On Ferguson, don't forget to listen

John Stonestreet of the Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview has been watching the drama unfold in Ferguson, looking for opportunities to speak the gospel into a situation that seems hopeless. The anger and mistrust is so high, and the contrast between the darkness of conflict and the light of reconciliation seems so pronounced.

“What has been the most frustrating to me is how many Christians just cannot have the capacity to actually listen,” Stonestreet said last week. He was particularly stunned by comments on an article about Ferguson on the Breakpoint Facebook page that berated President Barack Obama’s response.

“President Obama gave a very helpful, good statement the other night after the decision to not indict the police officer was read,” Stonestreet said. “It wasn’t alarmist. It wasn’t race-baiting. It just was what it was. And if we can look at this and say that there’s nothing more to this, there’s really no wounds in the African-American community that are legitimate … these are real issues. And it’s time for Christians to listen.”

The only answer to the pain in Ferguson is the gospel, Stonestreet said. Christians who turn this issue into a political one are missing an opportunity.

“If we believe the Scripture, we believe that everyone is made in the image and likeness of God. Even if we disagree, we have to listen. And so I’m calling Christians to take this issue seriously,” Stonestreet said.

He also had some things to say about efforts to get Christian pastors to stop signing state marriage licenses given states’ redefinition of marriage. Hear more from our weekly “Culture Friday” on The World and Everything in It: