Have you ever wished that you could make something disappear, as if it never existed or never happened? If you are like me, you probably have. Maybe it’s that argument that you had with your significant other, maybe it’s that horrible thing you said to your friend, maybe it’s that bad relationship you used to be in or maybe it’s just those awkward years of being a young teenager. Whatever it may be, we all have things in our past that we wish we could simply erase as if they never happened, as if we could take a giant brush and wipe them away. This is something that humans have always done, it’s a natural human reaction to want to forget. But there are somethings we simply cannot and should not forget, no matter how bad they are.

For most of human history civilizations, societies, and rulers have tried to blot out dark stains and blemishes from their history books. One notable mention of this practice was King David of Israel as recorded in 2 Samuel 12. David stole Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, and impregnated her while her husband was away at war. Upon learning of her conception, David tried to cover up his adultery in any way he possibly could. He attempted to dishonor Uriah the Hittite by having him abandon his post, be intoxicated with food and drink, and ultimately have him killed in battle. David did everything in his ultimate power to have Uriah silenced in order to cover up his own sins. David let his lust for power and control dominate his life, leading him down a path that would forever change the course of his legacy.

As readers of scripture today, we hear the words of Samuel and are astonished that David, a righteous servant of God, would do such a heinous thing. But the reality is that the modern Church today has its own Uriahs that we are silencing and letting fade into the forgotten memories of history. As Christians, we have tried to forget our own history and actions by not recognizing them and not teaching them to our congregations. Perhaps the biggest Uriah that we have, is simply our history as a church. If you ask the average Christian today if they can recall or explain the Protestant Reformation, the Great Schism, the crusades, the denominational splits of the Civil War, the “evangelism” of the western frontier of America or even the split between fundamental and liberal Christianity, I am willing to bet that very few people will even be able to recognize what these topics are about. These are all major events in the Church’s history and in the formation of its identity, and yet we do not know about it. We don’t talk about it, we are silent in our teachings. It should not take a Bachelor’s or a Master’s degree to know about these topics and issues in modern Christianity, and yet it is often the only way people know.

Perhaps one of the biggest examples of church history that we have attempted to forget is the Church’s impact and role in the formation of race in this country through education. Besides the fact that it was religious entities that created the social construct of race, and besides the fact that we have constantly been perpetuating a supremacy narrative throughout our history through segregated pews and the exclusion of non-Anglo-Saxon culture in church leadership and structure, the Church is also responsible for many events that are still impacting and shaping our world and God’s people today because of discriminatory educational policies. It was the Church that founded many of the private secondary schools that we see today in the United States.

In the 1950s through the 60s, with the ruling of Brown vs the Board of Education in 1954, many of these Christian institutions retreated to the suburbs and restricted enrollment in an effort to avoid desegregation laws and keep their schools all white, as the upper class could afford private education while the lower class (predominately people of color) could not. State governments and churches even sponsored white students to attend non-sectarian and religious private schools in order to keep their schools “separate but equal.” According to the Southern Education Foundation, private education saw a massive 43% jump in enrollment in Southern states with Northern states showing a similar growth. This is part of our history as Christian churches and schools. It is a part that we have tried so desperately to forget.

My dear Church, my dear fellow believers in Christ Jesus our Lord, do not let the sins of our past become the Uriah of the Church. Do not be silent in the face of injustice, let us not cover up the mistakes of our ancestors, claiming that we simply did not know. We must seek to know and learn our own story, for our story is shaped by our past: the good the bad and the ugly. Just as David repented to Nathaniel in 2 Samuel 12, we too as a Church must repent, acknowledge what has happened and seek reconciliation, peace and justice for all.