Racial Reconciliation and the Gospel

Have you ever opened a book and read the first few paragraphs, and then immediately know that this book is really going to mess you up, but in all the best ways?

Well, that is how I felt when I picked up Heal Us, Emmanuel: A Call for Racial Reconciliation, Representation, and Unity in the Church from our church book table last Sunday.  It touches upon a LOT of things I have not really taken the time to consider about the racism present within our nation--especially within the Evangelical church tradition--and the racism in my own heart.

You see, I was born and raised in deep-South Georgia; my mom was born in Tennessee, my dad in Wisconsin, yet both my parents grew up in Alabama during the Civil Rights era of the 1960s.  We didn't talk much about race when I was growing up.  I suppose we felt that we didn't need to--the Civil Rights Act was already in place and Bill Cosby was on prime time television.  We didn't really interact with people of other ethnicities--we always lived in white neighborhoods, attended majority white schools (for the most part), and always attended monoethnic white churches.  I remember having a close black friend in fourth grade--we'd have sleep overs at each other's houses.  I had a randomly assigned black roommate in college for one semester, but we soon found other friends (who looked more like us) and moved apart after the holidays.  I see Obama in the White House and Lester Holt anchoring the news and in many ways, I tell myself that we don't have a real racial issue in this nation.  I don't consider myself to be racist, however I know that on many levels, I most assuredly am.  It may not express itself in egregious ways, however, I am coming to see that apathy, avoidance, and silence about racial relations in our nation is perhaps even worse.

I don't see grown men cry very often, so when I do, I try to really listen up and take notice.  One of these occasions came from the pulpit at my church when Pastor Walt was relaying his experience last summer at our denomination's (Presbyterian Church of America, PCA) annual pastoral conference, General Assembly.  He said that he had never seen the Spirit move in such an amazing way as that meeting, when a pastor came forward and confessed the sin of racism.  He went on to say that several hundred men came forward to confess this sin and asked God to forgive their sins of omission and commission as they contributed to racial division within the church.  This action led to the writing of a resolution within our denomination which was ratified the following year at the same conference.  Our pastor printed this document in full and handed it out along with his sermon notes, as he preached about racial reconciliation and the advancement of the gospel last fall.* In brief, this document exposed sins that occurred during the Civil Rights period in our nation, when church leaders actively worked against racial unity through the segregation of worshipers by race: excluding church membership on the basis of race, discouraging inter-racial marriage, and even participating in and defending white supremacist organizations.  Furthermore, it confessed to vestiges of these sins which presently affect our denomination, such as the refusal to lay down cultural preferences so that others feel more welcome in worship and not sufficiently encouraging other ethnicities to assume positions of leadership.

It is a difficult resolution to read, coming from the church leadership of my PCA denomination, but a very necessary one, as I am reminded that Daniel and Nehemiah prayed corporate prayers of confession for their people (see Daniel chapter 9 and Nehemiah chapter 1).  But how does all of this relate to me--to the issues deep in my heart?

I look at my nightstand, only to see two books perched on top, and they both deal with similar issues. You see, in addition to Heal Us, Emmanuel I am also currently reading Hidden Figures--the story, recently made into a movie, about the African-American women mathematicians in NASA during the Space Race.  This was a recommended read from my neighborhood book club.  I've read about how, to use the characters' words, they worked twice as hard to get half as much in life.  I've read about their segregated, sub-par work space, and the enforcement of segregation in the lunch room. 

I chuckle to myself.  Isn't this always how God works, how He teaches, and oh-so-gently instructs us, His children? He doesn't beat us down with a two-by-four of biblical knowledge and theology (although He could--He is the theological expert!). Instead, He weaves His truth in all, through all, so that we cannot help but consider the truths He is wanting to impart to us.

You see, in all my blogging last year about unity (if you missed those, check here and here and here), I focused on the issue of church denominations and differing faith traditions; I never even considered race and the great divide that exists between the majority white and majority black churches in this country.  And in last year's post following the Baltimore riots, I think I skirted around some very important issues that I now need to reflect upon further in light of systematic racism and white privilege.

It is as though God is gently tapping me on the shoulder and asking me, in His gentle and loving way...

So, you say you care about church unity?  You say that your heart aches for the unity of believers that I prayed for in the Garden before I was crucified**?  Have you considered, dear daughter,  the great racial divide that still stands within my Church in this country?  Have you looked within the recesses of your heart and dealt with the sin that lies there?

And I cannot speak.  I have no words.  I can only sit still and listen.  Absorb.  Reflect.  Pray.  And perhaps weep.

I will definitely keep you posted as I learn more from the pages of these books, and as I pray with new urgency and understanding and reflect further upon this issue of racism.  Will you go down this journey with me, dear friend?  Will you stop and reflect and pray and be open to confessing, both personally and corporately, your sins of racism and pride, your apathy, avoidance, and silence?  Will you, like Nehemiah, venture to ask questions, to seek to care, and to pray that the things that break God's heart would break your own?  You need this.  I need this.  I'd encourage you to start with this book, Hear Us Emmanuel. I can't wait to hear what God will do as a result.

"The most segregated hour in this nation is 11 a.m. on a Sunday morning"

              --Martin Luther King, Jr.

*For a podcast of the sermon, check out this website and tune into the October 2, 2016, sermon "We and Our Fathers Have Sinned" 

**See John 17