Last week on Facebook, I shared a beautiful song by Andrew Peterson called Is He Worthy? It’s such a breathtaking piece and a moving declaration of worship to the only One who is truly worthy. It is based around Revelation 5 where people from every tribe, tongue, and people will gather around the throne of God in worship. Sadly, the video – which I didn’t watch – is full of white faces. Not faces of other tribes and tongues. In a song about a passage that assumes the fullness of the diverse Body of Christ. A huge, hurtful miss.
Honestly, if I had watched it, I’m not sure I would have caught the miss. I’m ashamed to say it, but it’s true. So whitewashed is my perspective. It’s been haunting me… the wondering. Would I have even noticed the irony?
In the days that have followed, I have seen the controversy heating up a bit.
Today, Peterson issued an apology on his blog. A sincere, heartfelt apology from a brother in Christ whom I deeply respect. Among other things, he said this…
“So, as a white American singer/songwriter whose only hope is Jesus, I’m asking forgiveness of the friends and listeners to whom this video brought any measure of grief. I’m also asking the good people who have come to my defense to refrain from using social media to do so. Be silent long enough to really listen. And then, if the Spirit leads, engage with love and patience and humility.
As I said, the only way to learn something is to screw up. What was only a small voice in my head a few weeks ago will, I assure you, be a loud, clear voice of wisdom in the future. I’m sure I’m going to make a mountain of mistakes in the days to come, but, Lord willing, this won’t be one of them.”
I am so impressed with his apology. We can learn a few things from Peterson’s mistake. If we do, God can bring beauty from ashes… as He is so faithful to do over and over again.
- My white friends… we need to continue to put ourselves in the shoes of our friends of color. When we post, when we speak, when we plan, and when we act. We must pause and ask ourselves, “How will this hit my dear, darker-skinned friends?” We must continue to push ourselves to go there so that these sorts of misses happen less and less. I must lay aside my right to say whatever flashes through my mind or view things exclusively through my white lens. Instead, I need to pause to think about how it will be received. If I call myself a disciple of Christ, I must continue to push myself in this way. Much of Christian history and artwork makes it seem like Christianity had its origins with white folk. It didn’t. More like dark brown and olive-skinned folk. It is hurtful to our brothers and sisters of color when we continue to perpetuate this error. We need to stop making excuses and just embrace this lesson with humility. If you’re unsure, another option before you speak or post or act is to ask a friend of color. If you can’t think of a POC to ask… well, that’s probably a good place to start.
- The error having been made, Peterson’s apology is beautiful in every way. If we all apologized this way… wow, the impact would be profound. Peterson makes no excuses or whitesplaining for his error. He does acknowledge that he didn’t intend to hurt and gives some context. But he quickly moves on to share what he did wrong. He shares with us that he wept when he realized his awful oversight. He lamented over his mistake and the damage it was causing. He also asks for forgiveness. Boldly without excuse. And then he instructs people to stop defending him on social media where wounds are usually deepened and rarely healed. (Such wisdom, that!) He also asks us to listen to the voices of those who are rightly upset – to embrace their hurt with humility and openness. Lastly, he learns from his error and sincerely intends, by God’s grace, to never make this kind of mistake again.
This, friends, is the way of Jesus. This underscores why HE is worthy. Peterson points us to Him. I think in some ways this makes the song even more beautiful. The point of the passage is that all of heaven and earth were looking for someone worthy to break the seal and bring healing to the world’s brokenness. Racial brokenness being chief among the obvious cracks in our culture. Our mistakes highlight our need for One who is worthy. That is the Gospel. It’s on display – both in the words to the song and in the video’s obvious racial miss.
Peterson ends his post this way:
“After all, I’m not worthy of praise or glory. Only Jesus is, and it is to his strong hands that I entrust myself and my faltering work. Do I feel the world is broken? I do. Do I feel the shadows deepen? I do. And I truly believe that all the darkness—even my own—won’t stop the light from getting through. I do.”
Shine on, Gospel light. Shine on.
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Here’s the song. Because it really is breathtaking. If you watch the video, just imagine that more than half of those white faces are replaced by faces of color. And imagine that right after this song, there’s a another song with a whole different kind of style and beat and cultural feel to it. And, then we’ll be getting a little closer to Revelation beauty. I can’t wait…