This week we were so blessed to be able to have the organization One Race come to our campus and teach us about how God calls for racial reconciliation. One Race is a Christian organization that is committed to teaching churches and people to love regardless of color, class, or culture. It was so interesting and informative to go through these teachings and learn about the topic of race from a biblical standpoint and what God wants for us. Here are some of the things I learned!
1. What the Bible says about racial reconciliation
In Genesis 1-2 there are 4 connections established in creation:
- connection to God
- connection between Adam and Eve
- connection to creation
- connection within the soul/heart
When the fall happened, all four connections were broken. In Genesis 12 with The Abrahamic Covenant, God begins to move toward redemption. God has always wanted to unite all nations to Himself, and we see this rooted in the Abrahamic Covenant in which God says,
“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on the earth will be blessed through you.” Genesis 12:2
The “all peoples” mentioned in this verse refers to all the diverse people groups in the world that will be brought together through Christ.
When Christ made the ultimate sacrifice, all 4 connections were reconciled. Since we have free will, we have the choice to have vertical reconciliation back with the father and ourself, and vertical reconciliation with others. God calls for horizontal reconciliation in Ephesians 2:14-16 when Paul says:
“For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thru making peach, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.”
The new humanity Paul describes in Ephesians 2 is a part of God’s redemptive plan from the beginning of time. Because of Christ’s work on the cross, there is now one redeemed humanity “in Christ”.
The death of Christ breaks down the hostility of warring people groups. It doesn’t matter the differences of each ethnicity, those who call upon the name of Christ are one family in God.
2. What we can do to lead towards racial reconciliation
This is One Race’s transformation model: Know the story, own the story, change the story. Here’s a breakdown of each part:
- Know The Story: 61% of American history consisted of slavery, and 25% of American history consisted of Jim Crow laws and racial violence. Therefore, racism was legal for 86% of our history. Think of it this way: if you’ve been married for 10 years, and the first 8.6 years your spouse abused you physically and verbally, cheated on you, and did not treat you as an equal. After the 8.6 years, they say the abuse is over and they will treat you right now. Do you think that you would automatically trust them again and that everything would be great? That there wouldn’t be any repercussions from it? That is what has been happening with American culture. We have said that racism is behind us, but we can’t ignore the repercussions of something that formed our country. Racism isn’t behind us, and we need to realize this to change it.
- Own The story: To be able to understand where we stand in this story, we need to learn about our privilege today. Daniel Hill talks about this in his book White Awake when he states, “To live from our identity in Christ, we must confront the ways the narrative has informed both our sense of self and our views of other people.” (White Awake, Daniel Hill, 61). In our teaching, we did a privilege walk to see how our family and race play into our privilege in life. While talking about this, we learned how we should not feel shame for who we are and what race we are. None of that we could control. However, we need to be aware of what it grants us to be able to change it. White skin is not bad, however, it has been weaponized or coopted by those of the powerful for subjugation. We have been created by God. Sinful humans twist it for wrong motives. We are ALL beloved by God, and we need to be anti-racist to allow us as a country to see each other as God sees us.
- Change The Story: Revelation 7:9 “After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and every tribe and every people and every language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands.” Jesus paid the ultimate price so that all humanity can be reconciled or reunited with God. So that EVERY nation, EVERY tribe, EVERY people, EVERY language–EVERY color, class, and culture would be reconciled and reunited back to the father. We owe the next generation to do everything in our power and everything in our authority as Kingdom ambassadors to bring Heaven on Earth. We can change the story and bring heaven on earth through these things:
- By lamenting and having true repentance for our own bias and prejudice
- Through our actions and speaking up and speaking out about injustices
- By being vocal and standing with Christ-centered organizations like One Race to condemn racism in every form
- By holding our church leaders and church family accountable for their position on racial inequalities in our country
- Through prayer and petitioning Heaven and petitioning our legislators for action in how our laws and statutes are written
- By voting for government leaders who not only vote in alignment with scripture but use their platform for unity, justice, and peace
By changing the story we can bring heaven on earth and reconcile with each other as God intends for us.
3. Where the church has been on the topic of racial reconciliation
The church has been on the wrong side of history for a long time now. It was on the wrong side of history back in early Europe due to corruption and has been on the wrong side of history here in America when it comes to racism. Some examples of this are during 1830-1965 when southerners used the bible to defend slavery, and during 1877-1950 when white evangelicals didn’t oppose segregation and believed blacks were responsible for this own problems. This led to racism in the church and white Christians treating black Christians as second class, which eventually led to black Christians leaving white churches to start their own where they will be welcomed. This is why today there are segregated churches, and due to that 11:00 a.m. on Sunday is the most segregated hour in America.
When we think of the church in early Europe, we think of it in a negative manner due to corruption. When we think of the church between 1830-1950 in America, we think of it in a negative manner on the topic of race. Even when a lot of people think of the church today, it is still in a negative manner due to many reasons. How will the church of 2020 be remembered? Will we be yet another generation that keeps quiet on the topic of race in the church and continues being a complicit church? The church has been a follower of society when it comes to the topic of race, changing only after society changes. However, the Bible never changes and God calls us to follow the Bible and not the world. The church should be the one leading this issue to change society, not the other way around. By changing the story and leading with compassion and grace to everyone, we can be the example of how society should look. Again, what will people look back and think of the church of 2020?
Invitation:
I invite you to follow One Race’s transformation model on your own. Research the history of the church on the topic of race. Learn what has happened and what is continuing to happen today. Then, figure out how you play a role in this story today, and how your privilege is prevalent in society and how you can use it for good. Learn what your biases are and hold yourself accountable for changing them. Lastly, practice racial reconciliation in your daily life and through the church. Be the change we need and start informing others on this topic. For change to happen, we need to speak up and call others higher in God’s name to have racial reconciliation. We, as the Church, have the power to change America. What will you do to help?
Here is One Race’s website if you want to learn more!
Go with peace to love and serve the Lord! Love, Abby
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