Racial Reconciliation Resources

Racial Reconciliation

The battle between good and evil continues, and we experienced it with our own eyes on May 25, 2020.

As Christ’s followers, we know that the world we inhabit has two opponents, God, and His enemy. In this arena, people are at war within themselves as they must choose by whom they listen.

God spoke this Word to us, For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.*

When the disdain for another flesh-and-blood emerges within the soul, this work is of God’s enemy stirring, mixing, and concocting a poisonous cocktail of hate. Hate is the opposite of Love, the very thread woven into the fabric of this God-created world, used to seam together the creative patchwork of God’s imaginative design of people.

With this drink, people, meant for a life of love, take weapons made of words, clubs, ropes, and tweets, and turn on each other, furthering themselves away from the truth. The truth that a real enemy lurks behind every thought of hate.

Mistreating someone based on the color of their skin is wrong. It is evil, and we’re asked to stay away from every kind of evil.** Racism goes against God’s work on earth and is a strategy of the enemy who is playing the long game.

As people defined, set apart, and called by God, Christ’s followers have a unique gift of light to offer the world of darkness. Because they are not defined by the color of the skin, but by the One who saves them, they are free to celebrate and consecrate inclusion and diversity. This is their truth.

This is our truth.

Our spiritual identity is defined by the color red, connecting us in the spiritual world, uniting us as family.

But just because this truth is a fact doesn’t mean we instantaneously act that way…yet.

God is continually making us holy. We spend the rest of our lives on earth becoming what we already are. So, while amid the transformation, we do not sit idle and passive, but rather we learn, listen, love, live. Life happens in the in-between.

So what is a step we can take as Christ’s followers? How can we carry out the freedom of celebration and consecration for inclusion and diversity?

We learn, listen, love, and live, specifically on the subject of race and racial reconciliation.

To start, we learn and listen so we can love and live. Start small by reading and watching with an open mind to allow God’s Spirit to speak. Then move your people to do the same.

I recommend an organization called Be The Bridge, which helps Christians move towards relationships and a deeper understanding in the midst of a diverse culture. It is founded by Latasha Morrison, who is a speaker, author, reconciler, bridge-builder, and leader, committed to educating people on cultural intelligence and racial literacy.

May our Church family shine bright amid the darkness,

Elisabeth C. Lee
Content Director

* Ephesians 6:12
** I Thessalonians 5:22