Racial reconciliation is not primarily about healing the wounds of racial subjugation that so deeply scar our nation’s history. Racial reconciliation is not primarily about seeking justice for immigrants and refugees. It’s not about reducing conflict between persons with differing concentrations of melanin. It’s not even primarily about a systemic lack of opportunities for certain ethnicities—though all of these issues are important considerations for Christians.
In fact, racial reconciliation is not primarily about us at all.
What Matters Most in Racial Reconciliation?
Racial reconciliation is, first and foremost, about the glory of God in Christ. It’s about God’s plan to be glorified through a multitude that is drawn from every ethnicity (Revelation 7:9)—a multitude wherein the kaleidoscope of skin-hues and shades of culture are neither ignored nor suppressed but celebrated as beautifully variegated expressions of the image of God. That’s the point that my colleague Dr. Matt Hall drives home in this sermon. Dr. Hall serves as the dean of Boyce College, the undergraduate school of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Click here to listen, to learn, to lament, and to be transformed by the proclaimed Word of God.
Discuss in the Comments:
Listen to the message from Dr. Hall. Where in your life were you most challenged to have your attitude transformed toward persons from other ethnicities? What can your church do to seek gospel-centered racial reconciliation in your community? In what ways do you long for your children to see racial issues differently than your parents perceived them?
The image featured above was created by Veritas Community Church for this event in 2015.