Jonathan Isaac & The Inadequate Gospel of Individualism
In the NBA’s second night of re-opening following the COVID-19 shutdown, and unexpected counter-protest emerged. While the rest of his Orlando Magic teammates of all ethnicities wore NBA approved warm up shirts emblazoned with #BlackLivesMatter in solidarity with the movement that has shone light on racial injustices, Jonathan Isaac, a Black man, chose not to wear one. When the team knelt as a gesture of unity during the national anthem, Jonathan remained upright.
When reporter, Taylor Rooks asked why he chose not to kneel, Jonathan’s answer meandered through a convoluted path ranging from logical syllogisms to evoking his faith. Still searching for clarity, Ms. Rooks asked “What does religion has to do with kneeling during the anthem in support of Black lives?” and again Isaacs’ response reflected the uniquely American emphasis in evangelicalism: the twins of individualism and a pietistic theological frame that resists social justice and insists on exclusively other-worldly applications to the gospel. It’s a well-worn trope in especially white evangelicalism that has stifled white Americans’ ability to understand the relevance of the gospel message to social justice for years. And yet, many may be surprised to hear it parroted by a young Black Christian. As someone who has worked in white evangelical spaces, I am not surprised at all, and think a couple points are helpful to clarify a response.
Jonathan Issac is 22 years old. He’s the same age as my daughter. He is a young man with a lot of life yet to live. I have learned through watching the trajectory of other professional athletes that we watch them grow up in public which is a tough challenge. So when we see them make questionable decisions it can be easy to judge them too harshly on one moment (think: LeBron’s decision). I am reminded by psychologists that the frontal lobe isn’t completely developed until the age 25 which is in part why you can’t reserve a rental car until that time from Enterprise or Hertz. And yet, because these athletes live and act in public, it is appropriate to respond publicly to their actions whether in support or critique.
I admire Jonathan’s deep Christian faith. It is one that I share (although with much different implications). And that faith tells me in Proverbs 27:17 “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” We are called to sharpen each other speaking the truth in love. As someone who has thought about these issues thoroughly for years, I’d like to sharpen Jonathan’s thinking, while speaking the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15).
Like with many issues, Jonathan’s post-game response requires nuance, something we often don’t have patience with in our sound bite culture but it’s important, I believe, not to overly simplify or demonize people even when we believe they are sincerely wrong. I am deeply troubled by Jonathan’s comments, and I also know that he is sincere, and has been shaped in a theological way that has not forced him to be critical of his conclusions on social activism. What follows is an attempt at my nuanced response.
Jonathan said when asked why he didn’t wear a Black Lives Matter shirt: “Kneeling or wearing a shirt don’t go hand in hand with supporting #BlackLivesMatter. I do believe that Black Lives Matter.” He’s right. We have all seen how some have draped themselves in the optics of supporting racial justice because it’s fashionable, but with no real change. Many brands and stars have been called out for virtue signaling that lacks substance. The opposite is true too. In the same way that former NBA star, Mahmoud Abdul Rauf decided in light of his Muslim faith not to stand for the national anthem, it’s quite possible for Jonathan to have convictions about the particular gesture while still supporting the movement. Some players like LeBron James chose not to wear #BlackLivesMatter on their jerseys though they had the option. James has been outspoken in other ways and of course has put his money where his mouth is even building a school for disadvantaged kids in Akron who are predominantly Black.
Jonathan also added: “My life has been supported through the gospel. Everyone is made in the image of God. We all fall short of the glory of God.” He’s once again absolutely correct. The doctrine that we are all made in the image of God is the theological foundation for Christians for why Black Lives Matter. Our divine origin and the universality of brokenness describe the need to fight for social justice and the ubiquitous presence of injustice in our world.
Jonathan verged off the path in his next statements. “we each say things we shouldn’t say, we point fingers of whose evil is worse …. Racism isn’t the only thing to plague our society.” Unfortunately, his explanation for why we shouldn’t single out racism is based on a theological posture of spiritualizing sin instead of “particularizing sin.” When it comes to social justice, which ever since the Fundamentalist/Modernist split of the early 1900’s, a false dichotomy exists between the spiritual problem of sin and the need to engage it socially through justice initiatives. Fundamentalists (and later their theological descendants the evangelicals), influenced by a type of eschatological emphasis of Christianity zealously guard a hyper-focus on conversionism and “getting right with Jesus” through prayer and personal confession as the only true expression of the gospel. This was in contrast to the Modernists who insisted on a hyper-focus on fixing social ills which fit into their own theological framework. They rejected personal, pietistic theological understandings in what became known as the “Social Gospel.” It’s a position that has continued in the decades that have followed. Jonathan reveals the evangelical rejection of social engagement and a complete spiritualizing of sin that removes it from the realm of fixing social injustice on earth, which would insist on naming and challenging “racism.” Now, the Evangelical position is inconsistent, because certain issues like abortion would be considered by them social justice and worth changing laws for. But nonetheless the idea Jonathan shouldn’t be involved in advocating for racial justice because “racism isn’t the only thing to plague our society” is an expression of evangelicalism’s aversion to social justice.
Individualism vs. Systemic Sin: Jonathan reveals another misconception when he said: “I don’t see it as religion, I see it as a relationship with God … If we could see people’s evil in a different light … it would help us get pass skin color.” I have often said, “it’s not about religion, it’s about a relationship with God” and I have meant it wholeheartedly. What Christians usually mean when we say this is “I don’t believe my religious activity like going to church or reading the Bible is what makes me a good person or right with God.” But to most people, whatever your beliefs are is your “religion” (even the belief that we’re saved by believing in Jesus and having a relationship with him). The problem with this aphorism is that it often creates a very individualistic faith expression that fails to see the importance of solidarity. American evangelicalism has been significantly shaped by revivalist movements that emphasized dramatic conversions as how we come to faith (as opposed to the more subtle ways that believers are often catechized into the faith so early they can’t recall a moment of conversion). One of the strengths of that emphasis is the teaching that anyone can choose Christ and be in relationship with Him. As someone who came to faith in college from a non-Christian family, I resonate with that tradition. One of its weaknesses though, is an over-emphasis on the individual that truncates the gospel from a multidimensional expression of the kingdom of God which teaches that Jesus came to save … not just Black people’s souls, but Black bodies as well. Jesus came, not just to save our souls, but to inaugurate a kingdom that would empower us to transform criminal justice systems, economic systems, and healthcare systems to be more like Heaven. This is the calling of the Lord’s prayer: “May your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.”
Sadly, Jonathan has missed out on that crucial teaching which is why he believes that if we just focus on conversion we can “Get pass skin color and anything that doesn’t really deal with the hearts of men and women.” The history of white evangelicalism in this country sadly reveals the fallacy of his position. As a recent article recently revealed, conversion, church attendance and religious activity were not associated with white Christians becoming less racist. In fact, the opposite was true!
Many Black and Brown people have bought into evangelicalism’s teaching anyway. Many more of us have been awakened to the reality that there are theological blindspots in this system that prevented us from thinking Christianly about racism and justice. But all we have to do is look to our past. The Black Church began as a protest against the social injustice of segregation in the white church. Many of the great Black abolitionists like Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, and Harriet Tubman were motivated by their faith to work for racial justice. Every major slave revolt such as Nat Turner’s in 1832 was led by Black preachers who understood social injustice was a spiritual evil.
I pray that Jonathan Issac will expand his understanding and see that there is no contradiction between kneeling for Black lives and kneeling to Jesus. In fact, the more we kneel to the Jesus who preached the gospel of the kingdom, and established that we are made in the image of God, the more we will see the reason to join in solidarity with our brothers and sisters of all faiths and no faith who chant together: Black Lives Matter!
