Why Juneteenth Should Matter to the Church Exploring the historical, cultural, and theological significance of Juneteenth
On June 19, 1865, the Union Army arrived in Galveston, Texas, to inform enslaved Black Americans that the Civil War was over and slavery had been abolished. They were free. President Abraham Lincoln had actually announced his Emancipation Proclamation two years earlier, on January 1, 1863. But for a variety of reasons, the more than 250,000 enslaved people in Texas did not receive the news of their freedom until this June day. Their initial shock soon turned to celebration.
Juneteenth—also known as Emancipation Day—commemorates this important moment in American history. (The name is a mashup of the words “June” and “nineteenth.”) Last year, Juneteenth was officially declared a federal holiday. But it’s much more than another festive date on the calendar. For American Christians, it’s an opportunity to give thanks for our nation’s progress while also meditating on the change still necessary for us to truly act justly, love mercy, and reflect the unity and diversity of God’s heavenly kingdom.
On June 15, Our Daily Bread’s Rasool Berry, CT’s Russell Moore, and other Christian thought leaders assembled for a virtual roundtable on the enduring significance of Juneteenth and how this pivotal event in American history points to the biblical visions of freedom, restoration, and hope. Watch their thoughtful discussion above.
This webinar was co-hosted by Christianity Today and Our Daily Bread Ministries.
Rapper M.I.A. Says She’s a Born-Again Christian After Seeing ‘Vision of Jesus Christ’
In February 2009, a heavily pregnant rapper of Tamil descent, Mathangi “Maya” Arulpragasam—best known as M.I.A.— stole the show when she performed “Swagga Like Us” with Jay-Z, Kanye West, Lil Wayne and T.I. at the Grammy Awards.
That year, the nine-months pregnant, first-time mom-to-be was flying high, as she was up for Record of the Year for her hit “Paper Planes.” Fast forward more than a decade, and this time, the international pop star turned political provocateur is flying high for a different reason: she had an encounter with Jesus.
During an Apple Music 1 interview with Zane Lowe, the 47-year-old British-born Sri Lankan rapper, who achieved global fame with politically charged dance music, said, “I had, like, a weird spiritual experience,” reports Clash. “It was, like, back in 2017. Since then, my head has been in a totally different place. Being a Tamil and being a Hindu, I was very comfortable that I’d arrived finding myself, which is, I think, going to be weird for America to process. But I had a vision, and I saw the vision of Jesus Christ.
While M.I.A. called the experience “a very crazy thing because it turned my world upside down,” according to her, she did not shun the experience but instead was changed by it.
“Everything I thought and believed was no longer the case,” she explained.
How Christian Nationalism Paved the Way for Jan. 6
The religious rhetoric ramped up with the effort to “Stop the Steal.” Thousands of Trump’s supporters descended on Washington in mid-November for the “Million MAGA March,” where Ed Martin, a conservative politician and an executive at the Eagle Forum, flanked by signs reading “Jesus matters,” argued that the United States was “founded on Judeo-Christian values” and should not be led by “CNN … or fake news
After Trump lost the election in November, a report from the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty and the Freedom From Religion Foundation concluded that Christian nationalism, also referred to as white Christian nationalism, was used to “bolster, justify and intensify the January 6 attack on the Capitol,” according to BJC’s Amanda Tyler.
FILE – In this Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021 file photo, Pastor Paula White leads a prayer in Washington, at a rally in support of President Donald Trump called the “Save America Rally.” On Sunday, Jan. 10, the first day of Christian worship services since the Capitol riot, religious leaders who have supported the president in the past delivered messages ranging from no mention of the events of that day to incendiary recitations of debunked conspiracy theories. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
In the days after the vote, Florida pastor Paula White, leader of the White House faith office, preached a sermon from her home church in which she called on “angels” from Africa and other nations to assist in overturning the election results. The next night, insisting she was only addressing “spiritual” matters, White vacillated between the ethereal and the electoral: She entreated the Almighty to “keep the feet of POTUS in his purpose and in his position” and decry any “fraud” or “demonic agenda” that “has been released over this election.”
“We override the will of man for the will of God right now, and we ask, by the mercy and the blood of Jesus, that you overturn it, overturn it, overturn it, overturn it, overturn it, overturn it, overturn it,” she said.
The religious rhetoric ramped up with the effort to “Stop the Steal.” Thousands of Trump’s supporters descended on Washington in mid-November for the “Million MAGA March,” where Ed Martin, a conservative politician and an executive at the Eagle Forum, flanked by signs reading “Jesus matters,” argued that the United States was “founded on Judeo-Christian values” and should not be led by “CNN … or fake news.” Martin called on God to “bless us in our work” and asked God to “strengthen us in our fight” to defend Trump because the “powers of darkness are descending.”
Around the same time, activists began planning a series of “Jericho Marches” across the country, invoking the biblical story of Israelites besieging the city of Jericho. In Pennsylvania, demonstrators marched around the state Capitol waving Trump flags and blowing on Jewish ritual horns called shofars. Verses of the hymn “How Great Is Our God” mixed with chants about electoral fraud.