The Holy Heresy Reparation Shakedown

by Andy Caldwell

On the eve of Holy Week, the Boston Globe reported that a group of clergy members called on “white churches” in Boston to back reparations for the trans-Atlantic slave trade. “We point to them in Christian love to publicly atone for the sins of slavery and we ask them to commit to a process of reparations where they will extend their great wealth — tens of millions of dollars among some of those churches — into the Black community,” said Reverend Kevin Peterson.

Danielle Williams, director of Prophetic Resistance Boston, discussed the Holy Thursday tradition of re-creating the act of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples. “Black people, the descendants of slavery have been washing the feet of our oppressors for well over 400 years,” she said. “Now it’s time for you to wash our feet. The descendants of slavery, we want our reparations. We want it now.”

These ministers have become mercenaries rather than ministers of mercy, thereby missing the message of Holy Week entirely.

Jesus Christ alone atoned for all sins, including slavery, as only He could. As stated in Paul’s letter (Colossians 1:22)- “But now God has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation.”! That is, God is holy, and mankind cannot enter God’s Holy presence, or have eternal life, without an atonement for sin. But, because Jesus lived a sinless life, he could offer his life as a payment for sin thereby reconciling God and mankind. And, nowhere in that transaction of atonement is there room for cash payments.

Strictly speaking, Christianity believes the penalty for sin is a two-fold death: the death of our body which is a physical death (which Jesus conquered by His resurrection from the dead), and the spiritual death of our soul via a permanent, eternal separation from the presence of God. That means the loss of life, light, and love (which are attributes of God’s being) for those who don’t receive the blessing of his sacrifice, the free gift of eternal life. 

This brings up an age-old complaint. How can a Holy God tolerate evil in the space and time in which we live? Well, the Lord’s Prayer directs us to pray for God’s kingdom to come and His will to be done here on earth as it is in heaven. That is, the kingdoms of this world are not God’s kingdom. God’s people must pray for God’s kingdom and will to be done on earth. That is, light must invade darkness. Love must conquer hate. Life must conquer death. The atoning blood of Jesus makes this possible, but it must be applied via God’s grace and our voluntary act of repentance and surrender to God’s will.

Hence, for those who believe and receive the sacrifice of Jesus, earth is the closest you will ever get to hell because by an act of faith, you can begin to experience the eternal life of God here on earth. Heaven being defined as the place where God’s manifest presence of love and holiness reigns, and where there will no longer be any sins or remembrance of the same. On the other hand, those who choose to reject or ignore the sacrifice of Jesus as the payment for their sins, this is as close to heaven as they will get. 

In conclusion, the debt for the sins of mankind, including slavery, were paid in full by nothing but the blood of Jesus. As stated in John 3:36, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life.” Instead of preaching these truths, these ministers are obliterating the message of the cross and the empty grave for the sake of filthy mammon.

They should be teaching and modeling forgiveness instead of demanding to be “washed in cash.”