Know. Own. Change: Journeying Towards God's Heart for ReconciliationMuestra

Know. Own. Change. Welcome to the Journey

If we believe what we pray when we say the Lord’s Prayer—that God’s kingdom comes and God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven—then we have laid down our right to remain indifferent toward the plight of our neighbor. We have laid down our right to remain indifferent about racism.

When we commit to the family of God, we commit ourselves to a family that is bigger than we could ever imagine. This requires a response. This requires the Cross. It requires reconciliation.

Start at the Cross of Jesus Christ

Why start with the cross? Why start with reconciliation to God? Because if God hadn’t made the first move, we could never move toward one another. We must emphatically proclaim that it is because of Jesus that we are able to be reconciled to God and to each other:

“He himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility” (Eph. 2:14–16).

We've been taught that the cross makes us right with God. This is true. But we haven't explored the depth of what it means to come to the cross. When we come to Christ, we come to family, we come to community, we come into the kingdom.

So how do we define Gospel Centered Reconciliation?

Reconciliation is the process by which people across the spectrum of diversity are made right with God and each other through the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This process includes confession, lament, repentance, forgiveness and restoration.

Now, here’s the reality: there can be no reconciliation without a great reckoning. We must reckon with all that divides us that we might see reconciliation in our moment in history.

The Data

• 94 percent of Christians believe the church plays a crucial role in the work of racial reconciliation.
• 87 percent of White Christians and 82 percent of Black Christians believe that hostility exists between the two racial groups.
• 59 percent of White Christians believe racism is a problem of the past, compared to 39 percent of Black Christians who would agree with that statement.

This should exclaim to us in certain terms that we have a problem, and that problem lies in our past, our collective history. If we are to move forward in strength, if we are to become the family of God we must reckon with our sordid past. We invite believers on a journey of transformation.

First, we must Know The Story

Know the story of race in America. Know the story of race and the Church.

Second, we invite believers to Own The Story

Own the story by humbling ourselves before God and each other. Through confession, lament, repentance and forgiveness we commit ourselves to the hard work of heart work.

Finally, we invite believers to Change the Story

This involves making wrong things right. It involves repair. It involves mercy. It involves justice.

We invite you to join Jesus in his quest to unite the family of God. Join Jesus in his desire to see heaven on earth. Join Jesus as he advances his mission for reconciliation.

Welcome to the journey of reconciliation.