Christians involved in the struggle for racial justice must maintain a robust capacity for belief even when major resistance and setbacks are encountered, said Jacqueline A. Thompson, senior pastor at Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland, Calif.
“Researchers say that one of the most powerful forces we have in humanity is the capacity to believe. Belief shapes how you perceive the world. Belief informs your understanding of yourself. Belief is at the root of every decision that you make. What you believe even influences how you treat other people,” Thompson preached in her June 20 keynote address at the Emmanuel McCall Racial Justice Trailblazer Luncheon. The gathering was held in conjunction with the 2024 Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly in Greensboro, N.C.
In addition to being the first woman to serve as senior pastor at Allen Temple, Thompson is the first woman to hold an elected leadership position with the Progressive National Baptist Convention, where she serves as second vice president.
During the luncheon, she preached an impassioned sermon acknowledging the daunting challenges facing racial and social justice while exhorting those present to remain devoted to the cause and to the conviction Christ will bless their efforts.
McCall, a longtime champion of civil rights and former national moderator of CBF, demonstrated that conviction throughout his life, work and ministry, Thompson said.
“We are only here because Dr. McCall believed that not only were we created equal, but that every race, every single person, was created in the image and the likeness of God” and that the Apostle Paul “was actually right in saying that in Jesus there is no Jew, there is no Greek, there is no male, there is no female, there is no slave, there is no free. We are all children of God in Christ.”
Yet it’s becoming increasingly difficult to discern who in society and politics shares the values of fairness and diversity championed by civil rights pioneers like McCall, Martin Luther King Jr. and others, she warned.
“Legislative successes that people gave their blood for are being systematically dismantled and rolled back or left to fall into the abyss.”
“I struggle to be able to clarify what we believe now because despite the protests and despite the work and despite the scholarships and despite the reconciliation efforts, if we are honest about it, racial resentment is at an all-time high and it’s being manifested in our upcoming election,” she said. “When I look at it, legislative successes that people gave their blood for are being systematically dismantled and rolled back or left to fall into the abyss — and don’t even get me started on Roe v. Wade.”
But the story of Jairus in the Gospel of Mark suggests a way through the present-day morass, she said. Despite receiving word his daughter died before Jesus arrived to save her, the synagogue leader exhibited a steadfast faith that Christ would ultimately awaken her, which he did.
Like Jairus, today’s activists are frequently told the cause is hopeless and they should just give up fighting, Thompson said. “They tell us it’s never going to change, that we should retreat to our racial corners and just live and let live. They tell us diversity and inclusion are dead.”
The response must always be to keep believing and moving forward because the story of Jairus proves Christ does not desert those who have faith even in the darkest moments, she declared. “If there is anybody that needs to be encouraged, know that you can keep believing because God is still with you, that no matter how hard it gets, no matter what you have to go through, that God has not abandoned you in this war.”