All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. | 2 Corinthians 5:18–21
My last post is on what ALL Christians should do in the face of racism, but I also wanted to write about what we CAN do. I feel like this is important, because too often the conversation stops at what the responsibility of the Christian is, and we don’t talk about all of the amazing opportunities that God provides for us to be reconcilers. By not talking about it, it is assumed that these things fall outside of what Christians should be doing; some even apply the term ‘social gospel’ to any act of applying the gospel to life that is not primarily evangelistic in nature (while the social gospel is a real threat, it is not something that should be applied with a broad brush). Let me be clear: being reconciled to God is the miracle of regeneration and our participation in this work, as God makes His appeal through us, is calling people to be reconciled to their Maker.
There is more in this ministry of reconciliation. God reconciling the world to Himself is His act of bringing ALL things back into order. Relationship to Him is primary, but from there we should begin to look at all of the other relationships broken at the Fall to ask: how might God be using us to accomplish His work of reconciling all things. As Abraham Kuyper famously said:
There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!
While this become a somewhat overused quote, it is helpful to remind us that the work of reconciling is multi-faceted. It changes the question from: what is allowable for the Christian, to how I serve God in this work of bringing all things under His Lordship? What part can I play?
The issues of racism and bias are deeply rooted in us and are not simply going to be solved through protests and blog posts. While these may be necessary to raise awareness, the work of healing is just beginning. The way forward is going to require numerous people applying creativity and grace (and a lot of effort) to create trust where there is fear. If you feel called to be part of this effort, here are a number of ways (though not nearly all) that you can take the gospel and use it to bring salt and light.
On the level of the world, we need people thinking strategically about what policy changes and reforms would bring about a Biblical form of restorative justice. This kind of thinking is important to unify this time of awareness toward practical steps. When you look at successful movements (including Civil Rights in the 60s), they are not only fueled by passion, but they are aimed at achievable goals. We need Christians helping to shape what the process of reconciliation looks like.
With this, we also need people filling in the gaps where the system is not just. Every system is going to create injustice, and so God needs people in these spaces providing support. This means big things like Bryan Stevenson’s impressive work with the Equal Justice Initiative, but it also means: helping to provide support for struggling families, participating in foster care, being a big brother/big sister, volunteering as a mentor or tutor, and the list goes on and on. These service opportunities are far more than just helping people; they are providing a different story for many people of how society functions and what it means to have a God who cares. Beyond volunteers to fit into the already established programs, we need new, creative ways that see injustice and take it on!
On the level of the flesh, we need to shift our narratives. While biases are not rational, many do come from established ideals and experiences. While it is hard to shift these underlying beliefs, it can be done by providing new and compelling stories. Christians have the best one! Bringing the hope of the gospel into how we think of what it means to be human and why compassion is important is absolutely necessary. We can’t just yell at people to stop being racist, we have to give them a more important vision that makes racism the enemy of what is good.
We need people who can help shape the broader ideas of what it means to be a human being, and a citizen, and an American. This requires merging all of the stories of the good and the bad so that we can be honest about both how far we have come and how far we still have to go. We need to do this in a way that excites and motivates, not just critiques and points fingers. This takes conversationalist and artists and writers and mediators and dreamers.
On the level of the Devil, we need people who can stand in the face of evil and show that God is greater. The story of Daryl Davis is an amazing story of one such person. He spends his time making friendships with Klansman in order to help them see the error of their way of thinking. Most will not have his fortitude and courage, but his story shows us what is possible when we choose to enter into situations to shine light. He says:
If you spend five minutes with your worst enemy — it doesn’t have to be about race, it could be about anything…you will find that you both have something in common. As you build upon those commonalities, you’re forming a relationship and as you build about that relationship, you’re forming a friendship. That’s what would happen. I didn’t convert anybody. They saw the light and converted themselves.
This blog post could go on forever, but the point is: there is a lot of work to be done because sin is thorough. God knows this. He has placed His people all over the world to live in such a way that the effects of sin are mitigated. If you want to be part of this action, as ambassadors of reconciliation, find the injustices around you and press into them. Use the gospel and the unique abilities God has given you to bring people to the knowledge of God’s glory through the act of reconciliation.