What’s going on everyone!! So this week, it’s going to be very real and honest. I want to talk about race and racial reconciliation. Race has become a hot topic of conversation, even in the church. To be very honest, it sucks seeing division in the church, when we are called to be inclusive and to represent diversity and racial reconciliation.
To be real and transparent, I’m not going to highlight races, rather I’m going to talk generally from my perspective and what I see and experience. If I offend anyone with this post, I honestly is not my intention, and I do apologize. My heart is that people would come together and find middle ground.
It shocks me that specifically in the church, people come in with the preconceived notion that they are less than and that nobody understands them and their struggles, from a racial standpoint. The issue happens when that notion negatively impacts conversation and interaction with people who are different. That’s not how it should be. Our differences make us beautiful and God created us all differently so that we can use our differences to highlight relatability and to bring genuine community.
Another thing that shocks me is that people will separate from others because of racial differences. To me, that’s totally wrong. We should not be excluding people because of a difference. Don’t get me wrong, having relatable community is very empowering, but you can’t expect people to understand your struggle if you aren’t willing to have a civil dialogue, explaining both perspectives and struggles.
Pre conceived notions are the enemy of progress. I hear all of this talk about racial reconciliation, but nobody really wants to have the uncomfortable conversation with people that are different. Jesus calls us to be agents of change and agents of unity, not division. Find strength in people who can relate, but find strength in understanding others as well. I think that if we can really try to have honest, civil conversation, we will create a better society, and as the body of Christ, we can be an actual example of what love and unity looks like.
Much Love,
Ryan W.
