“My family never owned slaves.” — “Slavery was long before anyone alive was born.” • This might be true, but your grandma lived in an America where these brands and products were common place.
@rmcrob And history is closer and its injuries can be more raw than we expect. Slavery, racism, etc. are not past problems, but very present, contemporary sins.
@marmanold True. But if my grandmother sinned—and I’m sure she did—it doesn’t pass to me. I have too much sin of my own to also be saddled with hers.
@rmcrob Sin and death are weaved into Creation and culture and touch all because of Adam’s fall. We have to see and name the sin so it doesn’t go unnoticed. To see sin clearly is to more fully understand Christ’s work for us.
@marmanold @rmcrob almost didn’t post this, but these exchanges call to mind my 2nd-favorite warning about righteousness and wisdom and spiritual progress: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous, and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ Thus you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your ancestors. You snakes, you brood of vipers! How can you escape being sentenced to hell?”