Victor Hugo once said, “Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come.” To paraphrase his statement, “nothing is more powerful than the seed of truth exposing past errors in an age of enlightenment.” When the focus of the world is drawn to a particular ill within society and the underlying evil is highlighted by truth, a disturbance occurs. Even though many of the issues of the past had been addressed, yet the residue of the past remains. The crippling wound upon the souls of an oppressed people placed many of them in a perpetual state of inferiority. The study of epigenetics provides scientific evidence of the effects of slavery and racism within the genes of the children of the oppressed. Biblically speaking, the children carry the wounds of their parents. Any trauma to the soul affects both mind and body. Knowledge places a people in the crossroads. Things can either move towards peace when the Prince of Peace is in charge, or towards vindictive and destructive actions when matters are taken into one’s own hands. Both are movements, but moving in opposite directions. The tragedy of knowledge is the prideful element contained within it. A false awareness of self is full of contradictions. What lenses can one use to fully see himself? If a stationary mirror is used, all one is able to see is the self that he has become rather than the self that he was meant to be. Only through the eyes of God can one be enlightened to discover purpose. We were created for a purpose and that purpose extends far beyond what we have become, or the reflection of self whose focus on which many are affixed. The seed of destruction is deeply rooted in mankind’s efforts to free himself and save himself. He would merely turn from one category of bondage to another. What difference would it make if one was set free from external bondage but transferred to a prison of mental, emotional, and social anguish? He is then carrying his jail around with him. 

The Movement initiated by God, bringing a clearer awareness of the dichotomy within our culture divided by race is opening the window of opportunity for some healthy dialogue. We cannot afford to limit this movement to an agenda established by who spoke first or whose voice is the loudest. This would sabotage what could become a movement that could heal the wounds of former generations of hurt and pain. If God initiated the Movement, then He alone must set the agenda. It had already been set over 2000 years ago. Christ is the agenda. To know Him is to know yourself. To know Him to become acquainted with God’s intentions for your life. Yet if He remains in the shadows, His Word then is reduced to a merely philosophy reinterpreted and often misinterpreted to suit the taste of the interpreter. It is the Living Word and Christ alive in His Church with the responsibility and power to flesh out the will of the Father that must live out His set agenda. Jesus made His agenda clear in Luke 4:16-22 “So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. 17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,  to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” 20 Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Each of these objectives must be acted upon once they are clearly understood. Then the Church can lead the world in the path of freedom and peace.