Take a Knee

Maybe it’s time…time to take a knee.  I may lose some friends on this, so please hear me out to the end.

If you follow professional sports and especially if you listen to sports-talk radio, you know that taking a knee during the national anthem to protest systemic racism against black people has returned as a very hot topic.  And support for the protest is gaining momentum among influential people in professional sports.  This past week, Bill O’Brien, coach of the Houston Texans, said that he would take a knee with his players during the national anthem as an act of solidarity with them in their protest.  Also, this week, Roger Goodell, the Commissioner of the National Football League encouraged teams to sign former quarterback, Colin Kapernick, the person who started the kneeling protest in 2016. Remember, it was Goodell who ordered all members of all teams to stand during the anthem just two years ago.     

I never served in the military, but my father and father-in-law did.  My brother-in-law was a career Army officer. I spent several years in the Boy Scouts where respect for the flag and my country was deeply impressed upon me.  I understand the outrage when professional athletes have protested during the anthem.  I get it.  I was offended, too.  Am I beginning to understand the other side, the deep wound that systemic racism has caused in our fellow American citizens in the black community?  Yes, I am.  And I think many other folks are listening and trying to understand, too.  Empathy can go a long way in healing wounds. 

But this is a faith column, not a sports or a political opinion piece.  Along with trying to stand with my fellow black Americans, I’m suggesting something much deeper.  Football players have been taking a knee long before Colin Kapernick launched his protest.  A lot of them gather on their knees in the middle of the field after the game and no one says a peep.  The cameras avoid them.  Praying on the field is passé. Christians are a public embarrassment in the mainstream narrative.  In fact, when Tim Tebow prayed on the sidelines in 2012, he was essentially mocked out of the NFL. 

But our country is desperately in need of prayer right now.  We have sinned.  In Abraham Lincoln’s words, “We have forgotten God.”  From my perspective as a person of faith, that is the root of all our problems.  Political division is ripping apart the social fabric of our nation.  There is no dialogue.  We’re just shouting at each other.  Anger and rage are being acted out in violence on our city streets.  People are dying, businesses are destroyed, and a deep sense of uneasiness is enveloping our national soul.  This is not a “I told you so” moment.  It is a lament that wells up deep within my spirit.  We are reaping what we have sown. 

So, yeah.  It’s time to take a knee.  Take a knee in solidarity with the suffering that black Americans have endured for centuries.  Take a knee for our national sin of racism that stains the beautiful collage of ethnic colors making up our culture.  Take a knee, especially because we have shunned, mocked, and forgotten the God who has showered our land with countless blessings. 

I’ll take a knee.  Not with head up, in a single action of protest.  Rather, I’ll take a knee with head humbly bowed in protest against the sin that has broken us and in determined repentance to return and acknowledge God.  It’s time.  Let’s take a knee together.  Not out of disrespect.  But in prayer and lament for the land that we love.