Mainstream white evangelicals have experienced collective \u201cGod moments.\u201d\u009d In the 1970s, few churches concerned themselves with the relief of world hunger. Then Ron Sider wrote Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, and before long, we just assumed that evangelicals should be concerned about hunger. Before Roe v. Wade, abortion was sidelined as a Catholic concern. But after the advocacy of Francis Schaeffer and others, we quickly saw the great evil that abortion is. These were God moments\u201d\u201dtimes when our Lord graciously gave us moral clarity about an issue he was calling us to engage.<\/p>\n
We are currently experiencing a new \u201cGod moment,\u201d\u009d when God is shining his burning light on how our nation and our churches are fractured by racial division and injustice. In the past two years, we\u2019ve seen image after image of injustice perpetrated against black Americans. We\u2019ve studied the statistics. And most important, we\u2019ve heard the anguished cry of a suffering community that is understandably hurting, angry, and demanding progress.<\/p>\n
Moderate white evangelicals, who make up the bulk of our movement, see more clearly than ever how racism is embedded in many aspects of our society, from business to law enforcement to education to church life. We have been slow to hear what the black church has been telling us for a while. And in all that, we hear God calling his church to seek justice and reconciliation in concrete ways.<\/p>\n
To be evangelical now means to be no longer deaf to these cries or to God\u2019s call.<\/p>\n