A Call for Race-Conscious Mercy

The world continues to resonate with the sound of Christians calling for justice. Sisters and brother are raising their voices and risking their bodies to bear witness to the horrors of racism and demand change. These disciples cannot be silent or remain still. They hunger and thirst after righteousness.

But something is conspicuously absent from these calls and protests: A demand for mercy. Like justice, mercy is part of the Beatitudes: “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” And like justice, mercy is one of the weightier matters of the divine law. Scripture pairs justice and mercy. So why aren’t those rightly decrying racism?

One reason is that many Christians assume justice and mercy are antithetical. For them, justice involves giving people their due, whereas mercy involves giving people what they don’t deserve. On this view, justice and mercy are mutually exclusive. The two could never meet.

But this common view is false. Justice and mercy do meet—just look at the cross! There we witness the heights of divine justice and divine mercy. The two kiss as Jesus of Nazareth cries “It is finished!” Moreover, God’s law and the Beatitudes call Christians into conformity with the divine life by stressing the centrality of justice and mercy. If we are to be holy as God is holy, we must be just and merciful—like God.

It is not enough, then, to champion race-conscious justice. Christians must also champion the mandate for race-conscious mercy. I’ll unpack what race-coconscious mercy involves in subsequent posts. Stay tuned.