Reconciliation between ethnic groups is an inescapable theme of the Bible.
God’s promise to Abraham is that he would be the father of many gowy (nations/people), and that every people group on earth might be blessed through him. Generations pass from Isaac to Jacob to Moses, with ages beyond that following as Israel is ransomed out of Egypt and re-rescued by judges, governed under corrupt kings, and humbled through eras of foreign rule.
Granted, we do see the future family of God foreshadowed through Rahab, Ruth, and Jonah… yet the Lord’s presence is largely focused within a single Jewish nation. Another four centuries pass between what is a single page dividing our Old and New Testaments, and God is silent as the kingdom crumbles again and again. Has Yahweh finally given up on these stiff-necked sons of Adam?
Then Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Church all happen… and what follows is an explosion unraveling two millennia of segregation. Once, we watched whole cities put the sword as the just punishment for their sins, out of God’s jealous protection over Israel. Now we witness the true King who would rather die for His enemies than kill them, so they might be forgiven for their sins and adopted into Abraham’s lineage through a like-minded faith. We’re one unified body, in which ethnic identity (along with gender, socioeconomic status, age, and any other distinction whether of biology or culture) does not affect our worth and belonging.
This is the Good News, and despite how sappy or controversial I will sound for writing this, it does in fact cause significant change to our planet. That said, my question is “how does this affect our own world today?”.
I can’t help but ask. I’m currently studying and teaching on the early church in Acts, where tension between Jewish and Gentile believers is a major conflict… yet it demonstrates the powerful peace of Christ which demolishes division, as the Jewish apostles fight for unity and understanding. I’ll say that twice: it’s the hardship among a diverse body that shows the depth of our fellowship to a segmented world. The Church overcomes it, because one side offers a selfless sibling affection and adaptively engages with its counterpart. I want to see this victory and witness to Christ’s power continuing in the present day.
In many places, I do see this peace reigning among hearts, and I have no intention to understate the greatness of these miracles. And yet, in some other place… well, particularly with the recent attention on controversial issues such as Ferguson, I’m concerned that attitudes prevalent in the church are holding us back from binding together and giving God glory.
I’ll step off my soapbox before I go any further, because first I need to be fully transparent about this issue. I can relate with those believers, many (but not all) of which are white, who take a more defensive stance toward modern racial issues, for several reasons, which I’ll list below in a sarcastic tone yet sincere manner.
1) There are logical justifications for the reactions of police officers and judges. So long as they are acting on the side of reason, there should be no issue to talk about and any well-meaning members of the black community should stay far away from these irrational protests which erupt into rioting… right?
2) I feel uncomfortable in a discussion about present-day discrimination. I don’t like political-correctness, feeling guilty for being a sheltered middle class white, or seeing figures of U.S. history disregarded solely for sharing the attitudes of their day. Sure, some of my own ancestors were arrogant enough to deserve that demonization… but If I’ve never behaved in a racist way (well, outside of high school), I should have the right to check out of these awkward conversations where I might be compared with them… right?
3) It’s hard for me to empathize outside my co-culture. I’m not trying to make divisions, as if we aren’t in the same country, but there’s still significant differences and distances that make relating difficult. I rarely see poverty where I live and work, and neither do I witness tension along racial lines. As a result, when I hear about economic disparity, institutional discrimination, and affirmative solutions to correct them, I don’t know if those concerns are real or fabricated for personal gain. Thus, it’s only natural for me to either remain withdrawn or protect the interests of “my side”... right?
Again, note that I wrote the reasons above in both sarcasm and sincerity. These struggles are comparatively minor annoyances; I disagree with them currently, and I would never have expressed them outright previously. At the same time, they are substantial frustrations to me, personally.
What could others do in order to alleviate my discomforts? The exact same thing others would ask of me, and as a Christ follower I should extend firstly: compassionate mercy, rather than cold justice alone; grace and understanding, for when discussions inevitably get messy and history is marked with a multitude of mistakes; along with dignified acknowledgement for our difference of background and perspective; finally paired by a commitment to empathize regardless.
I know very little. I’m not advocating a particular political stance. All I’m saying is that when we hear fellow citizens, and especially our fellow believers, who recount several negative experiences with the police force for no reason other than the color of their skin… we should listen and care simply because it matters to them. We can at least agree that given these experiences, fear and hurt are understandable reactions as they realize “it could have been me.”
We can remain in our camps - Jew and Gentile, white and black - defending our own habits (which I did confess are partially defendable) and trusting that the conflict will ease over time. Or, we can actively pursue reconciliation-- a process that will stretch us far beyond mere obligation and face us head on against the conflict again and again… yet it sets us apart from trouble-making Pharisees as a truly chosen people, and rewards us with an enduring mutual resolution in which we can all rejoice.
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But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question.
The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”
And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.
Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers, with the following letter: “The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings. Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”
So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch, and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement. And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words. And after they had spent some time, they were sent off in peace by the brothers to those who had sent them.
-Acts 15: 1-2, 6-12, 22-33
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