Two Steps Forward
Every article written to heal race relations from the perspective of the dominate culture seems doomed for failure. Fortunately, that’s not my goal here. In fact, I have much to learn and even more to put into practice before I could be considered an expert on healing racial divides, but here’s what I can offer.
The advice of my best friend, pastor, professor and PhD student Thomas Anderson Jr. Throughout nearly a decade of friendship, I’ve been fortunate enough to share life closely and perspectives naively in the safety of our friendship. Thomas has helped me think about the status of and resolutions for racial tensions within church and society by challenging me to take two steps before taking any others.
1. Get Exposed
The first time I read King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail (if you haven’t read, stop wasting time with me and read King), I was burdened that not only had little changed for black Americans but that there had been little change in white American leaders which King references.
Over the past couple of years American church leaders like Andy Stanley, Craig Groeschel, Matt Chandler and Rick Warren have thankfully and wonderfully begun to expose their churches to these tensions but as a whole, church leaders have a long way to go to move congregations from apathy to action. How to accomplish that goal is better discussed at another time.
At Thomas’ challenge to my monochromatic theological and cultural bias, I began to search for minority influences in my life. The voices and resources having most influenced me are listed below.
Favorite Voices
Before you see my list, just get over the fact that someone is going to say something you won’t agree with. This is a reality with your friends, your spouse and your pastor. Anywhere there is relationship, there will be messiness. This group of leaders has offered great perspectives into racial tensions through their unique mediums of speaking, writing, podcasts and tweets. These individuals are responsible voices who surface tensions of race, faith and culture and are actively seeking to relieve such tensions.
- Sam Collier — Podcast. Twitter. City Strategy for Orange.
- Eugene Cho — Twitter. Books. Sermons.
- Virginia Ward — Twitter. Orange Tour (Boston 2016)
- Soong-Chan Rah — Twitter. Books.
- Steve Patton — Twitter.
- Trillia Newbell — Twitter. Books.
- Bernice King — Twitter. Orange Conference (Atlanta 2017)
Favorite Books
My “To Read List” is certainly longer than what I’ve already wrapped up, but thus far, here are the works that have provided the most insight as I think about racial tensions and appropriate actions.
- Divided by Faith by Michael Emerson & Christian Smith
- The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein
- Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass an American Slave by Frederick Douglass
- The Next Evangelicalism by Soong-Chan Rah
- Where Do We Go From Here by Martin Luther King Jr.
- Race and Place by David Leong
2. Get Engaged
Just because you’ve read a couple of books doesn’t mean you’re ready to heal the world. In fact, acts of heroism are likely to cause greater division than reconciliation. Instead of providing answers, getting engaged has the idea of joining a conversation not with the goal of speaking and certainly not defending, but listening. My family has intentionally chosen to locate ourselves within a community where such listening is made possible. And we do listen. We listen to the stories of our friends, co-workers and neighbors.
While I have yet to change the world or even my own community apart from building trust and friendships, I’m working to ensure my greatest fear, apathy, doesn’t become a reality.
This challenge was thrown down by Dr. Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., to church leaders in Atlanta this past April when she said:
“What killed my father was not hate. What killed him was indifference, apathy and the absence of the people of God.” -Bernice King
The absence of the people of God.
Leaders who were apathetic.
Not leaders who were voiceless, but leaders who chose not to use their voice.
As perhaps the greatest Rochesterian Frederick Douglass proclaimed, “The faith of the Christian is not the faith of a potted plant. We are not saved simply to sit but to act. To impact the world around us. All of it.”
May God grant my family the courage to act.
The courage to use our influence in a way that allows others to build better lives on our backs instead of us building better lives on theirs.
On this Martin Luther King Day, I’m challenged by King’s own words:
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. The true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige and even his life for the welfare of others.”
— — — — —
