The ongoing and outrageous violence in America against young African Americans must be stopped. My heart is broken for the family and friends of Ahmaud Arbery. We must continue to stand against injustice and inequality in all its sinful forms.
— Jack Graham (@jackngraham) May 7, 2020
Addressing his brothers and sisters of color, Pastor J.D. Greear said, “We’re with you in this. When one part of us hurts, all of us hurts and we’ll walk through this together as family.” To any believers who do not feel the weight of the tragedy, Greear exhorted, “Part of what it means to walk with Jesus is to bear one another’s burdens.”
Our family is hurting with the news of Ahmaud Arbery. Here’s what we can do! pic.twitter.com/SfxWfX2JfY
— J.D. Greear (@jdgreear) May 6, 2020
In an article reflecting on the incident and potential reactions from white believers, Dr. Russell Moore urged people not to “avert their eyes” from or downplay what happened. “The arguments, already bandied about on social media, that ‘Arbery wasn’t a choirboy’ are revolting,” said Moore. “There is no, under any Christian vision of justice, situation in which the mob murder of a person can be morally right.”
In his comments, Greear encouraged those who were grieving the Georgia shooting to cry out to God in prayer since he is the only one “who can bring the healing that we yearn for.” Christian hip hop artist Tedashii echoed these sentiments on Instagram, saying anyone who is experiencing suffering or grief because of the incident should not bottle up their feelings.
Instead, we should cry out to God as Jesus did on the cross. “We can do that as the children of God,” said Tedashii, “to cry out in pain before God who cares, and honestly in doing that, you move closer toward hope. Lamenting doesn’t fix the problem, but it helps you to fixate on the one who can.”
