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

by LaTasha Morrison

Ultimately, I pray you’ll join a movement of bridge builders who are fighting for oneness and unity, not uniformity, in “such a time as this.”

Paul wasn’t suggesting that aspects of our gender or racial identity aren’t important, that we should all meld together into one indistinguishable throng. In fact, Paul emphasized that unity can be found in diversity.

We all have been given different gifts; we all are different parts of the same body.4 In the love of the family of God, we must become color brave, color caring, color honoring, and not color blind. We have to recognize the image of God in one another. We have to love despite, and even because of, our differences.

To participate in the family of Christ alongside the non-White culture, the majority culture must understand non-White perspectives and the truth of historical narratives.

To lament means to express sorrow or regret. Lamenting something horrific that has taken place allows a deep connection to form between the person lamenting and the harm that was done, and that emotional connection is the first step in creating a pathway for healing and hope. We have to sit in the sorrow, avoid trying to fix it right away, avoid our attempts to make it all okay. Only then is the pain useful. Only then can it lead us into healing and wisdom.

“There is great value to lament. Lament must never be cut off before it has run its course, but lament needs a response. That response comes from the Father above, but could it also require something from us?”3 Could Rah be right? Could it be that lament connects us with God, that it allows us to experience his response and then cooperate with him to make wrongs right?

Instead, they allow that pain to continually push them into forgiveness.

Lord, we confess as a church that we have modified the meaning of the gospel to justify our lack of effort to pursue justice for the oppressed. We have altered the nature of the gospel message in order to remain focused on our personal piety at the expense of caring for the needs of others. We confess we have created a gospel that is manageable so as to avoid entering into the pain, struggle, and discomfort of bearing one another’s burdens—and therefore we have failed to fulfill the law of Christ. Gracious Lord, we confess we have been complacent in the very areas where you command us to labor. We have been lazy in our pursuit of right knowledge and action toward the things that reflect your heart. We have leaned back on the excuse of emotional fatigue as a way to avoid leaning into our call of bringing your image to bear in the brokenness. Group

Confession is important, but true repentance must couple words with action.

This sort of reproduction isn’t oriented toward meeting church-growth plans or scaling our organization or receiving individual recognition. 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 began to realize that my life breathed privilege and comfort like oxygen, while I had remained utterly unaware of the contrasting reality my friends faced daily.