Racial Issues and the Trinity

We have racial issues.

Demonstrations and marches continue in Ferguson today on Martin Luther King Day.

I don't want to wade into the specifics of the Ferguson issue right now, maybe in another post.  I do want to talk about racism, different cultures, and the Trinity.

What does the Trinity have to do with these issues?  I suspect, it shows us the way forward.

The Trinity is not an obscure, irrelevant reality, only for the Leslie Knope's of theology.  Understanding God as triune, as one God eternally existing in three persons, illuminates everything else.   

There are two basic things to be sure we know at this point about the doctrine of the Trinity:

1. There is one God.  The Father is fully God.  He is not one third of God, nor one manifestation of God, but he is fully God.  So is the Son.  So is the Holy Spirit.  There is perfect, unchecked unity in the person of God.

2. There are three distinct persons.  The Father is not the Son.  The Son is not the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is not the Father.  They are real, distinct, and genuinely individual persons.

The unity in the Trinity is not a limiting factor of the distinctness of the three persons.

The distinctness of the three persons of the Trinity is not a limiting factor of the unity.

These are the dynamics of the Perfect One.  The one place where nothing could be improved functions and exists eternally in this way.  The real-ideal society of God is made up of 1 and 3, unity and diversity.  With respect to unity and diversity, the Triune God is not either-or, but both-and.  Not war, but peace.  Not reductive, but expansive.  Not or, but and.  Not no, but yes.

So what does this have to do with racial issues?

Our racial and cultural struggles involve at the heart a lack of unity, a lack of oneness.  The problem of racism is a problem of diversity at the cost of unity.  Racial problems, racial tensions are results of unity being sacrificed because of diversity.  We are different, we look different, we do things differently.  We conclude from this that we are not, or cannot be united.  The dream is that "one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood."  The root problem is that not everyone is welcome at the table.  Racial tension between black and white in America is the result of real, historical injustice.  Real, bloody, lack of unity, flowing from a lack of the unifying power of the Trinity and all the universe: love.

In response to racism and racial tension, we often swerve towards one of two solutions:

1. Exalt the differences over the unity.  We think that multiculturalism means saying that everything every culture does is good and right.  So we rot out any possible ground for moving towards genuine unity.  Or we exalt the differences by giving up on the unity, retreating from one another, each clutching our own distinctives, or by going to war with each other.   

2. Exalt the unity over the differences.  Here we try to ignore the real differences that exist.  We think unity means acting like, or pretending that we are no different.  So we rot out the beauty of racial and cultural diversity, and try to smooth it all over.  The problem is that differences do exist, they run rather deep, and to work for unity by pretending they are not there is like throwing another tablecloth over the pile of dishes on the table and believing that you have cleared the table for the next meal.

But what we learn from the Triune God is that it is possible to hold real, genuine, distinct differences together in a perfect, unbroken unity without compromising either the unity or the diversity.  This is not easy to do, as anyone who has had more than casual relationships across cultures (or sexes) can testify.  But it is what God is bringing about in his kingdom.  

What stands in the way of perfect unity among different people is not our created differences, but our sin.  We are not good at distinguishing between those two things, but the gospel can teach us.  Through the gospel of Jesus, God has made atonement for our sin, so that we can freely confess and turn away from it.  He has showed us what love looks like: to get our eyes off ourselves, our own advantage, our own privilege, to prize and value others, even at cost to ourselves.  And he has given us a basis for genuine unity: truth and righteousness.  In Christ who is our righteousness, a people from every tribe, tongue, and nation are being brought together.  And they are being brought together into a body which has many diverse members, all of which serve one another, and together serve the Head of the body.  This is God's plan and his project.  We have failed to be united in love apart from him, but his parade marches forward, and he calls all people everywhere to come and join.    

"With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.  There is one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call--one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.  But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift." Ephesians 4:2-7