A scripture that had troubled her for 10 years finally revealed its message to the Rev. Brenda Salter McNeil recently. It was an explosive revelation to the church about the Black Lives Matter movement and it āmessedā with her.
āItās been bugging me for at least 10 years,ā declared McNeil, as she opened up her presentation at the Movement Day 2015 conference hosted by the New York City Leadership Center.
With the measured cadence of a preacher on fire, McNeil, an associate professor of reconciliation studies in the School of Theology, Seattle Pacific University, revealed the scripture that āmessedā with her: Mark 2:21-22.
Using the analogy of the new wine and wineskins, McNeil highlighted a need for the church to become more responsive to pressing racial disparities in cities through the trajectory of Black Lives Matter, the international movement that campaigns against violence toward Black people.
The movement gained prominence in 2014 after protests erupted across the U.S. over the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner in New York City. And it was a few months after that when the professor said she learned from young people in the movement.
āThe young people we seek to serve, this generation is inheriting a different world than most of us grew up in. Those of us that have been leading organizations and been pastoring a church, something is shifting around us,ā McNeil said.
āThe world is changing and we are all grappling with what it means to continue to be relevant in this generation, and I was never more convinced of that than last year when I went to Ferguson, Missouri, with a group of Evangelical faith leaders from around the country,ā she said.
āWe went by the invitation of sojourners in Washington, D.C., to learn from the young people who were leading the Black Lives Matter movement that grew up from that city. And so as we went, we listened and talked to these young people, and I was really taken very deeply by what they honestly and candidly said to us. No one filtered their language. They basically said, āWe donāt really like the church,āā she said bluntly.
āOne young man said, āWe donāt have a Ph.D. in racial harmony. Weāre just trying to play the card thatās been dealt to us. We donāt know why a movement is springing up here. We donāt know why it didnāt happen (with) Trayvon Martin or some other incident. All we know is that this thing has dropped into our laps and we feel as if this is our civil rights movement that was left undone by you,āā McNeil added.
Her words arrested the audience.
āUnlike the civil rights movement of my day and many of our experiences, this is not a movement growing out of the church. So I wanted to understand why donāt they want our input, why arenāt they concerned about what the church thinks. And what I came to understand is they believe that we donāt have relevance,ā said McNeil.
āThey said, āWe donāt like your hypocrisy. We donāt like your misogyny …ā ouch, ā … we donāt like your sexism, we donāt like the way your inactivity keeps you silent. It seems as if you work harder to keep people out than to let them in,ā she continued.
āAnd so as we left we were a little shell-shocked. We kind of walked out, and I knew the game had just changed. As we left that meeting we were convinced that we had to bridge the gap between our young people who no longer believe in the relevance of the church,ā she said.
āMy brothers and sisters, I believe that we are standing on a Kairos moment, a strategic moment in history ā an opportunity for the church to repent the ways we have not shown up for these young people who see us as inactive and lacking innovation. You see in every generation, there are seismic cultural shifts that wake us up to the reality around us. Such is the case with the Black Lives Matter movement,ā said McNeil.
āRegardless of where we stand on any side of the political aisle, I think this might just indeed be a wake-up call to the church. I believe this is what we might call a catalytic event. Some might see it as a catastrophe, or it could be a catalyst that is shaking us up out of our slumber into action and into engagement,ā she said. āThe cities around this country are speaking to us. They are shaking us, perhaps even prophesying to us, and thatās what I think Jesus meant by these new wineskins.ā
Using the story of Peter and Cornelius from Chapter 10 of the book of ActsĀ to show how God brought Gentiles into the church through reconciliation in a new process that went against Jewish tradition, McNeil argued that a similar approach was needed for the church in order to build bridges toward racial reconciliation.
āIt wasnāt Peter who decided reconciliation was a good idea. God intervened in human affairs and stepped into a situation with supernatural visions, which suggests that the spirit of God is at work calling us and calling us to take a journey toward reconciliation,ā said McNeil.
āJust like Peter and just like Cornelius, God is the unseen spiritual force who enters our story and begins to motivate us and convict and push us and meld us and strengthen us to embark on a journey that leads us toward reconciliation. Thatās how we begin to bridge the racial divide in cities,ā she said.
Through this Scripture, McNeil said God is basically saying, āThe things you use, the political positions, the denominational divides, the geographical issues, the racial and cultural divides that have kept you separated, they are no longer relevant, and I now want you to understand that I am setting you up and getting you ready to walk a journey toward reconciliation.ā
McNeil said God had been priming her for the Black Lives Matter encounter through the Mark 2 Scripture.
āThatās exactly how I felt when I came out of Ferguson, Missouri. I left with the same realization, Godās talking to these young people. And these young folks have something to say, and we might not like how itās packaged, but I believe God is breaking in and saying something,ā she said.
The pastor explained that after examining the issue further, she concluded young people today are looking for community; they want to have real conversations where they are heard.
āThey want to see a new expression of church. They want something that is authentically present and generous, inside and out. They want everybody to be able to participate. And they want a church that shows that we are socially active. We can no longer preach Jesus without justice. We have got to do more than we say,ā she said.