reconciliation. peace. and unity. i’ve dreamed of it, i’m passionate for it and heartbroken it’s not a norm in today’s culture. it’s also an uncomfortable and fearful topic of mine. my soul and heart screams on the inside everything i want to say, but to try and bring the words to light is terrifying. afraid of saying one thing but getting shamed because i didn’t say another. being seen as an “extremest” or one who is supporting injustice because i haven’t been loud enough. being seen as the oppressed and “victim” or even the oppressor. in today’s culture, we’ve been molded to choose sides and if you don’t, you aren’t fighting hard enough. we’ve been trying so hard to fight for the black heart, asian heart, hispanic heart, indian heart, white heart.. we haven’t even bothered to fight for the heart of the Lord.
“For he is our peace, who made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. In his flesh, he made no effect the law consisting of commands end expressed in regulations, so that he might create in himself one new man from the two, resulting in peace. He did this so that he might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross by which he put the hostility to death.” [Ephesians 2:14-16] The Lord knew the division His creation would choose to live in, so He put the hostility to death while being the bridge as his son laid on the cross. This is his heart. He did this so that we could be one through his name. Jesus didn’t die multiple times for multiple races. He died once and for all so we could all be ONE.
here lately, the Lord is showing me what a complex and good life I’ve been given. a life to be able to see His heart through multiple perspectives. a gift, that is. fully hispanic, born without a father, sleeping on just a mattress as my mom and i’s only piece of furniture in a tiny apartment wondering when we would get our next meal. life where society would look and say privilege didn’t exist for us. but the privilege we had was God. He was our only source of hope and praise him for the beautiful place he put us in. later being adopted by my white father who works in law enforcement (NOTE: i didn’t have to add this but i GET to add this because it shows the more complex and diverse side of my life, i get the opportunity to share how complex my perspective is and i won’t be ashamed of it.) and being blessed with all the people and things i do have now. my family is mixed with hispanics, white people, and black people. so focusing in on the unity my family had made me struggle to look at the unity that society doesn’t have.
BUT how sweet is it that Jesus chose to love people from all walks of life to bring glory to his kingdom. from paul, to the woman at the well, to peter and so on. whether they walked a life of suffering or privilege, they used it to bring glory to god and his kingdom. we get to boast in the places and gifts the lord gave us. as the church and the body we are not to show partiality to the gentile or jew, rich or poor, the black or white. we need each other. our differences are needed for each other to bring glory to the kingdom. jesus came to unite all people and things as one.
the church should be leading in this horizontal reconciliation with others. as the church, we should be fighting for peace, fighting for the father’s heart. this is more than republican vs democratic, more than black lives vs blue lives, more than “which side are you on?”. Jesus didn’t come to choose sides, He came to take over. when we switch our identities from being citizens of america to citizens of heaven, imagine the love that will prevail and the reconciliation we can have with each other to look at everyone through the eyes of the father. this is kingdom and we’ve been missing what it’s supposed to look like.
“After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.” [Revelation 7:9]
