Guest commentary by Sam McGregor
Am I my brother’s keeper? It’s an infamous question — one that Cain asked God after God confronted him after he’d murdered his brother Abel.
On April 20 the world received notice that a verdict had been reached against Derek Chauvin. For some, this announcement did not impact our daily routines. For others, especially many who identify as African American, the announcement brought them to a standstill for the next hour as they awaited the verdict.
We now know that this officer was found guilty of all three counts in the murder of George Floyd. Responses to the verdict varied. Some cheered in the streets. Some breathed sighs of relief. Some lamented that as police officers they would be grouped into the same category as Chauvin.
After the verdict, I reached out to two groups of people. I contacted police officers I know (one of who attends the church I serve) and also initiated a Zoom call with a group of African American women who attend the church (including one who is a retired officer). I listened — and I learned a lot.
I learned about two experiences that happened within local neighborhoods where people who attend our church live. I learned about one person who went to visit a friend who lives in a gated community. When this Black woman arrived at the gated entrance, she was asked by the guard, “Are you here to clean houses?” I found out about a Black couple who moved into a predominantly white neighborhood and went for a walk. They met new neighbors and they introduced themselves as someone who just moved in down the street. The Black couple was asked by their white neighbors, “Are you renters?”
In each of these situations, there was an assumption of inequality. And that is something that Black and brown people in the United States deal with on a daily basis. Implicit bias that leads to unequal treatment.
As one person of color shared with me, “I was born in this country, but I do not feel accepted and valued in this country.” Another person asked me to notice how few American flags fly in front of homes of Black Americans because they do not feel fully accepted.
I also reached out and listened to the voices of current and retired police officers. One shared with me that it seems like every time they make one step forward in perception, events happen outside of their control that set them 20 steps back. One shared with me that they are a police officer because they feel that it is what they are called by God to do, but they are beyond frustration at the way they are portrayed by national figures and across social media. One officer shared with me that the vast majority of the men and women that wear police uniforms are good, decent people that are our neighbors, our fellow congregants, our T-ball coaches. Men and women just like you and me.
When Cain asks, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” implicit in that question is that he is not his brother’s keeper. That it’s a dog-eat-dog world and it’s everyone for themselves. There is only so much to go around and you’d better claim what you can for yourself.
But the author of 1 John offers a different answer to Cain’s question. 1 John 3:16 lifts up the example of Jesus Christ and advises us to look to him. He laid down his life for us. But then the Scripture takes it one step further: Because Jesus Christ laid down his life for us, then we ought to lay down our lives for one another.
Good, law-abiding police officers need our support. These good officers are frustrated at the way they are perceived by many in the public and they, too, hate being used as pawns for the agendas of others.
But we also need to work in our society to bring to light the systemic racism that exists in our culture and how people are not treated equally. In the words of the Minnesota attorney general Keith Ellison, we need to see one another as “a bouquet of humanity.” As one officer said to me, we will never come together to resolve our issues if we continue the polarization path that we are on.
Reformed theology speaks of total depravity. Total depravity means that there is at least a taint of sin in everything that we do as human beings. Our culture is tainted by sin and so that means all of our institutions are tainted by sin. That includes the church, that includes our neighborhoods, that includes our police departments.
But as Ellison said, no one person can do everything but each person can do something. 1 John tells us what those of us who follow Jesus Christ can do: “This is God’s commandment, that we should believe in the name of God’s Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he commanded us” (1 John 3:18-23). We are to follow the example set by Jesus Christ and “love everyone not in word or speech but in truth and action.” Amen.
SAM McGREGOR JR. is pastor of Allison Creek Presbyterian Church in York, South Carolina.
