The task at hand for white evangelicalism

Last updated on: June 27, 2018 at 7:15 pm by Fred Clark

The task at hand for white evangelicalism 2018-06-27T19:15:12-04:00 Fred Clark

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The top picture here is of a popular set of “wood and furniture repair markers” that we sell at the Big Box. These work, more or less, although I’m not sure that “repair” is really quite the right word for what they do.

They’re exactly what they appear to be: a set of permanent markers in varying shades of brown that can be used to redarken scratches or scuff marks to make them blend in a bit better with the rest of the wood of your furniture or floor. They don’t really fix anything, but they hide it well enough. It’s like stage makeup for hardwood floors. It’s only a surface-level, cosmetic solution, but that’s fine if the problem itself is only a surface-level, cosmetic problem.

The picture below that is just what it says in the caption: “Galveston, Texas. Galveston grade raising. Pumping in the filling.” This was neither a cosmetic problem nor a cosmetic solution. It was one of the most jaw-droppingly ambitious and audacious public-works and civilization-building projects ever undertaken, anywhere.

The city of Galveston was almost completely destroyed by a massive hurricane in 1900. An estimated 8,000 of the city’s 38,000 residents were killed. Every home and structure in the city sustained damage.

After the storm, the city had to rebuild, but they realized that rebuilding everything just as it had been before would mean that the same destruction would happen again the next time such a storm struck its island. If another storm brought another 16-foot surge, their rebuilt city would suffer the same fate yet again. More of the same would just mean a repeat of the death and destruction.

So the people of Galveston decided to raise the city. The whole thing. They built a massive, 17-foot seawall on the Gulf side of the island and then jacked up every remaining building onto stilts before pumping in fill to raise the ground up to meet them. They jacked up houses, stores, churches — even a massive stone cathedral — and they did all of this with horses and steam power. After facing unprecedented destruction from the deadliest natural disaster in American history, they planned and executed an unprecedented rebuilding.

The raising of Galveston would be inspiring even if that attempt had failed. Just the idea of trying to do it makes it the stuff of legend. But then they actually pulled it off. This story is worth remembering and pondering if you’re ever feeling overwhelmed by the enormity of the devastation and the challenge confronting you. (Something I’m very much feeling today.)

You’ve likely already guessed why I’ve juxtaposed the two photos above. The analogy is not subtle, but it is also not wrong.

White evangelical Christians are finally recognizing that there’s something wrong with their faith. It’s been tainted by its ties to white supremacy, white patriarchy, white nationalism, and all of the corresponding false doctrines of the false idol of white Jesus. Even Southern Baptists are acknowledging this, out loud and in public.

But I don’t think white evangelicals have yet fully grasped the enormity of the problem. They’re still thinking about this as a scratch on the hardwood floor and not as the devastation of the 1900 Galveston Hurricane. They’re still approaching this problem like it’s some surface-level, cosmetic blemish on an otherwise sound foundation rather than a lethal disaster that calls for the top-to-bottom rebuilding of everything they’ve ever known.

Nothing can stand where it was before. Not one fence or brick or sidewalk. Everything will need to be moved, raised, rebuilt on new foundations on higher ground. Everyone will be affected and everyone must be involved. Anything left unmoved will be destroyed by the rebuilding or else destroyed by the storms to come.

That’s the scope of the problem. Eventually, white evangelicals will come to see that and stop trying to fix things with a glorified magic marker. The only question is how high the water rises before they understand.

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