Let's Dialogue

“But I didn’t see it.” If you have said those words before while driving, you might have experienced a blind spot.

Just like on the roads, we are susceptible to blind spots in life. Blind spots can hinder us from seeing reality and can lead us into dangerous lanes unsuspectingly. Yes, even Christians can have glaring unaddressed blind spots.

I live in the South, the Bible Belt, where Christians adhered and then eventually shed one of the biggest blind spots–slavery.

What is surprising is that professing Christians during that time who affirmed scripture on Sunday turned a blind eye to dehumanizing slavery practices on Monday. What they sang on Sunday of God’s love to all, they denied the rest of the week. They engaged in sin with little public or private challenge, sometimes without shame or regret. 

But not everyone turned a blind eye.

Why did some see their blind spot even when many disagreed and didn’t see the need to change?

Recently, I came across the writings of William Henry Brisbane, the author of Slaveholding Examined in the Light of the Holy Bible, written in 1847. He was once a slaveholder who turned abolitionist after years of examining the question of slavery.

Brisbane, born in Beauford County, South Carolina, was brought up among slaveholders and slaves. At first, he was zealous to find the argument for the supporters of the legal institution of human chattel slavery.

But the more he studied the arguments, the more he found himself perplexed and unable to hold those positions based on his intense study of the Bible.

“I discovered my error: I became convinced that slaveholding was unrighteous: I abandoned it; and was conscientiously constrained to give freedom to upwards of thirty slaves.” William Henry Brisbane

His convictions drove him to pursue what was right with great vigor even when it cost him his livelihood since by freeing his slaves, he reduced his status to be among the poor. But the loss also came from unexpected people. After he moved up north and became a pastor, he specifically, felt the hurt from church and ministry friends because of his anti-slavery positions.

Brisbane could see the glaring blind spot of his day while others didn’t. At the end of his life, people finally recognized his sacrifice. But his reward was seeing the dismantling of slavery, something that he passionately fought for.

So how can we see our blind spots even when others around us can’t? Looking at what Brisbane did is a start. May God give us the courage to be like him in our day and age!