My friend Kristian is a bi-vocational pastor here in Atlanta. Well, he is lots of things. An entrepreneur, a podcaster, a design consultant, and an alumnus of McAfee School of Theology of Mercer University. He is also an African-American and has experienced firsthand the hate of others because of the color of his skin.  Recently I participated with him on a podcast he hosts and in it he shared his thoughts on the scripture reference in Luke 6:38 (NRSV) – “Give and it will be given unto you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”

During the podcast Kristian remarked, “We have minimized this text to refer to money. But the preceding verse suggests that money wasn’t the focus. Jesus was talking about judgment, condemnation and forgiveness. WE inserted money into the text. That’s not a bad thing. The text teaches on the general principle of giving. But if we can insert “money,” the text leaves room for other insertions.”

Kristian the preacher then started to preach:

“So…. Dear America, Give violence, Give brutality, Give disdain, Give trauma and the hate you give will be given unto you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put in your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.

Mulling over the implications of Kristian’s interpretation of this familiar verse, I am reminded of Tupac Shakur, a musician who wrote, rapped, and spoke about social issues impacting African-Americans. In the end Tupac tragically died a violent death from gunshot wounds. He made famous the phrase “Thug Life” in his music and it was boldly tattooed across his abdomen. It was Tupac who insisted that THUG – a term, ironically, that is now racialized – stood for “The Hate You Give.”

Was Tupac thinking about Jesus’ words from the Gospel of Luke? I don’t know. I do know we give so much hate, but much of the time we are polite about it. That is until we are not, and then it spills out over social media, or with idle talk, or defensive posturing, and when our hearts run amok with the hate it leads to violence. We give so much hate. We do so at times knowingly, at other times thoughtlessly. We give hate maliciously in thought, but also implicitly without much forethought.

Dear Christian, what do you plan to give today? That really is the question isn’t it?

Is my friend Kristian onto something? The hate you give will be given unto you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put in your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.

I do know that we are all getting a lap-full these days.

So what do we do?

At the very least we go back to what Jesus said in this passage, “Give and it will be given to you.”

Here is what we can give:

We can give our words and say the names of those whose lives were taken, most recently Rayshard Brooks, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery. We can give our words by challenging corrosive speech. We can give our words as allies and advocates. We cannot give silence, for the void will fill with apathy, complacency and denial.

We can give our actions. One blogger rightfully took preachers to task who call out the hate, but then pray, “Lord, send help.” Minister Natasha Nedrick writes in a blog post, “The question is will your prayer be ‘Lord, send help’ or ‘Here am I, send me.’” In essence Jesus was telling us to do something when he said, “give and it shall be given unto you.” Lord, send us.

We can give ourselves. Whenever I begin conversations about race and I am focused on my rights or my feelings, I have lost the conversation. As followers of Jesus, we are not to be concerned with our personal rights. Our focus is on the other. Jesus was direct: “If anyone would come after me, let them deny themselves, and take up the cross, and follow me.” (Mark 8:34). As we speak about racism in this country and in our lives, the attitude of a follower of Jesus is to begin with the “other” and to get there we must give of ourselves.

None of this will be easy or comfortable or without pain. But when we give our words and our actions and ourselves, “…it will be given to you. A good measure; pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you give back.”