Angel

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Ep. 28 - Racism in 2020: Why Is This Virus Still Around?

Angel

In this episode, Angel discusses the topic of racism and police brutality in the United States. How do we respond to it in a Christ-like manner? Where does Racism ultimately stem from? Some of these answers may surprise you.

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Intro (0:07)

Welcome to The Message Podcast with yours truly Angel. This month’s episode is called “Racism in 2020: Why Is This Virus Still Around?” Not going to lie this episode was supposed to be about a completely different topic, but I’ll probably get to it next episode. However after the events of these last couple of weeks, I’ve felt led to use this platform to speak on the topic of racism and police brutality. This is one of the most important topics I could use this platform to speak on, and I will not take that responsibility lightly. So first and foremost, my prayers go out to the families of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and every other person who has lost their life as a victim of racism, and hate. While preparing for this episode, I’ve gone through such a rollercoaster of emotions it’s not even funny. I’ve been angry. I’ve been hurt. I’ve been frustrated. Just last week I was getting headaches at work from how angry I’ve been feeling. It felt like the more I was on social media and seeing senseless acts of violence, the worse it got. I just couldn’t understand it in the moment. How is racism a thing today? How was racism ever a thing for that matter? How can someone see someone who looks differently than them, as someone who in inferior? How are people still teaching their children to be racist? How can people lack empathy and compassion towards others? How can people have so much hate in their heart for who is clearly another human being? I’ve seen countless videos of people of color being discriminated against, and I just don’t get it. It’s so stupid and I can’t stand it. I’m disappointed in the world we live in today.

Honestly as a Christian, I can say with completely transparency, that I’ve been infuriated by what I’ve been seeing. As most Americans and shoot even people around the world, we’ve had enough. Enough of these senseless acts of violence. Enough of this division in this country. Enough of not seeing a person of color as someone equal. Let me also make this clear because I also need to say this, while protesting is a right as seen in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, looting is not. It also upsets me that we have people who are taking advantage of the situation, and using it to steal, destroy property and businesses. How is that helping? We give others a reason to point at people of color and say, “that’s why I treat them as such.” We cannot give people a reason to hate. While I understand the anger, let us remember God does not want to us to be behaving this way, I promise I’ll touch on that a little later in this episode. 

Anyways, I’ve been talking to God about things and even had a couple of video conferences with fellow believers about how not only how we feel, but how to act. It’s so hard. The flesh wants to say and do things, that do not agree with our spirit. This is why I’m touching on this topic right now. It’s important that we may be reminded that God is in control of all of this, and while we are in this world, we are not of it. We can however, make an impact in this world around us.

Racism Is Not Christ-Like (3:42)

I just want to first say, that I love seeing so much unity between everyone through these protests among other things. I’ve seen so many races stand together in not just the United States, but countries all over the world. It honestly makes my heart glad to see people standing together in this, because that’s how we make change. I got experience first hand back on the 4th of June when I attended my first protest here in Long Island, NY. I was moved by what I saw. We were around 5,000 deep, and I saw literally all races marching together to protest police brutality, and racism in this country. It showed me that while this world we live in is unfair sometimes, there is still so much good in it. There are people with compassion, and courage to speak up for what they believe in. It was a night I will never forget. The sad part is, not everybody is about unity.

Like I said before, everything I’ve been seeing on social media as of recent, has really frustrated me. I can’t stand seeing people being treated differently just because they look different. We are a human race. How are people so ignorant to not understand that? Underneath skin color, we are all identical. We have the same amount of bones, and the same amount of organs. We’re the same. What angers me also is, I’ll see some people drop a racist comment on social media, and then when I scroll through their account, they claim to be Christian. Let me make this very clear from the jump, racism is not Christ-like. There is absolutely nothing Christian about being racist and idolizing the American flag, as if it was a symbol of Confederacy, and not Democracy. I really can’t wrap my head around this. People really will walk around claiming Christ is their Lord and savior, when their fruits have nothing to show for it. I saw a tweet that said it very beautifully. 

Shout out to @ChinnyOh on Twitter because she said, 

“Christ and racism don’t mix. You can’t say you love God and hate His creation. You can’t say you love God and ignore when people are killing His people.”

As a Christian, I want to apologize on their behalf because this is not the way Christ taught us how to be. I wonder how these so called “Christians” would’ve treated Jesus, a man of color, had he walked in today’s America. This is why I wore a hoodie that read, “Jesus Is Coming Back.” I wanted people to see that a Christian will walk alongside them, and not from the sidelines yelling racial slurs. Jesus did not teach us to be prejudice at all, in fact He teaches the contrary! 

He literally says it. When we look in The Bible, in Mark 12:29-31 it literally says,

Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”

Enough said. Jesus literally said here, that the second commandment is equally as important as the first. Remember, God is telling us first to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and our strength. At the same time just as important, He also instructs us to love our neighbor as ourself. How are people not understanding this, is way beyond me. 

We Live in an Imperfect World (7:28)

However, a friend of mine the other day said something very profound to me while in a video conference with other brothers in Christ, that I wanted to share with you. He said, “racism exists, because we exist”. Sometimes, we need to be reminded of the truth, and that’s exactly what happened to me. The truth is, we live in a broken, imperfect world. As long as we’re here, there will always be some form of injustice present. Why is that the case? Because the ruler of this world is Satan.

1 John 5:19 says this as well:

“We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil one.”

Racism is not something we are born with. Racism is something that is taught and unfortunately passed on. Racism is not of God, so can you guess where this comes from? Bingo! If you answered Satan, you are correct. The enemy is on this earth, and is not playing games with us. We sometimes fail to take him serious enough, and forget that he is here to steal, kill, and destroy us. Racism is just one of many tactics he tries and use to achieve this goal. When we don’t give God our entire hearts, we leave for the enemy to take dominion. This is why so many people have hate in their hearts. That’s why this planet still deals with racial division. The enemy doesn’t want unity amongst us. The enemy loves seeing us kill one another. Many times it’s the enemy whispering us lies that cause some of us to act in prejudice and hate. When you see these the acts of violence and injustice, just remember the enemy is behind it. When we see a cop murder the innocent, look at it this way: that is someone who the enemy has had their way with.

However, also remember that while we live in a broken, sinful world, that Jesus is the name above all names. Yes the enemy is the ruler of this world, but it is God who sits on the throne. It is God who will one day restore everything we see. It is God who we need to place our hope in during these difficult times. It is by knowing the word of God, that we may find the light and joy through all of this. 

Revelation 21:4 says,

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”

So find hope in that verse. Our lives and what we see is only temporary, let’s rest our hope in God, and knowing His truth. There will come a time I assure you, when racism will be no more. 

How Do We Respond? (10:22)

Well what now? How do we respond to the amount of injustice that we see around us? Do we just sit and wait on God? Personally don’t think complacency is what God is asking of us right now. I think the Lord wants us to do the possible, while He does the impossible. The first we need to do, is have the courage to speak up for one another.

As Proverbs 31:8-9 says,

'Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice.'

We cannot sit on the sidelines just because we feel a certain situation doesn’t affect us in anyway. Clearly it’s not what we are called to do. We are all human beings, all created in the image of God. As a result, we all deserve to be treated as such. Now I understand that some people may not be comfortable with the idea of protesting in public, especially seeing videos of things going left, and that’s okay. There are other ways to support the movement. I’ll add the links to the resources on the transcription on my website, but here is a list of a few ways to support. One way to support is to donate. I will include the full list once again on my website, but the list includes, the George Floyd Memorial Fund, Black Lives Matter, National Bail Fund Network, Justice for Breonna, and more. Another way is sign petitions, asking for justice. Change.org is the place to go for that and again I will include the links for that as well, in the transcription.

Taking action is important. It’s part of what being Christian is about, to speak up and see that there is justice. I do want to make it clear as well, that the actions we take, need to glorify and reflect the character of God. Listen, I know it’s hard. Many of us are tempted to be more like Malcolm X than Martin Luther King Jr. I will not judge one bit because I have had to wrestle with my anger as well. 

However, I know that my God tells me in Ephesians 4:26:

And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry,

Let’s remember who we should always live for, and that is God. I see the injustice. I see the racism. All I’m saying is, we need to try and let not our emotions get the best of us. Looting is not the answer. Some people are saying that it is because people are not being heard and I understand that. But I don’t think destroying property and ruining a small business of someone who maybe spent their entire life savings on it, is the Christ-like way of doing things. Like I said, I understand. I am also angry seeing all the injustice and racism on my social media. I will leave you with this, God will pay them back.

The Bible says this as well. Romans 12:19 where God says,

Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the LORD. 

As hard as it may be, it’s important to remember that we are to be ambassadors of Christ on this planet. We need to stop destroying property and assaulting people just because they’re racist. Defending yourself is different. So let’s instead kill them with kindness and show God’s work in our lives, by how we carry ourselves. Let’s show grace and mercy to those who may not deserve it. As crazy as it may sound to some people, we need to also remember to pray for those who have committed acts of racism and/or violence. Believe it or not, God died for them on the cross as well, and he wants their souls to be in His presence when their time comes. We cannot let the enemy have their way with them. Yes turning to God is a choice, but we still should pray that God may touch their hearts, and for their lives to be transformed.

Another thing I want to say in regards to how we should respond, is to look at the people around us. It’s not enough to not be racist, we need to also be anti-racist. We need to have the courage to call out those around us who are being prejudice, and yes that includes our friends and family. We have to hold the people around us accountable. I believe that we can make a difference by starting with those around us. We need to change the narrative, and each of us can make an impact in the world we live in. This means correcting our parents and telling them that we will not accept racist remarks, and that it is wrong. This means correcting our friends who may say the N word and don’t find anything wrong with that. The small things can make a big difference.

And last but not least, go and vote. There are politicians that have no business being in politics anymore, and we have the power to vote them out, and bring in people who will serve us well. So make sure you’re registered to vote and make your voice heard through it as well Our generation is capable of doing so much good.

Words of Encouragement (15:28)

Please know this, we are all going to get through this together. Things have hit a breaking point and I’m so confident this is going to lead to something good. While I am young at just 26 years old, even folks old enough to be my parents can agree that never in their lifetimes, have they seen such unity for a common goal, to hold corrupt cops accountable and have person understand that all lives cannot matter, until black lives matter.

This generation is so much more awake to what is going on in society and our voices are being heard. The cops who were involved in the murder of George Floyd are locked up. There is progress, but we cannot give up. We cannot let something distract us from this common goal. We need to keep fighting. We need to keep making our voices heard, because I know change is coming. There may be division in the United States with racism, but overall I truly believe there is so much unity. We are making history. We will leave this a better world for our children, and the next generations to come.

Prayer (16:37)

So as we near the end of this podcast, as always I like to close us out with prayer. There’s power in prayer and after studying the Book of Nehemiah, I’ve been reminded as to how much more we need to pray.

Dear Heavenly Father, Lord I thank you so much for this very moment. I thank you for the person tuning in at this very moment listening, Lord because I know with you nothing is coincidence. Lord we thank you for who you are. Throughout history you have shown us your faithfulness to those who come to you. Lord we come to you in great need. We live in a broken world and until you return and restore everything, things will be continue to broken to some degree. Lord I ask you in this moment to remind us who you are. Remind us Lord that you are the name above all names. Lord remind us that the enemy needs your permission before carrying out anything, and as your word says in Romans 8:28, your plans are good for those who love you. Lord help us remain hopeful. Help us stay strong and courageous, so that we may boldly continue to proclaim your name and be that light around us. You know how hurt and frustrated we are with the injustice so many see in this world. You sent your son Christ to die for us, when He never deserved to be placed on a cross. So you know very well how we feel Lord. But let us find joy and comfort that as your word says in Revelation 12:4 that there will come a time where there will be no more pain, sorrow, or death. Help us do our best to show grace and mercy to those who may show us hatred. We trust that you are our avenger and that what the enemy tries to use for evil, you will turn it around and us it for good. Thank you so much Lord for always being there for us. Thank you for showing us through Jesus, the perfect example on how to treat others. Lord we also pray for wisdom and discernment during these times. Lord help us make wise decisions and protect us wherever we go. We thank you with all our hearts and in Jesus’ name we pray, amen. 


Outro (18:47)

This brings us to the end of the episode. If you’re listening to this episode right now, just know I love you so much, from the bottom of my heart. I truly hope I was able to bring any type of encouragement, and hope your way. These are tough times we’re in. Very tough times. Trust me I know firsthand how tough it is to be angry, and yet not allowing it to drive me to sin. However, let’s remember who God is. Let’s remember the name above all names. Chaotic as things seem, remember it is God who sits on the throne. God will pay them back for us, so let’s just keep fighting the good fight and making our voices heard! while glorifying Christ.

As I said before, I really do hope this episode was able to bring some hope and peace your way. Please feel free to share it with a friend who may also need to hear this message. The primary reason why I decided to make this episode, is because I know if I struggled with my anger and how to act during these tough times, then I know a ton of others have as well.

Also I want you guys to know I am available should you ever need prayer, encouragement, or just want to hit me up and say hi. I’m on Instagram quite often and my username is @OfficialAngelTV. You can also contact me through my website which is mynameisangel.com. There’s a contact section on it and it goes straight to my email, and I always respond back. Thank you so much for tuning in, you have no idea how much it means for you to give me your time. God bless you. I love you. Remember God loves you as well as as Romans 8:28 says, His plans are good to those who love Him. Stay encouraged. Seek God because it is only through His word that we will find joy. We’re in this together. We are making history, we just need to keep fighting. You are strong. You are powerful. Through God, we are than conquerors. God bless and until next time, this has been The Message.

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