I won't lie and say I don't see color.

I won't lie and say I don't see color...

I can't tell that lie. I see it. To me, the color of people is like the colors in a flower bed... all the colors are beautiful... all the colors are wanted... all the colors make the other colors more colorful. I can't say I don't see color. I won't say I don't see color.

Race. I won't say race doesn't matter. It matters to me. The human race matters to me. The human race matters more than all the other races on the planet.

I love the human race. I see the beautiful colors.

Within the human race, it's obvious to me that many don't love all the colors. It's obvious to me that many people in the human race are denuded and denigrated because of the color of their skin.

Because of that, it is a necessity that we highlight the colors being mistreated. We need to recognize mistreatment. We need to stop it.

All of the colors are part of the human race. All of the God-ordained colors are beautiful and sacred. Sacred, indeed, and not to be violated, lest our Creator see His image bearers violated by His image bearers.

If you had a beloved flower bed, and someone or some group systematically trampled your purple flowers, you would be mad. You would say, "Who is doing this to the purple flowers?" You'd want it to stop. It would be the same with your precious reds, or your precious yellows, or your precious blues... if one color flower was targeted, you'd defend that color. If 33 purples were crushed for every 1 blue, you'd be upset about the 1 blue, but you'd be very upset that the purples were being targeted. Let's be clear, I don't want to see any color in my flower bed targeted, nor all colors, and any violation to any color because of its color would bother me, but the systematic crushing of a color would disturb me. I would say, "Who hates this purple so much? Why?"

Get it yet?

Black lives matter.

Absolutely, every life matters. Your life matters. My life matters. Each life matters to God, and I want EVERY child and every grown-up to know how much they matter to God. That IS my life calling. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is my calling. The full cross and the empty tomb give me much to share.

Be that as it may, caring about every person -- and every color -- I cannot ignore the special and unique pains of groups of people.

There has been a systematic crushing of black lives in America. It's not all only history. If we don't see that, there is something wrong with us. It's as plain to me as the systematic crushing of the unborn in this nation. I see it. I see the one, and I see the other, and I am bothered by those who only see one or the other, and especially bothered by those who don't see a problem with either.

This is not one of those "if you don't agree with me, unfriend me" sort of posts. I am one man, sharing my heart. I have much to say, but I am not okay with cliches, or snarkiness representing my thoughts. I want to say what I mean to say in the way I mean to say it.

To do that, it takes time. It takes several long posts, in fact.

I don't want to hear "what about ______?" or "what about __________?" as a way to justify some wrong. If we want to talk about _____________ wrong, let's talk about that wrong, but not as a way to justify _________________ wrong. When it comes to racism, let's don't say one thing to ignore the other. I just want us to even begin to say it's not okay to keep ignoring the issue at hand.

I am a disciple of Jesus. I haven't always been a disciple of Jesus. The first 25.5 years of my life, I was a pagan. Now, I follow my Lord, and I have learned a lot, am learning, and expect to continue to learn.

I believe every human life is sacred, and we don't have the right to violate one another. As imitators of Jesus, the disciples of Jesus should show God’s love to the oppressed and even the oppressor, calling both to repentance and faith in Jesus, for He saves, without distinction, whoever believes, showing true value for the image of God.

I also want to live love without distinction in the same way. It is my goal. I don't always succeed, but I long to keep trying.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, "Through Christ’s incarnation, all of humanity regains the dignity of bearing the image of God. Whoever from now on attacks the least of people attacks Christ, who took on human form and who in himself has restored the image of God for all who bear a human countenance." Amen.

Perhaps we need to simply end with the words of Christ: "Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment." (John 7:24 ESV)