There’s a famous saying, “It’s not enough to pull the drowning people out of a raging stream, you have to walk back upstream and see who’s throwing them in in the first place.”
This was a key metaphor for some of the talks I heard at the
Justice Conference. It’s about going to the source of the injustice and
engaging in changing the entire system. It’s certainly not the only way to
develop a theology of justice, but it does have much to teach us.
I attended a panel of people who represented minority groups
in America. They were well-spoken and hard hitting men who weren’t afraid to
engage in the conversation of justice. They honed in on an aspect I hadn’t
thought about specifically before.
Reconciliation
Definition --> To reconcile: to make (oneself or another) no longer
opposed, usually considered in terms of reconciling to God – getting right with
Him through prayer and forgiveness as described in the Bible. I usually think
of 1John 1:9 which says “If we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just
to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.”
I was rereading this section of scripture and noticed that
immediately following the section on how we can get right with God, John’s
letter builds to the often quoted love scripture which states
The same thing happens in Ephesians, written by Paul. In Ephesians
2:14-16 Paul explains how Christ reconciled by the Jew and the Gentile to
Himself through the cross. Then in chapter 4, describes unity in the body of
believers and how each of us as a part. 4:15-16 states, “Instead we will speak
the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the
head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfect. As
each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the
whole body is health and growing and full of love.”
The panelists made 3 big points regarding reconciliation:
- Reconcile the past in the present
- Reconcile others to Jesus
- Reconcile others to ourselves
This was a whole new level of the definition of both
reconciliation and justice for me, which I am still absorbing. This puts the
onus on us! It changes things. We aren’t helping others only to do the will of
God – instead, the act of bring about reconciliation, of pursuing justice, is
making ourselves like those we
serve.
True Confession Time:
As a white woman I realize (and continue to realize) a lot
of the privilege I have simply because of our country’s history and to whom I
was born. As a Christian I see how the foot of the cross is level for all to
come before it. This makes me ache with
compassion for those who have been ostracized in our culture. It makes me angry
that I can only relate so much to those I wish to love well. It frustrates me
that the barriers in the Triad of NC seem so high I don’t know how to get
around them because I live in my own Christian bubble of a reality. As an ideal
I want a more diverse lifestyle, but as a practice I’m not doing anything about
it. This is one of the biggest challenges I came back from the Justice
Conference with and still haven’t figured out where to go with it.
To end, see this video from a recently deceased activist who
was scheduled to speak as part of this panel. His words on a multicultural
church both challenge and encourage me.
