At the moment I am taking a class called "Understanding Contemporary Society." It is one of those sociology classes where one discusses all the social ills of the world and the different proposed answers to society's problems. This week one of my discussion questions went like this:
a. W. E. B. DuBois saw the color line as the foremost problem of the 20th century. What did he mean by the color line?
b. In your opinion, is the color line still the foremost problem? Why or why not?
This question was not easy to answer because it stirs up passionate feelings in many of us, and not always for the same reason. But my answer would be no. The biggest problem in our world is not color or racism. The biggest problem in our world is the sin of selfishness. I could argue that this sin is what Paul meant by the love of money being the root of all evil.
You see sin is a desire to do what I want to do no matter who it displeases or hurts. We call it selfishness but really it is sin. That was Eve's problem in the very beginning. She wanted to have the glory that belonged to God so she ate the fruit that she thought would make her equal with God. The same problem is present today.
Our society is consumed with "me-ism". It's all about me. Whatever makes me feel good is the best thing for everyone else. None of us is exempt. We have a natural default to be selfish. Every other ill in our society, e.g., crime, racism, sexual abuse, human trafficking, you name it, is an offspring of our natural default to think only of what makes us feel good.
The only antidote to this selfish disease it to be filled with the love of Jesus. The love of Jesus can take the most hard-hearted individual and make him/her as meek as a lamb. The love of Jesus will cause people of different skin colors to worship together, cry on each other's shoulders, and eat in one another's homes. It will cause formerly bitter enemies to come together as true friends.
Some might say that I am taking about an ideal that can not be reached. While it is true that some will never accept Jesus as Lord this does not stop us from preaching. In the same sense we should not be hindered from spreading the love of Jesus because of the callousness and indifference of the world around us.
The Bible says that the love of God is poured out into our hearts by the Holy Ghost. What this world needs is an old-fashioned Holy Ghost revival that will fill us all with the love of God. That will take care of more of society's problems than all the social programs in the world.
Sincerely,
Rev. Sullivan Jones
a. W. E. B. DuBois saw the color line as the foremost problem of the 20th century. What did he mean by the color line?
b. In your opinion, is the color line still the foremost problem? Why or why not?
This question was not easy to answer because it stirs up passionate feelings in many of us, and not always for the same reason. But my answer would be no. The biggest problem in our world is not color or racism. The biggest problem in our world is the sin of selfishness. I could argue that this sin is what Paul meant by the love of money being the root of all evil.
You see sin is a desire to do what I want to do no matter who it displeases or hurts. We call it selfishness but really it is sin. That was Eve's problem in the very beginning. She wanted to have the glory that belonged to God so she ate the fruit that she thought would make her equal with God. The same problem is present today.
Our society is consumed with "me-ism". It's all about me. Whatever makes me feel good is the best thing for everyone else. None of us is exempt. We have a natural default to be selfish. Every other ill in our society, e.g., crime, racism, sexual abuse, human trafficking, you name it, is an offspring of our natural default to think only of what makes us feel good.
The only antidote to this selfish disease it to be filled with the love of Jesus. The love of Jesus can take the most hard-hearted individual and make him/her as meek as a lamb. The love of Jesus will cause people of different skin colors to worship together, cry on each other's shoulders, and eat in one another's homes. It will cause formerly bitter enemies to come together as true friends.
Some might say that I am taking about an ideal that can not be reached. While it is true that some will never accept Jesus as Lord this does not stop us from preaching. In the same sense we should not be hindered from spreading the love of Jesus because of the callousness and indifference of the world around us.
The Bible says that the love of God is poured out into our hearts by the Holy Ghost. What this world needs is an old-fashioned Holy Ghost revival that will fill us all with the love of God. That will take care of more of society's problems than all the social programs in the world.
Sincerely,
Rev. Sullivan Jones