Reconciliation and New Creation
The possibility of reconciling what was never conciled
Shortly before 8:00 pm on December 29, driving back to Chicago after a short family get-away in Nashville, I started thinking about the ministry of racial reconciliation. The rest of the family was dozing or reading, the rain had let up, and the sun had left us for the night somewhere in middle Indiana and for some reason my mind wandered to the challenges and possibilities held by intentionally multiracial churches like ours. And so I opened my notes app and started dictating some of the critical characteristics of racially reconciling congregations during the chaotic days we’re living through.
Aside from what I assume was the Holy Spirit’s nudge, I can think of two other reasons my imagination stumbled into reconciliation territory during that road trip. Most obvious are the hostile circumstances embodied by the president-elect and his many, vocal Christian supporters. It’s hard to describe unless you’re in a church like ours, but the rise of white Christian nationalism and the adaptation of white evangelicalism to a form of dominating partisanship is felt strongly by many in multiracial congregations. A particular stress and strain is being exerted on these tender communities. What, I’ve wondered, does the reconciliation movement look like as racial antagonisms are provoked and leveraged for political power? Especially when those wielding that dominating power share our Christian identity?
The second reason for wondering about multiracial churches right now has to do with my sense that we’re living through a new iteration of the reconciliation movement. I’ve written about this for Missio Alliance, my understanding of the phases the movement has gone through: invisible, idealized, and interrogated. (Parts one and two.) And after interrogation? Well, I think that’s where we are now, in what I think of as a space for re-imagining the multiracial church movement.
So, for the next handful of newsletters I want to think out loud with you. I realize that not everyone who finds one of these emails in their inbox belongs to a multiracial church. But my hunch is that you’ll have some connection with these themes.
OK, here’s the first characteristic I believe needs to be highlighted as we re-imagine the reconciliation movement.
New Creation
I’m starting with new creation because I preached from 2 Corinthians 5 last Sunday but also because I’m honestly not sure how to think about racial reconciliation and justice apart from this starting point. I’ve lost track of how many times in recent years I’ve heard that racial reconciliation is an impossible aim. How can those who were never conciled be re-conciled? In other words, because race was invented as a way to classify some people as less than human such that they could be exploited by others, there is nothing to return to. There never was racial harmony because race was constructed for the sake of destruction. What hope, then, for racial reconciliation?
It’s a completely understandable analysis and, for Christians, one we must reject. As I said in my sermon,
Our reconciliation isn’t rooted in some utopian past. Our reconciliation is possible only because of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. Our foundation is not our efforts, strategies, or knowledge. It is the new creation ushered into this universe by the Son of God defeating sin, death, and the devil.
It is the Christ event, breaking into human history, which makes reconciliation with God and one another possible. “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; look, new things have come into being!” (2 Cor. 5:17)
Christians, then, will speak about racial reconciliation and justice with a confidence that understandably escapes those who don’t share our surprising foundation. What is easily written off by some is an inescapable new creation conclusion for us.
It’s not just confidence that new creation provokes. Humility, too, will characterize our efforts. This is because those who welcome God’s new creation are keenly aware, as Paul notes in 5:10, that we await its fullness at Christ’s return. There is no arriving on this side of the parousia; we are always on the way. As Robert Schreiter writes in The Ministry of Reconciliation, “the process of reconciliation will be fulfilled only with the complete consummation of the world by God in Christ.”
This means that all of our reconciliation strategies and metrics will be held loosely. Our posture is never triumphant, always confessional. We speak that graceful language of repentance and forgiveness, eschewing our society’s tendency to prescribe franchise-able solutions to ancient evils.
OK, I’m going to end there. I’m tempted to add more detail and nuance but I want to keep these reflections relatively short and unfinished, in part because I’d love to hear from you about what these reconciliation characteristics provoke for you. Look for the following characteristic or two in the next newsletter.
(Photo credit: Masood Aslami.)
We Will Set Our Hope
We’re just a few days away from the presidential inauguration which means we’re less than a week from this conversation with a couple of dear friends, Dr. Natasha Sistrunk Robinson and Latasha Morrison. These are two incredible leaders whose efforts for racial justice have impacted countless women and men. We’ve been planning for this conversation since last November and I hope you’ll join us. Register for this free webinar here.
The View From Here
It’s been cold in Chicago, perfect weather for a hearty pot pie. This coconut curry pie came from Maya-Camille Broussard’s wonderful cookbook full of sweet and savory pies.