrate the right of equality based on performance.  Yes, these soldiers suffered indignities at the hands of those they swore to defend.  Shame on those who caused it.

The question for today should be obvious: What now?  We should not remain mired in the putrefying sins of the past with the hope of politicizing and fighting them once again.  That does no good.  Stop the class warfare fomenting bitterness for a bygone day.  Cease striving for entitlements as some kind of reparation.  Rather, pursue what can be gained as a republic with citizens of varied ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds.  Act like free men.

My point should be clear: we do not need to live in the past.  Experience shows that those who dredge up these things are attempting to make a case via an emotional ploy with the intent of weakening the will enough to relent on a position.  Rationalization ensues and a conclusion forms based on faulty reasoning.  The underlying premise is that someone or some group is unable to overcome circumstances and therefore must be given a privileged status to make life for the victim easier whether or not deserved.

The said truth is that Christians do this to themselves quite often.  Many times I have been in the company of a believer bemoaning bad habits and lack of spirituality while at the same time running directly into danger at every possible convenience, then wonder later why victory cannot be gained.  Excuse me?

One benefit of the Christian life is that we have victory over sin there for the taking.  Paul told the believers in Rome "that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness." (6:17-18)  Unless I have a seriously deficient translation, that looks rather certain.  We are to leave this former life behind us and move forward, not revisiting our past manner of life, but moving on the freedom and power that we have in Christ.  Paul says as much in a letter to the Galatians when he writes, "For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery." (5:1)

I will not deny the reality of temptation and testing.  Paul does so as well in Romans 7.  He admits that sin still works in him, but he does not dwell in his circumstance or the inadequacy of a weak flesh.  Instead he rests on the completed work of Christ and sums up his thoughts this way:

Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?  Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. (7:24-25)

Fellow believers, it is time to do as I said in the opinion letter.  Understand your true citizenship.  Live accordingly.  Act like free men.