Racial Injustice: Church of God v. CGGC

You know that lately I've been highlighting the cultural differences among three eras in the history of our body:

1. The Church of God
2. The Churches of God
3. The CGGC

The differences in, as one of my off the blog correspondents described it, "ethos," are important and profound.

A few weeks ago, there was an outcry over the shooting of Ahmaud Arbery. And, now, of course, riots are taking place in Minneapolis in the wake of the death of George Floyd.

As these stories develop, I can't help to note how much our body has changed. I'm noticing the difference at this point and not certain yet what to do with it.

If you know only a little about the Church of God, you know that it was passionately anti-slavery. You know that there are stories about Church of God involvement in the highly secretive "underground railroad." You may know that our early efforts to expand in the south failed because we were so radically involved in the struggle against slavery. You may know that, at a time when General Lee's army had advanced about as far north as it would advance, it's soldiers selected a Church of God "Bethel" to be burned down because the Church of God, as small as it was in those early days, was well-known for what it's people were doing in the cause of racial equality.

Back in the day, the people of the Church of God were, as the Epistle of James says, "Doers of the word." (Jas. 1:22)

I know no better way to contrast the Church of God from the CGGC than to note the eNews article Lance wrote in the aftermath of the Ahmaud Arbery shooting.

Lance began the article thusly,

I’ll be honest. There are many times I feel at a loss for the right words to speak or write. Today is one of those days.

Then, Lance began the final paragraph of the article saying,

Again, I struggle with the words to express what is stirring deep within me.

Please understand.

Trust me when I say that what comes next is not intended to be a personal attack on Lance.

My crosshairs are on the CGGC. The CGGC is in the midst of a long period of spiritual decay and numerical decline. The Lord of all authority and power and grace and mercy and blessing has not blessed us for generations.

The Church of God was renowned for its actions in fighting for racial justice, even when it was puny and only beginning its ministry.

Lance is the quintessential man of the CGGC.

And, as the prominent person for the CGGC today, Lance struggles for "words."

Again, please, please understand what this post is about. It's absolutely not about Lance.

What it's about is how we have changed, about what we have become.

James 1:22 warns, "Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves."

There would have been a time, in Church of God days, when our people would have, briefly, searched for the "right words to speak or write," on the way out the door to do the things they always did in situations like this."

Today, what we care about is finding words.

Read that eNews.  Lance struggles to feel all a disciple should feel and hopes to express his lament.

Our body has changed.

Once, we produced fruit. One, we were doers. Once, the connection between talk and walk was perfect.

We are not who we once were.

Take this to heart. We must begin to loathe what we have become.

The Word says that godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret. We need to grieve about ourselves.

We must repent.