December 15

Racial Reconciliation

Ephesians 2:14-16 speaks of a new community that is built with both Gentiles and Jews. Our Lord Jesus has destroyed any barriers between groups by becoming our peacemaker. By his death on the cross, he has destroyed the hostility between groups.

His purpose was to create one new man, and here is how it works. I invite Christ to live in me, and I am a white, bald guy. You invite Christ to live in you, and you are red, yellow or black. So now if you are in Christ, and I am in Christ, then I am in you and you are in me. We are one.

This radically changes how I view myself and how I view you. Now my relationship with Jesus has become all encompassing. Because of these verses, it is technically incorrect to say you're a Chinese Christian, White Christian, Black Christian, because then you are making Chinese, black and white an adjective and you are making Christian a noun. The job of the adjective is to modify the noun. So if Christian is in the noun position, and black and white are in the adjectival position, then they are backward. Christianity must always be in the adjectival position. Your race, class, culture, and family of origin must always be in the noun position.

The correct way to state who I am after Ephesians 2 is, “I am a Christian, white, bald guy. My faith is stronger than my race, my class, state of my hair, or my culture. The point of this chapter is not that God is attempting to amalgamate us; he is creating a whole new community.

Why is he doing this? So that we can show the world what it means to be reconciled. We need to become a mini-version of what the Kingdom of God is going to look like in heaven.
Rev. 7:9 shows us what the kingdom really looks like..... “After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.”

One of God’s core values is reconciliation. He loves the people of the world, red and yellow, black and white they are all precious in his sight. So this is one of our core values. Here is your homework. Act like a member of this new community. Intentionally build a relationship with someone different than yourself. It is tempting for all the birds of like feather to gather together, but intentionally go to a bird of a different feather and be a friend. "But, I am just one individual, what can I do?" That is the beauty of reconciliation. It takes place one life at a time. If each of us would intentionally reach across racial lines, we would see America change.

Become a conspirator!!