Let’s be honest, the world we live in is a mess! We’ve all seen the videos of the deaths of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery. We’ve watched peaceful protest get hijacked by rioting, looting, and even more violence. This has left us angry, hurt, and wondering how do we move forward as a nation and as a community. 

As followers of Jesus, we believe that all human beings are set apart as divine image bearers. We believe that every race, ethnicity, age, and gender are loved and valued by God. We also know that we are called to love others, weep with those who weep, and look out for the well being of our neighbor. 

On Sunday, we had a conversation from Philippians 1:27-2:4 that addressed the importance of racial reconciliation. As Christians, we must do our part to fight against racial injustice and fight for racial reconciliation. Jesus came to “redeem people for God by His blood from every tribe and language and people and nation”. 

How is God’s church supposed to lead the way in racial reconciliation and learn ways to talk about race in light of the Gospel? Especially in a culture that is fueled by the divisive design of social media and has lost the ability to have a civil conversation. 

Unfortunately our society has turned race and our current events into an “us” vs “them” issue. As followers of Jesus, we need to understand that this is a “Kingdom of God” vs “kingdom of darkness” issue. Standing up against racism and racial injustice is fundamentally a Gospel issue. 

The Gospel teaches us that God’s “Plan A” for rescuing the world is for His church to be a place of refuge for people of every color, race, & nationality. 

We are one race — human
We are made in one image – God’s
We have one problem — sin
We are under one Savior — Jesus Christ
We are united with one hope — the resurrection

Root of racism & racial inequality is PRIDE. And the Bible’s answer for UNITY and racial reconciliation is not long, convoluted, or complex. In fact, you can sum it up in two words: selfless humility:

Philippians 2:3-4 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “In the end, we will not remember the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” It is time for us to no longer be “silent friends” when we see injustice around us. Here are three practical ways we do that:

1. Pray – 1 Chronicles 7:14 says “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” We need God to heal our land. As followers of Jesus we need to walk in selfless humility, realizing we don’t have all the answers, and turn to God to bring the change of hearts that can heal our brokenness. 
2. Carry Others Burdens – Paul said in Galatians 6, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ”. What law is he referring to? It’s Jesus’ command to “love one another as He has loved us”. Part of carrying someone else’s burdens is taking to time to learn what those burdens are. We need to ask our brothers and sisters of color what burdens they are carrying and offer to carry the load for them. We also need to ask our friends that are police officers what burdens they are carrying and offer to carry their burdens as well.
   Ultimately we need to be burden carriers NOT agenda pushers!
3. Prioritize the Gospel – the Gospel gives us HOPE in times like this because through Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection…He takes strangers & makes them family!

Racial reconciliation is not an effort to be made…it is our calling to be lived out!