Be the Bridge: Pursuing God's Heart for Racial Reconciliation

by LaTasha Morrison

It’s important to remember that in our practice of restorative justice, reparation is not punitive. Reparation is not about punishing anyone. It’s not about paying a fine for a wrong committed or assuaging a guilty conscience.

reparation acknowledges that through historical injustice, some communities were denied (or had deliberately stolen from them) opportunities, possessions, property, wealth, and safety so that other communities could obtain more of those things. Reparation is about repaying or returning those things so as to restore equity.

Anyone who was at least one-sixteenth Japanese was moved to a camp. Seventeen thousand were children under the age of ten, and several thousand were elderly and handicapped.13

Canada relocated twenty-one thousand of its Japanese residents from its west coast. Mexico followed through with its own version of internment, and four South American countries sent more than two thousand people of Japanese descent to US camps.

The financial loss incurred by the Japanese American community (without even speaking of the emotional and mental toll) was almost irreversible.

Righting the wrong isn’t always as complicated as we want to make it.

Like Zacchaeus, effective bridge builders must return what was taken, even if it hurts.

Through it all, Elizabeth began to see how communities that have been neglected for decades are primed for eruptions of frustration.

Elizabeth understands that making wrongs right requires sacrifice. It requires rejecting upward mobility to level the playing field for others.

You can intentionally put yourself in the way of diversity by taking a job where you know you’ll be in the minority. You can bring people of color into your home. You can place yourself under the authority of their organizations and learn from them. You can sacrifice your upward mobility and use your power for the good of others.

How is the desire to make reparations, in the way Zacchaeus expressed, different from guilt? How is reparation related to the concepts of equality and equity?

I recognize that I have done wrong now how can I make that right?

For racial reconciliation to happen within the American church, what are some of the costs the majority culture will need to pay? What price will communities of color have to pay?

Being uncomfortable or unfamiliar with preaching or music styles. Learning a new culture. Looking at biblical events from different points of view. Making new friends. Perhaps going to a new church. Having different types of gatherings.

the lesson. Bridge builders grow; they mature. And if they’re growing in the right direction, if they’re committed to the work, they’ll eventually learn the way to restoration of healthy relationships. It won’t be easy, but it’s the work of the gospel.

The aim of reconciliation, whether marital or racial, is the restoration of relationship.

But wrestling through doubt can lead to a greater clarity and firmer faith, as Thomas would find out.

They didn’t kick Thomas out of the group because of his doubt. They made margin for it, allowed him to be vulnerable. Jesus showed up in this space and brought restoration.

Jesus didn’t just come to restore individual people; he came to break down systems of oppression, to provide a way for his kingdom to appear on earth as it is in heaven.

Do we sometimes forget this and underestimate Jesus’ power - or even simply refuse or forget to estimate him at all?

assume that someone else would step in and make things right. He didn’t rationalize the past away, didn’t excuse it by saying he hadn’t done anything wrong, so why worry about something that happened all those years ago?

That’s the point. He’s done it by building a bridge between the oppressed and the oppressors. He’s done it by creating space at the table, opening the conversation to explore a new way forward.

Sometimes making space for restorative reconciliation highlights opportunities and allows us to seek ways to repair relationships.

both were cautioned in fearful voices to stay in their own neighborhoods.

They saw how their perspectives had been skewed and how their respective relations with those of other ethnicities needed restoration.

Thinking through the previous chapters, where do you think the reconciliation process most often gets hijacked? Why do you think people so rarely make it to the work of restoration?

Reparations and repentance both cause problems, especially with those who don't believe it is their job to "pay for the sins of others"

Jesus, we ask that you would use the awareness and acknowledgment of our brokenness and our disobedience in loving our neighbor the way you would to restore our relationship with humanity.

So many of us hide little flickers of hope inside our hearts, and we ignore the small nudges from God, nudges pushing us to change the direction of our lives. Why? Maybe acting on those nudges will bring deep discomfort as our worldviews are disrupted. Maybe fear of the unknown or the loss of our tidy lives keeps us from following God.

wondered if I’d feel this dissatisfied and purposeless for the rest of my life. I

instead I started wondering whether God might have something else for me. I started praying. I started looking. I was still in the wilderness, but I started walking toward God. And that’s when he showed me something new.

Maybe the most practical parameter was no one was permitted to speak unless she held the talking stick (a lifesaver that ensured we didn’t speak over one another).

And without allowing myself to be uncomfortable with women who were different from me, my work through Be the Bridge never would have happened.

We repent and turn from our sin and do everything within our power to right the wrongs we’ve committed (or our ancestors have committed) because that’s the evidence of lives changed by God.

We disciple others in the way of truth because it’s God’s means and method of drawing the world to Jesus. It’s his way to bring the kingdom to earth.

I’ve stated several times throughout this book that reconciliation work is difficult. It’s challenging. It’s painful. That is why so few sign up for it, why so many people of color remain silent, and why our White friends hold back instead of coming alongside us.

Before [Be the Bridge training], I was getting in the way (because I felt that my white-ness and woman-ness were a deficit)

We keep inviting people into the work because we’ve come to know that race is a social and political construct that has no place in the kingdom of God.

racial literacy

Help us to always be willing to share the truth,

truth with love so the person hearing it experiences conviction and not condemnation.

Lord, help us to walk in courage as we invite others along on this journey. Give us the grace to endure any ridicule or rejection we may experience for the sake of sharing your truth. Help us know that the potential of rejection doesn’t compare to the potential of helping another one of your children to open his or her eyes to the truth of your Word.

Help us know that our speech doesn’t have to be perfect to be effective and that your truth will cover our lack of eloquence.

That’s not to say racial issues weren’t unfolding everywhere; it’s just that the media and most White people weren’t talking about it.

This was not an optional assignment.