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As Christians, we have a long way to go in order to live up to God’s command for us to live united in Him (Psalm 133:1; Ephesians 4:3; 1 Corinthians 1:10). While perfect unity is an eternal reality in Heaven, we are called to pursue God’s perfect standard here on Earth. Thanks to God and many past people God worked through, we do not have nearly as far to go as we once did. 
 
For example, on June 19, 1865, an American Union Army general named Gordon Granger led a group of troops to Galveston, Texas, where he made one of the most hopeful announcements in Texas state history. In a state that had approximately 250,000 enslaved people at the time, General Granger delivered the following news: 
 
General Order No. 3: 
The people are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property, between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them, become that between employer and hired labor. The freed are advised to remain at their present homes, and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts; and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere. 
 
General Granger’s “Texas-sized” announcement reiterated the “Emancipation Proclamation” announcement that was made nearly three years earlier by President Abraham Lincoln on September 22, 1862. On that day, Lincoln announced the forthcoming freedom of millions of American slaves, which he signed into law on January 1, 1863. While Granger’s declaration did not end all divisions in America, it did confirm the legal cancellation of one of our greatest sources of division: centuries of legalized slavery. This momentous event is worthy of a holiday. 
 
Though formal celebrations tied to that historic Galveston announcement have taken place throughout America for many years, in 2021, that amazing day—June 19, 1865 (affectionately nicknamed Juneteenth)—became a federal holiday in America. Of all the days that could have commemorated the abolition of legalized slavery in America, why did Juneteenth become THE annual day of celebration? Why not January 1, 1863, when President Lincoln helped free many American slaves? Why not December 6, 1865, when the freedom of all American slaves was ratified by 27 of our then 36 states in America? I, for one, am glad this holiday was not combined with New Year’s Day or sandwiched between Thanksgiving and Christmas. June 19th, the day when the last of America’s legal slaves heard the good news of their physical liberation in 1865, works for me. 
 
Nevertheless, some people debate the merits of making Juneteenth a nationwide holiday. 
 
Is Juneteenth divisive? 
 
It can be. But for the Christian, it does not have to be. What Christians should be concerned about is whether or not we are deviating from God’s Word for our lives. It is God’s will for us to learn from history (Romans 15: 4). After all, the Bible, God’s Word, is our ultimate history book and is filled with significant ancient accounts that reveal teachable moments. In the Bible, we learn that both spiritual and physical liberation are worthy of our celebration. 

 
 
We (Christians) should celebrate the physical exodus of many enslaved Hebrew/Jewish people in ancient Egypt. But we should not mistreat modern-day Jewish people due to their relation to a legacy of enslavement or mistreat Egyptians due to their relation to a legacy of enslaving people. Similarly, we should celebrate the liberation of many enslaved people in America’s past without mistreating the modern-day descendants of enslaved people or mistreating the modern-day descendants of slave owners. Celebration of liberation from hardships is unifying. Mistreatment related to past hardships perpetuates divisions. 
 
Just as we celebrate God empowering David’s victory over Goliath—securing Israel’s avoidance of enslavement to Philistia—we can celebrate God empowering America’s avoidance of a future that includes legalized slavery. Just as we celebrate God working through Esther to help rescue Jewish people from a holocaust in Persia, we can celebrate God working through abolitionists (many of them Christians) from continued oppression of any people group. 

  
We can be biblical unifiers. We can obey God’s command to speak truth peacefully and lovingly (Romans 12:18; Ephesians 4:15). We can love all of our brothers and sisters in Christ, and all of humanity, like Jesus Christ loves us (Matthew 22:39; John 13:34-35). In other words, we can and should be Christlike while acknowledging human history. We can and should reveal a way of life that reflects the Holy Spirit-filled and unifying power of Jesus to the world around us. We can live out Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream for the “‘sons’ of former slaves and the ‘sons’ of former slave-owners … to sit down together at the table of brotherhood (unity).” 
 
Recognizing Juneteenth as a national holiday should not divide us. Belittling the long-awaited liberation of millions of enslaved people can divide us. Celebrating Juneteenth should not divide us. Legalized slavery divided us. Reflecting on the history of Juneteenth should not divide us. Ignoring the centuries-long negative impact of legalized slavery can divide us. 
 
Is Juneteenth a throwaway holiday for students and school employees, since it takes place outside of the school year? 
 
It does not have to be. While American society has its share of Juneteenth recognitions initiated by various cities, communities, churches, and other organizations, Christian schools can participate in the amplification of America’s critical 19th-century step towards God’s brand of unity as well. How about sending a celebratory email about Juneteenth from a biblical perspective to your entire school family? How about hosting a Christian Juneteenth speaker for your summer employees at your school? Or how about hosting a Christian unity-themed Juneteenth field trip for students and/or school employees? Allow me to share about a volunteer event that I have created for our school employees to participate in. 
 
Christian Academy School System’s “Journey to Biblical Unity Field Trip”: 
 

– During this mid-June field trip, I will be leading a group of coworkers from both of our schools (Christian Academy of Indiana and Christian Academy of Louisville) on a journey to Lexington, Kentucky, visiting and storytelling at the famous General Gordon Granger’s gravesite. 

 
– Then, we will head back to Louisville, Kentucky, to visit and continue storytelling at Pee Wee Reese’s statue (outside of Louisville Slugger Field), at Abraham Lincoln’s statue (in Waterfront Park), and at a statue of a former slave named York, which overlooks the Ohio River in the direction of the state of Indiana. (York’s unjust 18th-century enslavement, Abraham Lincoln’s courageous 19th-century work to help end legalized enslavement, Gordon Granger’s powerful 19th-century declaration about the ending of legalized enslavement, and Pee Wee Reese’s 20th-century inspirational friendship with Jackie Robinson will serve as important mile markers as we challenge our field trip participants to participate in a God-empowered, 21st-century pursuit of biblical unity. Contextual Scripture readings will take place at each location.) 

 
– All along the way, we will be celebrating God’s powerful work to deliver Americans from the days of legalized slavery, acknowledging the progress He has allowed Americans to make throughout our centuries of existence, and championing the freedom He gives Christians to live united in the present. 

 
– Lastly, we will gather in a local church (Highview Baptist Church’s Southside Campus) to pray alongside a group of leaders from that church and with representatives from fellow Christian schools (Portland Christian School and Whitefield Academy) for God to initiate, empower, and sustain an unprecedented movement of God’s brand of unity in America. 
*And of course, we will include a lunch stop during this trip. Chick-fil-A, most likely. 

  
I also lead annual field trips for students to Berea College (Berea, Kentucky), the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center (Cincinnati, Ohio), and the Holocaust & Humanity Center (Cincinnati, Ohio) during the school year that help highlight exceptional historic examples of biblical unity and cautionary historic examples of the damage failing to love God and people well can cause. 
 
Is Juneteenth a solution to America’s divisions? 
 
Nope. No secular holiday can accomplish this. But Jesus Christ can. He lovingly, powerfully, and relentlessly pursues unity with us and among us. He models grace towards all of us, in spite of our sinfulness. He died for sinners and offers to eternally, spiritually liberate us through our repentant confession of sinfulness when we place our faith in Him. He fills all Christians with the Holy Spirit to give us the capacity to love one another in a Christlike way. He is the ultimate liberator and unifier. He is the Prince of Peace. He is God. (To read more about Christ’s capacity to unite us with Him and one another, please read my book ChristiUnity: The History of God-authored Unity.) 
 
I love summertime. Two of my favorite summer days are Juneteenth and the Fourth of July. I give God glory for every person He worked through in the past to help us live freely to the extent we can today. Just as the Fourth of July is a day to celebrate America’s official status as an autonomous nation, Juneteenth is a day to celebrate America’s improved status as a nation in which all people have a right to live free from slavery. May we (Christians in America) honor Jesus and the people who served Him well in the past by pursuing biblical unity well in the present.