A SHARED SIN, A SHARED CROSS
When we speak of slavery in America, the temptation is to divide the story into heroes and villains, North and South, clean hands and stained hands. But history does not bend so easily into comforting categories. The sin of slavery was not born in one region alone; it was woven into the fabric of a young nation — tolerated, defended, financed, preached around, and too often justified.
Yes, by the time of the Civil War, the Confederate States of America had made slavery explicit in its founding document, declaring human beings to be property and pledging constitutional protection for the system. That clarity is sobering. But the North was not morally stainless. Northern merchants trafficked in slave-produced cotton. Northern ships carried enslaved Africans. Northern banks financed Southern plantations. Even after abolition within states like New York and Massachusetts, economic entanglement continued.
What does a Christian do with that?
First, we tell the truth without flinching. The Bible does not sanitize Israel’s history; it records their idolatry, injustice, and oppression. The Word of God teaches us that righteousness is not preserved by denial but by confession. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Confession is not weakness; it is courage before God.
Second, we reject tribal defensiveness. The cross dismantles pride in heritage. No one stands justified by geography. We are not saved because our ancestors were on the “better side” of a war. We are saved by grace alone. The ground at the foot of the cross is level.
Third, we understand that shared guilt does not erase specific responsibility. By 1860, slavery had become foundational to the Southern political and economic order in a way it no longer was in the North. That matters historically. But acknowledging that distinction does not absolve earlier complicity. The sin was national; its defense became regional.
The Gospel gives us a better path than accusation or excuse. From one blood God made every nation of men (Acts 17:26). Every person bears His image (Genesis 1:27). To enslave an child of God is to assault the Creator whose likeness they carry. To profit from that bondage is to participate in injustice. The church must say this plainly — not to reopen wounds, but to heal them through truth.
And here is the hope: Christ bore not only individual sins but the weight of human injustice. The same Lord who proclaimed freedom to captives calls His church to reflect His kingdom — a kingdom not built on chains, but on mercy. When we repent of historical sins, we do not rewrite the past; we submit it to the judgment and redemption of Jesus.
So how should Christians today think?
With humility.
With honesty.
With gratitude for abolitionists who fought at great cost.
With sorrow for the church’s failures.
With commitment to love our neighbors as ourselves.
We do not inherit personal guilt for acts we did not commit. But we do inherit a history that shapes our present. And when that history includes grave injustice, the Christlike response is neither denial nor self-righteousness. It is sober remembrance and renewed obedience.
The North cannot boast. The South cannot excuse. The church must repent where it erred. And all of us must cling to the Savior who tears down dividing walls and makes one new humanity in Himself (Ephesians 2:14-16).
The last word over this story is not “Confederate” or “Union.” It is “Redeemed.”
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Lord Jesus, You who came to proclaim liberty to captives, search our hearts and cleanse us of pride and defensiveness. Teach us to tell the truth about our history without hatred, and to confess sin without despair. Heal wounds that linger, unite Your people in humility, and make Your church a witness to Your justice and Your grace. Amen.
BDD
