I NEVER THOUGHT OF THE WORD SACRIFICE LIKE THIS BEFORE
‘in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. ‘ Deuteronomy 30:16
While I was cycling this morning, I listened to another fantastic podcast from Lewis Howes. It’s called the School of Greatness, it’s a phenomenal collaboration of interviews. Today I went back a few episodes to listen to Lewis interview Michael Beckwith, a black minister and founder of Agape.
Right off the bat they tackled issues of white privilege and how the Agape community is creating a dialogue around it. Dr. Beckwith has a fantastic approach around it. What caught me the most was when he mentioned the word “sacrifice.”
He briefly touched on race relations and mentioned that, “white people were going to have to sacrifice if anything was going to change.” It’s a good sound bite — but what caught me more by surprise was how he defined “sacrifice.”
Dr. Beckwith mentioned, “the root of the word sacrifice derives from the word “sacred.” Meaning, when you sacrifice something, you are giving up something sacred to you — a very monumental moment.
When I envision this “sacrifice” as something which is “sacred,” a whole bunch of stories flood my brain. Obviously, there’s Jesus — who sacrficed his life on a cross. Then my head goes to Abraham, who was about to sacrifice his only son as he was instructed by an angel. The Bible is full of examples of sacrifices — which yes, at the time, were very sacred. I’d say they were “holy moments.”
This looks to be a holy moment for white people in America, a sacred moment. As this verse in Deuteronomy mentions, God asks us to “follow his ways,” and “keep his commandments.” Which basically means, “love your neighbor as you love yourself.” It could also fall into the, “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
Both, very simple and clear directives of how to treat not just black people but all people. O, I almost forgot to mention the verse about, “judge not, lest you be judged and forgive so that you would be forgiven.”
So, what do we do about sacrifice? What do we do about this sacred moment in our society?
I’m reminded again of the verse that says, “the greatest among you is the servant of all.”
Another clear example of how to live your life to it’s fullest potential. I want to live at 100 all the time. I want to be buried saying, “I’ve done everything I could. I want to be a servant, not a celebrity in these times.”
I’ve noticed right away that “to sacrifice” to me means, to give my attention to these issues of systemic racism. My attention is the greatest asset I have. Instead of letting them pass by, I have to educate myself. I have to come to my own conclusions and gain wisdom of what I can do CONFIDENTLY.
These have become my sacred times, my times of sacrifice. Normally, I would read books of finance and leadership. Now, my time is devoted to learning more of our history and the origins of systematic racism.
One last thing. If you’re unsure of what to do — this picture of the killing of George Floyd speaks volumes. Most have seen the picture of three cops holding down George Floyd. Then, you have one of those cops with his knee on George’s neck. And finally, you have one more cop — just watching.
When it comes to how people in America deal with racism, it’s very much like this picture of George Floyd. You may be one of the cops holding George down. You may even tell yourself that what you are doing is right under the guise of the law.
Others, may be like the cop with their foot on George’s neck. They are operating under the guise of “this is the law,” while also creating life more miserable for black people.
And finally, you could be the cop who just watched. You don’t want to face racism. You know it’s wrong but maybe it doesn’t affect you directly. So, you just watch and try to let it flow by, hoping it may all change.
It’s an interesting picture to think about. My hope is that we can all sacrifice something — we can all give something sacred and break racism forever.
