Wiregrass Church
What happens when we take the time to listen, take the time to learn, and take the time to understand how it is other people who don't look like us experience us?
Jesus stood in the pain of those around him before providing a solution.
John 11:36 NIV
This is the moment to pause in the pain of our nation and to connect these current losses to the current of racism that has plagued our nation for so long.
To weep with those who weep and to mourn with those who mourn; that’s where empathy is born, and on occasion, that’s actually where solutions are discovered.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
For us to move past what we’re experiencing as a nation with nothing more than a bad case of sad is to miss the significance of this moment and it’s to miss the opportunity of this moment as well.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
There is no THEM. There’s just US.
The truth is rarely found in the extremes. It’s found where the circles overlap in the middle. The messy middle.
The messy middle is where problems can be solved.
Facts arent’s fair.
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Facts don’t care.
Facts rarely replace fear.
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Facts don’t build trust.
The only thing that has the potential to replace deep-seated fear and distrust is…
Experience
“I believe another way to fight fear of black men is through exposure.” – John Blake
“Until more white people actually live among and befriend black people, that fear will persist.” – John Blake
If experience is the way forward…
How do people who don’t look like you experience you?
How should people who don’t look like you experience you?
As Jesus followers, we are accountable to…
The Law of Christ
John 13:34 NIV
John 13:34-35 NIV
Galatians 6:2 NIV
When we chose to carry someone’s burdens, what divides us diminishes and what unites us surfaces.
When the Law of Christ informs our national conscience, we will find common ground even when we don’t share a common culture or a common experience.
Non-racist is not the goal.
Being non-racist does nothing to address racism. Practically speaking, it amounts to indifference toward racism.
We must be anti-racism.
When you are anti-something, you address it when you see it and speak up when you hear it.
When you shift from non-racist to anti-racist, you may discover something disturbing about you.
Proximity is not friendship.
“Facts don’t change our minds. Friendship does.” – James Clear
John 15:15 NIV
John 15:15-16 NIV
If we fail to listen to people who don’t experience the world the way we do, we will never bear their burden. We will not fulfill the Law of Christ.
Be a student first and save your criticism for later.
As long as we’re content with proximity rather than friendship…
We will discount everything that doesn’t fit perfectly into our own flawed worldview.
Our love for God is demonstrated and authenticate by how we treat other people.
Our worldview is a work in progress.
While our knowledge and understanding are constantly in flux, one thing is not. There is one thing that transcends our limited knowledge, our limited insight, and our limited experience.
Our ignorance and limited insight do not impede our ability to put others first.
You are somebody’s experience.
How do people who don’t look like you experience you?
We are all made in the image of God, and we are all part of the human race.
