God and RaceSýnishorn

White people are often nervous about whether it's better to say black or African-American because one wrong word could ruin you in the current age of cancel culture. But semantics are an obstacle to the crucial conversation we all need to be having. Saying the exact right thing is not nearly as crucial as entering into a relationship and jumping into the conversation on God and race. As long as perfection with our words is a prerequisite for progress, we will stay paralyzed. Accountability is important, but open-handed conversations about race cannot happen where cancel culture abounds in both black and white communities.

Cancel culture feels good because it empowers people. As one journalist said, it “serves as a pop culture corrective for the sense of powerlessness many people feel.” For Wayne, being a black pastor leading a racially diverse church, he worries if he doesn’t address certain issues at just the right moment, the black community will jump online and talk about how he’s not woke enough; or if he doesn’t phrase things just the right way, the white community will Tweet about how he’s part of the problem. Even worse, he worries people from either side of the conversation on race will leave his church and make the desire for diversity even harder. But he keeps moving forward in the conversation on God and race with an open-hand because he wants an atmosphere conducive to healthy relationships and healthy conversations.

The pain of racism played out in either paralysis or perfection can make anyone else throw in the towel and stop fighting for diversity. And it’s in those moments when we realize we’ve settled down with a group of people who look just like us and call it a day on the idea of diversity. But we must keep moving forward. We must look for similarities with those who are different from us, rather than get tripped up on semantics. We don’t have time to let awkward, less-than-perfect interactions or past mistakes paralyze us if unity is the goal.

Reflect:

When you search your heart, what fears are underneath your paralysis or your drive for perfection?

Have you canceled anybody recently? If so, what was your motivation--panic, or power, or something else?

Critiquing and canceling others has always been a convenient way to avoid our pain, but the beautiful and brilliant thing about Jesus is he loves us too much to fall into that trap. Jesus may not have agreed with the Pharisees or the adulterous woman in John 8, but he never wrote them off. Rather, he engaged them in conversation. How does Jesus model this idea of dealing with people rather than dismissing them?

How can you do the same? How can you let the “peace of Christ rule in your hearts” (Col. 3: 15) by walking with someone or listening to them instead of canceling them when you disagree?

Pray:

Talk to God about the paralysis or the need for perfection you’ve experienced regarding conversations around racism. Ask God to give you the courage to keep engaging in conversation and keep working towards unity in diversity in your life and in your church community.