LOLOL Progress - Evangelical Christians Grapple With Racism As Sin
June 6, 2020 8:20 AM ET
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For evangelical Christian leaders, however, crafting a response to Floyd's killing is complicated by their view of sin in individual, not societal, terms and their belief in the need for personal salvation above all. Evangelical theologians have long rejected the idea of a "social gospel," which holds that the kingdom of God should be pursued by making life better here on earth.
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Daniels is theologically quite conservative, focusing his sermons generally on the need to find personal salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. But he views sin as existing simultaneously in one's own heart and also in society.
"It starts first in your own heart, confronting that," Daniels told NPR, "and then we deal with the racism that exists in the hearts of others."
When speaking to his white members, Daniels says he urges them to consider hard questions.
"Do I find myself seeing black people, Latino people, any person other than white, as beneath me? Then, stay there and deal with that," he says. "And whatever comes out of that, that's work that you need to do before the Lord, that you need to repent of."
Earlier this week, Daniels invited several members of his church to accompany him in a peaceful protest against racism and police brutality.
"Most of those who came were white," he says, "and many said it was the first time they had ever marched before. It was the first time they had been among the hurting. And it gave them a real perspective. They were there in it, feeling the pain."
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