Christ is a Young Black Man Raised by a Single Mother in Chicago (Days 50-56 of Quitting the Bible)

Can you see Christ in the people some dismiss as “ghetto” or “hood”- the ones some judge because of their backgrounds?

Can you see Christ in the young Black men and women who push against institutional and cultural odds?

I am not asking if you see people who you think need saving.

I am asking if you can see the power of Christ in them.

If the Church cannot see, then we might want to question how much we know God.

Last week, days 50-56 of quitting the Bible for a year,  I learned of Christ in a conversation with a young Black male college student.

This young man did not come from easy street. He spoke candidly about the obstacles he had experienced growing up in Chicago in a single-parent home.

He did not grow up with a vast network and other socioeconomic class privileges. He was one much of society could have dismissed or ignored because of his background.

People ignored Christ or  dismissed him as the carpenter’s son. I saw Christ as the young Black man going his own path- the one God has for him.

This student had already defied odds and was doing his best to do something productive with his life. I know people who see the issues of brokenness impacting young Black youth from working-poor backgrounds and deem them as lost causes.

Yet, this young man was Christ the deliverer.

This young man had an inner-fight for himself and others.

I saw Christ evident in how this young man intentionally reached out and reached back to other Black students who were once in his shoes.

I recalled my hope and desire for Black people to work through the ways those of us internalize racism and also take responsibility in our lives. As I have stated and written on various occasions, this desire does not ignore the weight of and legacy of institutional racism.

Racism is alive and well, and this young man is up against it. Nevertheless, he works and he gives. He disallows the hand that life dealt him in his formative years to cause him to stay in anger or give up. He counted his blessings. He had gratitude for his mother.

I saw Christ, the victor.

After everything he has gone through and accomplished, this young man had much humility and graciousness.

I do not have enough fingers and toes to start naming highly educated Black folks I know who get educated and money and suddenly, they act as if people should proclaim “Long live the king” or  sing “God Save the Queen” whenever they enter the room.

I saw Christ in his self-love.

Different Black people throughout their lives, learn in educational, religious, and corporate institutions to shrink back in their Blackness to appease a supposedly “colorless” world that is actually dominated by an invisible White norm.

I likened his journey to a young Christ sitting in the synagogues and learning from his elders and choosing to walk in his true identity without losing his soul to the dominant society.

This young man is trying to gain the world without losing his soul.

I pray that he keeps going.

Three Points of Wisdom from Days 50-56

1. While there are people who are ignoring and encouraging brokenness among Black youth, there are plenty who are choosing to break free for themselves and others.
2. Seeing Christ in Black youth helps to disrupt the Western imagery of White Jesus.
3. God is a Ghetto God- a Hood God. If we are uncomfortable with it, then we might want to revisit our theology.