“But what do we do!?” This is the question that many are asking after this last weekend after the team that went to Jacksonville shared about their experiences and trials. They shared about the ugliness that rose up in them, the fears, and the difficulties. I then tried to give some language and logic to how their experiences connect to us all as a community of faith.
I attempted to do this by showing how one of Jesus’ defining characteristics is his sole focus on the will of the Father being done the Father’s way. This is in massive contrast to the human witness in scripture all of whom at some point attempted to obey in their own way (i.e. Moses striking the rock instead of talking to it). This applies to us as the Lord is making a people of his choosing and calling it the church. Our responsibility is, like our Lord, to follow and obey. To follow and obey means that we go to the people he is sending us to. Being the church means deep and loving relationships. Based on the Jax team’s experience and tensions within the church right now, I think that it means that we need to start to talking with one another. We need to know the stories of the people the Lord has us sharing life with, and – in the case of many people – the hurts and wounds of not being part of the majority race and culture. We need to talk to deal with any of the dark aspects of our hearts related to race, class, etc.
To do the Lord’s will the Lord’s way means that we don’t get to ignore some of the most significant issues in the lives of the people we are in fellowship with, issues which shape and affect our whole society.
To do this in the church we need to move past friendly and get to true friendship. This requires that we get beyond a “nice” that denies, shields, and covers-up, to a rugged and honest relationship that knows each other’s stories, struggles, fears, hopes, dreams, and victories. If we are to be the people the Lord talks about in scripture we need to have relationships that can talk about race, and to better understand – from another person’s experiences – what it means to struggle with meaning, belonging, loathing, confusion, and pride.
“O.K.!” some are saying, “I get it, but how?” Several of the non-whites have asked, “What does this mean for me? What am I as a ___________ (Korean, Nigerian, Sudanese, Chinese, Brazilian, Honduran, Mexican, or Salvadorian) suppose to do with this?”
Here is what I think the Holy Spirit is saying to us. At this point in our journey together – in our transformation into an honest, loving, REAL community of faith – we need to learn, listen, and talk. If you are a white person you need to talk with the people of color in your life about their experiences as a person of color in our society. We need to ask the question and listen. We need to listen to understand, but also to investigate our own heart to see if there is any attitude, idea, misunderstanding, or prejudice in us that contributes to their pain or confusion. If there is we need to talk about it, confess, repent, and grow.
If you are a person of color you need to be ready to talk and share. This will require great risk (and faith) for many folks. I’m not asking you to unclothe yourself because a stranger walks up and asks you to reveal the most intimate aspects of your soul. I’m asking you to talk with friends when they take the risk to ask. If, in their zeal, they presume too much, please feel free to say so. Take the lead and propose that you spend some time building more trust before going straight to the hard stuff. If there are other venues, movies, plays, music, poetry, etc. that could help communicate at a deeper level; please suggest them. For example, in our foster/adoption classes we had sessions on being culturally sensitive to the kids coming into your family. We watched sections of the movies “Soul Food” and “The Joy Luck Club” that were very illustrative and helpful. We had some friends over at our house on Sunday and one of them shared that the movie “The Namesake” was the story of their life as a first generation American, and it helped them to understand their immigrant parents and helped their parents to understand their struggles.
Whatever the specifics, I think that we are being told to trust and to talk. There is more to do than this, but right now I think that this is where we start. While I won’t go into right now, I will in the future talk about the other aspects of racism beyond the personal. There are societal, structural aspects of this that have to be learned, understood, and addressed. There are organizational expressions of racism to be aware of and on-guard against. There is a lot more to talk about if we are to fulfill our calling to be a people of many tribes, tongues, and nations.
