It’s been another long (too long) period since I posted. I could invoke the standard “busy” excuse but I myself have had little sympathy for it. We’re all busy. There is an old saying, “Want to get something done? Ask a busy man.” So I won’t bore you with that old canard.

In fact, the opposite is actually my problem. Not that I’m not busy, but rather that there is almost too much to write about these days. It hasn’t been lack of inspiration. That’s for sure. The news cycle moves SO quickly these days that it makes me glad I’m not a columnist or pundit. Their lives must be miserable at present.

On top of that, I’m not a pundit. I’m a pastor. My job is not to be political. My job is to point people to Christ, to give out Christ in His Word and Sacraments. Nevertheless, the so-called “wall of separation” is not nearly so much a wall as it is a window and the Law and Gospel I preach has DIRECT relevance to our world’s situation. I call it #thebettermessage. It is better than all others. (And to any brothers who may wish to criticize me for not calling it #thebestmessage, I simply say, we need to keep the middle comparative here. Nothing is better than this message and I think “better” says that better than “best,” which likely would turn off the person who needs to hear it the most. I agree it’s the best. But I want to lead people to it, not force them to accept it. You won’t get apologies from me).

Ergo, there is much in our news cycle that Christianity speaks to. Indeed, it speaks to all of it…in a better way than any other “message.” Today, I wander into the whirlwind we are reaping for our lack of education. Let’s talk about the bringing down of monuments to historical figures and why Christians probably should not engage in it.

The man on the left is Robert Lee, an Asian American play-by-play broadcaster, replaced by ESPN for calling UVA football games, (UVA is in Charlottesville), because of his nominal association with the man on the right, Robert E. Lee, Leader of the Confederate forces in the Civil War. The word “nominal” here is used quite literally. They share a name (nomen).

The notion that the name is all they share, though, is false. This is why I write this post. Despite their different ethnicities, politics, vocations, preferences, etc etc etc, they still have more in common than the geniuses at ESPN want to admit. Oh, and those geniuses share much with Robert E. Lee as well! (Shhh! Don’t tell them that)!

A few years back, PBS did a wonderful documentary on Robert E. Lee as part of their program, “The American Experience.” I mention this because PBS’ documentaries usually are done by people who lean toward the Left, which seems now to have gone all the way toward erasing Lee’s memory from the face of the earth. Lee is a confounding figure from an historical perspective and the documentary didn’t soft pedal that. How can this man be so inspiring on one level, and so ignorant on another? Lee was soft-spoken, humble, able to inspire merely through his presence. (Grant couldn’t do that). He didn’t shout his opinions at anyone. Still, he led the Confederate forces in the hopes of preserving slavery. How does one handle the problem of hating someone who is eminently like-able, nay, respectable on many levels?

In short, let’s apply the “personal meeting”-test. Who would I rather meet? Robert E. Lee? Or Ulysses Grant? Or some angry protester who is violently pulling down a Lee statue while never really considering the whole story? From this vantage point, I can’t tell which one is more self-righteous. Given the other things I know about him, I know I’d rather meet Robert E.

Still, Robert E. Lee was on “the wrong side of history” (to use the nefarious term of President Obama). Slavery is not a proud part of our history. Word on the street is that people are calling for the removal of the Jefferson Memorial and, possibly, the Washington Monument. (After all, both were slave owners, right)? Consider this phrase one of President Obama’s many forays into blind arrogance. In order for this to be correct, one has to view the present age as more moral and ethical than the previous ages of history. I’ll let the news cycle itself speak for whether or not such a position isn’t just plain folly.

This brings me back to the original point. Robert Lee, the broadcaster, and Robert E. Lee, the Confederate General, have one more vital thing in common. Sinful natures. Both made mistakes. Both probably knew/know what it’s like to fight for the wrong cause sometime in their lives. (Not that I’m trivializing slavery. The scope of slavery is much larger than many of our causes. Still, it’s the same sin that corrupts us all, regardless of scope). Both also knew/know what it’s like to have to suffer consequences for their names. ESPN should apologize not only to Robert Lee, but to the nation for their silly calculations. The muckety-mucks at ESPN are on the wrong side also. (Translation: not any better than Robert E. Lee). Need I explain why?

We Christians do not rejoice in sin. As ones forgiven by Christ, we should seek to emulate Christ’s righteousness, even if sin will always limit the results. Still, part of having a sinful nature may be to have a compassion and sympathy for fellow sinners, which is to say, all people. I don’t like slavery, but does that mean that Robert E. Lee is the devil himself? Especially since I share a sinful nature with him? He was, also, a Christian. Perhaps I will get that meeting with him one day! If so, will it matter anymore what he (or I) did in this life?

Ergo, I defend the sinner without defending the sin itself. We do not wrestle against flesh and blood…(Eph. 6:12). That includes figures from history whose legacies surely are mixed and confounding. Should their monuments be torn down? It seems to me that no one who has ever lived has the credibility to do such a vile thing. When you see protesters in the streets calling for the removal of monuments, see them as the sinners they are, and pray that the Law and Gospel would reform their hearts just as it does ours.

Who am I to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee? Chief of sinners though I be…Christ is all in all to me.

With prayers that Americans would confess their many sins and find a little humility,

Pastor T.