This is the second in a series of posts focusing on racial reconciliation within the Church. As many of us have noticed, every so often a new movement arises in the church with the specific intent of refocusing the Church’s role in society.  I believe these movements, such as What Would Jesus Do (WWJD) and Promise Keepers probable had as their main goal that of drawing attention to the need for unity within the Church in the latter and the manifestation of the life of Christ being lived out in the world in the former. The problem with both is that the Bible never tells us to make unity (Promise Keepers) or develop a system of works (WWJD) to reflect who we are in Christ. Instead, it declares both to already be a reality! That is, we are already united as one body: the Body of Christ! The manifestation of Christ living within us does not come about through a bunch of do’s and don’ts but through our yielding to the indwelling work of the Holy Spirit and God’s Word in our lives.  When these two principles are ignored, all such movements will eventually fail and simply fade into obscurity: leaving in their wake nothing more than a fading memory and little or no impact on a dark sin-cursed world.

Now the Church finds itself in another movement that seemingly has as its goal, the reconciliation of black and white, and like any movement, it too has its banner: Racial Reconciliation, and like the other movements before it, the church falls back on man’s wisdom and look for ways to address this perceived problem. Instead of reverting to Scripture as the primary approach, many leaders within the church have taken selective passages and mix them with the philosophy of the world. In doing so, they have taken the focus from the Great Commission. Let me be clear, I am not naive enough to believe that there are not some Christians who are bigots and racists, and while I would not go so far as to say such people are not Christians, I would say they do not understand the essence of what sets Christianity apart from all other religions.

This is obvious when you read the apostle John’s First letter where he declares, “we know that we have passed out of death into life because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death” (I Jn. 3:14). That’s the word of God from the hand of the inspired writer, so while we might question the validity of one’s faith, the Bible clearly sets forth the principle that we (each Christians) love the brothers (each other) because we have been made alive (Eph. 2:1, 5).  Put simply, there exists no greater unity in the sphere of human existence than the church, to speak otherwise denies the regenerative power of the Holy Spirit and the supernatural unity brought about by that power (I Cor. 12:12,13; 2 Cor. 5:17); and though we’re not commanded to make this unity, we most certainly are commanded to endeavor “…to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3; cf. Jude 3).

While there does exist Racial discord in the body, it is one that’s easily resolved when biblical principles are applied (cf. Acts 6:1-7; Jude 3). that is, what now must be done is to simply apply these principles, not formulate yet another worthless movement with its summits, conferences, bullet points, and seminars which ultimately attempts to divide the Body of Christ. Notice I said “attempt”; which was not accidental but intentional since the unity shared by each Christians is one created by the Holy Spirit and therefore, by its very nature is supernatural, indivisible, and of God.

Why do I say this? As I alluded to earlier, Christians are in the process of being molded into the image of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ through progressive sanctification which is the outward manifestation of an inward work begun at the time of the new birth (Phil. 1:6). This means each believer should be growing in Christ which does not happen overnight but takes time, hence the term ‘progressive’. At the same time, Scripture reminds us that part of this process involves a war on two fronts; one coming from the devil and the other from the sin nature that dwells within each one of us. Therefore, we must take heed to Paul’s words regarding how this war is to be fought, mainly that, “…though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh” (2 Cor. 10:3). His point in this verse is that our journey from earth to glory is one done through enemy territory and therefore, we can expect many difficulties, troubles, persecution, and tribulations (Acts 14:22). However, despite it all, we must look beyond these things and see the true source behind them all—the devil and his demonic forces. These forces are constantly at work, devising schemes and setting obstacles before us; Jude even reminds us that some have crept into the Church itself in the form of false teachers (Jude 3-4). Our assurance must remain in the reality that the church belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ and he will never allow it to be destroyed or divided. This perceived idea that somehow the Church of Jesus Christ has suddenly arrived at critical mass and requires immediate attention is simply unfounded. To even speak in such a manner is an insult (in my opinion) to God our Father who called us (Rom. 8:28-30) out of darkness into His marvelous light; not yesterday but in eternity (Eph. 1:4)!

This also illustrates the fact that there are times when man steps out of the natural realm and attempts to achieve spiritual victory without fully accessing his own human limitation when it comes to spiritual warfare. Spiritual warfare must be dealt with by employing spiritual weapons or principles given to us through God’s word. That is, if spiritual problems (racism being only one of them) brought on by sin within the body is to be solved, it will not be done by worldly methods (Eph. 6:11-20). Just as we had nothing to do with our salvation, we can do nothing on our own to combat the spiritual wickedness that confronts us and seeks to destroy it; in essence, we are who we are solely because of God’s grace. Paul declares this fact in the fifth chapter of his letter to the Romans in these words, “…while we “were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly” (v. 7).  Our Lord states this truth even stronger in John’s Gospel when He declared that, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” (v. 44).

In his teachings, the late Dr. R. C. Sproul draws attention to the word “can” by pointing out that it emphasizes ability”. He emphasized that by using this word, Jesus stressed the impossibility of any person being able to come to Christ apart from the drawing power of God the Father. What’s the point of all this? Simply this, God did not do all he did through his own Sovereign and Providential will just to have his finite creatures come along to advise him there’s a flaw in his plan and since He is obviously unaware; or powerless to fix it, we offer our plan. No, that is not the God of our salvation; or the God of Goshen, or Sinai! We have been made one in Christ Jesus where color, race, ethnicity, or nationality no longer exist (Gal. 5:28).

This same apostle declared in his first letter to the Christians in Corinth that all of us (Christians) are one body that has been baptized into that one body by the Holy Spirit (I Cor. 12:12, 13)! Again, hear the words of our Lord as he declares the same truth of the unique unity that exists between Christians, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (Jn. 15:5, ESV). Again hear the apostle Paul in his first letter to the Christians in Corinth, that all of us (Christians) are one body who have been baptized into that body by the Holy Spirit (I Cor. 12:12, 13)! The apostle Peter states that we are living stones…being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (I Pet.2:5, ESV). These are but a few of the verses in Scripture that speaks to the unity of the Body of Christ. None, offer even the slightest hint of the need for reconciliation either 2000 years ago or now! Does the Bible call for reconciliation? Absolutely, but not within the Church but the unsaved; those who are separated from God (Eph. 2:1 -5). Listen to the apostle Paul again in 2 Corinthians, “in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them,” (v. 19). Do you see the need and means of reconciliation in that verse? It is God my brother, my sister, who has already reconciled the world to himself through Christ. The reconciliation needed by all of humanity is not one of race, color, or ethnicity, it is one of being ‘reconciled to God!

Let us not allow the enemy to distract us from the only mandate given to us by our Lord; mainly that of proclaiming this message of reconciliation to a lost world! If we can just get our spirit around this simple message, then this ‘movement’ of Racial Reconciliation will become like the others that came before it; just another brought about by the devil to once again distract Christians from the one and only mandate given to go, “…therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matt. 28:28, 29, ESV). How do we do that? Through the office of ‘ambassadors’ (2 Cor. 5:19b). How is your ambassadorship?