Practical First Steps Toward Racial Reconciliation
Last week I posted about some of my own recent personal convictions on the issues of racism and social injustice. I didn’t want to overwhelm everyone by being too wordy, so I’m continuing my discussion this week of other things that God is having me work on personally in the realm of racial reconciliation. I’d also like to share some resources with you that have been really helpful for me as and grow, learn, and hopefully make a difference in this area.
As I stated last week, I ask you in advance to please give me grace for any errors in the way I may say this. I may not say the perfect thing in the perfect way. My goal is just to be a part of the conversation and to be a voice instead of remaining silent.
Turn of events
My heart has broken over the past couple of months as horrible events have unfolded very publicly exposing systemic racism. The horrifying shooting of Ahmaud Arbery triggered some very emotional conversation with my teenagers. Then not long after that I was brought to tears watching a video of an emotional delivery driver in my own state of Oklahoma who was detained for nearly an hour by residents in a gated community because of the color of his skin.
I was also completely shocked as I watched the video of Amy Cooper in Central Park calling the police with false claims about Christian Cooper as he was birdwatching. Then I saw the unbelievable footage of the killing of George Floyd. My eyes were being opening to the truth that widespread, systemic, active racism is very much still alive and active today. A fact that, I’m embarrassed to say, I have been ignorant of until recently.
I started spending more significant time in prayer about the issue of racial reconciliation and about my part, my role, and what God was calling me, personally, to do. I feel like God has been giving me steps to take in phases.
Praying about racial reconciliation
If there is one thing that I am, it’s that I’m a prayer warrior. I KNOW prayer is powerful, effective, and produces results.
“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” James 5:16 (NIV)
Immediately, I was praying over the situations transpiring in our world. I prayed for so many different areas…direction, revelation, justice, restoration, reconciliation, unity, peace, healing & comfort, empathy, for eyes and ears to be opened, for God’s heart, for repentance, and against evil spiritual forces wreaking havoc. However, most of my prayers revolved around God showing me what my next step was and what I was supposed to do. I wanted God to show me areas where I have failed and need to repent, where I need to grow, and where I need to take a step.
I prayed:
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” Psalm 139:23-24 (NLT)
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10 (ESV)
Slowly and a little at a time, God started showing me areas where I had been blind, ignorant, and wrong. In continuing to pray, I also felt that God showed me that this was one of my roles in racial reconciliation—to continue to prayer earnestly and fervently about the issues and as I saw things arise. God reminded me that my prayers could make a difference. Therefore when any issues arise, I pray.
Then God showed me my next step…to educate myself.
Educating myself about racial reconciliation
As I prayed and God was revealing my own errors to me and softening my heart in some areas, I got a sense that God wanted me to take another step further to educate myself. I began to be proactive and intentional about seeking out resources to learn more about racial reconciliation. I watched a live event by my church on “Racial Reconciliation and the Church”. The college where I teach collaborated with a local foundation to put on a virtual symposium focusing on reconciliation where I was able to attend the virtual sessions.
I received several articles and posts amidst my normal subscriptions that were educational and eye opening. Additionally, I sought out resources, articles, messages, and podcasts from trusted leaders and speakers. I also was thankful for the numerous Bible reading plans via YouVersion that were available on the issue, and so I was able to start reading several of those. **Resources will be posted below.
Dr. Tony Evans’ resources have, by far, been the most helpful and most educational. This short video he put out about social injustice is divinely inspired, in my opinion, and was one of the most helpful things that I have seen to date.
It’s important to me that I overcome ignorance. Just because I haven’t experienced something doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Furthermore, I’m learning the need to have grace for the pain of others. The more I have educated myself, the more my eyes have been opening and the more empathy I have developed. As my empathy has grown, my internal sense of justice has also increased along with my desire to respond to injustice.
This prompted me into my next phase where God directed me to respond and make an impact within my own sphere of influence.
Racial reconciliation with MY sphere of influence
It starts with me. I have a voice with my immediate family. I have a voice with my extended family. There’s opportunity to use my voice and influence with my students, with my youth small group, with the women I serve at Glory House, with the moms I pray with during the school year. I have a voice on this blog. I have a circle of influence, and I can use my voice within that circle.
Something I do often, even before recent events, is to pray for teachable moments with others. I ask God to show me areas to raise the topic, introduce godly values in a relevant way, or even to make correction. The goal is to start having conversations. I ask for God’s assistance to help me recognize and create those moments of conversation.
In addition to conversations and teachable moments, I need to model and teach with my own life. I need to be the example, and my life can speak louder than my words. If I can make a difference in my world, it can create a ripple effect that can be far reaching and long-lasting for generations to come.
Scriptures on teaching and the ripple effect…
“But watch out! Be careful never to forget what you yourself have seen. Do not let these memories escape from your mind as long as you live! And be sure to pass them on to your children and grandchildren.” Deuteronomy 4:9 (NLT)
“Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.” Deuteronomy 6:7, Deuteronomy 11:19 (NLT)
“So the next generation might know them— even the children not yet born— and they in turn will teach their own children.” Psalm 78:6 (NLT)
“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6 (ESV)
Speak up racial reconciliation and take action
The next phase involves speaking up and taking action. This has required being intentional, being uncomfortable, and not avoiding push back or expecting some resistance. Anytime we take a stand against injustice we can expect some opposition. (Here’s a post on how obedience to God should come with a warning label!) In fact, after last week’s post, I had several people unsubscribe from my blog.
Nevertheless, I do not want people to assume from my silence that I am a supporter. Therefore it is imperative that I speak up.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer on events of the Holocaust
“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“To say nothing is saying something. You must denounce things you are against or one might believe that you support things you really do not.” Germany Kent
Silence, apathy, and indifference can be a sin.
“Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.” James 4:17 (NLT)
The Bible talks a lot about listening and responding to the cry of the needy and the oppressed and in standing up in the face of injustice. Jesus stood for and by people that others didn’t stand for: Women, children, marginalized ethnic groups, the poor, the oppressed, and the exploited. As followers of Christ, we should too. Dr. Tony Evans said of biblical justice, “Simply put, we are to defend and seek the welfare of those who are most vulnerable to suffer from injustice.”[1]
Linking the spiritual and the social
In the Bible reading plan “What is Biblical Justice?”, Dr. Tony Evans says,
“Jesus links our attitude towards God (the spiritual) with our attitude towards others (the social). Love is not merely a feeling, but rather, an action. Love is compassionately and righteously pursuing the well-being of another. So since loving others is all about pursuing their best interest, then we should seek to free any person from oppression and inequity. We see this in Jesus’ earthly ministry. He preached the kingdom (the spiritual), but He also addressed people’s physical needs (the social).
As we fight for biblical justice and freedom, we need a balanced approach. We must confront sin and spread the gospel. But equally important, we must also stand against injustices, whether they be racial, socio-economical, political or criminal. If the gospel has changed your life, then praise God. If you are doing well and God has blessed you, then praise God. But understand, God doesn’t grant us freedom solely for ourselves. He wants to use us to help others gain their freedom. This is where biblical justice comes into play, and this is why God tells us to fight for the weak, speak up for those without a voice, and defend the rights of the oppressed and marginalized.”[2]
Scriptures:
“Jesus replied, “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”” Matthew 22:37, 39-40 (NLT)
“The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the LORD’s favor has come. ” Luke 4:18-19 (NLT)
“Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.” Isaiah 1:17 (NIV)
“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8 (ESV)
“Give justice to the poor and the orphan; uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute. Rescue the poor and helpless; deliver them from the grasp of evil people.” Psalms 82:3-4 (NLT)
“Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice.” Proverbs 31:9 (NLT)
“This is what the LORD says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.” Jeremiah 22:3 (NIV)
“To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.” Proverbs 21:3 (ESV)
God is a god of reconciliation
God is a god of reconciliation and if we are in his family and are followers of Jesus, we must be people of reconciliation, and this includes racial reconciliation.
“And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”” 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 (NLT)
“For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.” Ephesians 2:14-16 (NLT)
Take Some Practical First Steps Towards Racial Reconciliation:
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First, be introspective. Look internally, examine yourself, and ask God to examine you.
Truth and awareness are some of the first steps to racial reconciliation. Pray about and do some internal searching for any implicit biases (attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner). In their conversation on “Become the Bridge”, Pastor John Gray and Pastor Steven Furtick say to ask yourself “What is in my heart about black people, and how did it get there?”[3] Pray, “Lord show me my blind spots. Help me see truth, even when it’s uncomfortable.”
“And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32 (NLT)
“Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD.” Lamentations 3:40 (NIV)
“But who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults.” Psalm 19:12 (NIV)
“Test me, LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind” Psalm 26:2 (NIV)
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” Psalm 139:23-24 (NLT)
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10 (ESV)
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Secondly, repent.
Racial reconciliation will require repentance. Repentance is not just being sorry. It’s changing direction and doing things in a new and different way. What mindsets do you need to change? What actions do you need to change? The entire chapter of Psalm 51 is good to pray over yourself in keeping with repentance. You can also take the opportunity to ask forgiveness on behalf others (even a whole nation). This was demonstrated in scripture as well by Moses (Exodus 32), Daniel (Daniel 9), Ezra (Ezra 9), Nehemiah (Nehemiah 1), and even Jesus (Luke 23:34).
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Next, educate yourself.
Be intentional in researching resources to learn more and racial and social injustices. Read books and articles, watch videos, listen to podcasts and teachings from trusted, godly leaders, and have conversations. In doing all of these though it’s essential that you LISTEN; don’t speak. Seek first to understand before trying to be understood. Don’t get defensive. Just listen.
Develop empathy. You need more empathy to counteract the dehumanization and inequity. You can develop empathy by education. Learn about experiences. See what others go through. Listen to their stories and perspective. Expose yourself to other cultures and other experiences. How would it feel to be in their shoes? What if your children were to experience what they have experienced? How would that make you feel?
When you grow in empathy you can get an emboldened sense of justice, and when your sense of justice increases you can then be prompted into action.
Pray for God to soften your heart and help you not to be stubborn and closed-minded on these issues. Pray for God to give you eyes to see and ears to hear as you educate yourself and learn.
“And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.” Ezekiel 36:26 (NLT)
“Son of man, you are living among a rebellious people. They have eyes to see but do not see and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious people.” Ezekiel 12:2 (NIV)
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To educate yourself, check out a few helpful resources as a starting point:
Video: Dr. Tony Evans Speaks From His Heart About Social Injustice
Video: Become The Bridge: A Conversation With Pastor Steven Furtick & Pastor John Gray
Video: Parents of color trying to explain to their kids how to deal with this situation
Instagram Video: Priscilla Shirer captures her dad, Dr. Tony Evans, talking to his sons and grandsons about the current cultural climate.
Article: How Do We Respond to the George Floyd Murder?
Website: Be the Bridge—Their goal is to empower people and culture toward racial healing, equity, and reconciliation.
Books: “Be the Bridge” by Latasha Morrision and the “The Color of Compromise” by Jemar Tisby (*I have not yet personally read either of these books, but they have been recommended by MULTIPLE people that I highly respect and trust.)
Misc. resources: Focus on the Family resources on racism
Bible Reading Plans:
Tony Evans Explores Racial Reconciliation
Community Restoration and the Church
The Role of Church in Cultural Clashes
Be the Bridge: Pursuing God’s Heart for Racial Reconciliation
Rev. Dr. Bernice A. King: Cultivating A Heart Of Mercy
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Then, impact your sphere of influence—“It starts with me. It starts with you.”
You have a voice with your immediate family. You have a voice with your extended family. What are other areas of opportunity to use your voice in your own sphere of influence? Can you start with your coworkers, friends, neighbors, where you volunteer, where you attend church, or even with your social media? It starts with you. Who is in your circle of influence? How can you use your voice? Start having conversations. Pray for teachable moments. Create a ripple effect that will be long lasting and slowly start to change some of the systemic problems in our culture.
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Continue to pray.
Continue to pray for yourself, pray for others, and pray for the situation. Use situations and events as prayer cues to stop right then and there and start praying. Pray for direction, revelation, justice, restoration, reconciliation, unity, peace, healing & comfort, empathy, for eyes and ears to be opened, for God’s heart, for repentance, and against evil spiritual forces wreaking havoc. Remember, your prayers can be powerful.
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Additionally, take a stand and take action. Speak up.
Don’t be silent. I’ve heard this said so many times, and I agree…It’s not enough to NOT be racist. You must be anti-racism. Don’t let people assume from your silence that you are a supporter. Remember that to say nothing IS to say something. Jesus calls us to love others. Loving others includes making their problems your problems. Don’t be intimidated by resistance and opposition. Take a stand. Don’t be silent when you see racism actively happening. Stand up to injustice.
“Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.” James 4:17 (NLT)
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Finally, seek God for any additional action or steps you should take.
Ask God for your next step. As he is doing with me, he will probably lead you in phases and steps in this process. In addition to some of the steps above you may feel led to participate in peaceful protests, donate to causes promoting godly reconciliation, start serving communities of color or WITH communities of color, diversify your social circles, etc. Pray about it and see what ideas God gives you. You can also seek direction and ideas from trusted and knowledge people that you know.
To conclude here are some additional practical steps from Dr. Tony Evans: Steps to Reconciliation[4]
- Learn: As an individual, you must be malleable in the hands of the Almighty God. Recognize your own need to learn about these issues of systemic injustices, racism, and inequity. Read books on the subject, watch documentaries and talk with others who are knowledgeable in these areas. Proverbs 18:15
- Transfer: Commit to transferring the values of love and peace to your children. Model for them and teach them to judge people by the content of their character and not the color of their skin. Social change starts around the dinner table. Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Proverbs 22:6
- Serve: Connect with a family from a different background than yours. Share with them. Eat with them. Get to know them. But most importantly, serve someone else with them. The best way to reconcile is through the shared service of others. Ephesians 2:14
- Lead: Step us as a leader in your church and lead your church to become a voice of healing and justice. Push your church to speak with one voice to promote unity among all people and to speak out together against forces and actions of evil. Romans 12:15-18, James 1:27
- Speak: Call on civil rights leaders at every level to speak words of healing and not divisiveness. Commend those who speak peace and unity and condemn messages of strife and disunity. Call upon civic leaders to make sure our systems are operating with true justice and righteousness. Proverbs 31:8-9
What are some steps that you recommend for racial reconciliation? Share them with us by leaving a comment below!
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- Evans, Tony. “1.” What Is Biblical Justice? Day 4, YouVersion, my.bible.com/reading-plans/20157-what-is-biblical-justice/day/4. ↑
- Evans, Tony. “1.” What Is Biblical Justice? Day 2, YouVersion, my.bible.com/is/reading-plans/20157-what-is-biblical-justice/day/2. ↑
- Furtick, Steven and John Gray, pastors. Become the Bridge, Elevation Church, 31 May 2020, youtu.be/D7jTUfNyPkE. ↑
- Evans, Tony. “Steps to Reconciliation.” Instagram, 8 June 2020, www.instagram.com/p/CBLucZNFmOt/. ↑
