Introduction

Our vision is to equip Christ followers for mission, to equip them to make a difference in the world. In and through and for the gospel of Jesus. In Galatians 2, Paul rebukes Peter for racial injustice (after he’s been in ministry leading a church for almost 20 years! Let that sink in…). Racial injustice is nothing new to the church. The answer to the problem of racial injustice is the same as Paul’s was to Peter – “you’re not living in line with the Gospel.” In other words, you haven’t really worked out the implications of the gospel of Jesus in your life in regards to racial equality. Now, that doesn’t mean that the conversation, learning, and background ends with that sentence.

But what it does mean is that, starting with the gospel, we lean into the parts of our lives where we’re not in line with the gospel. And if “bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ” means anything, it means that we love our minority neighbors by listening to the pains, history and struggles that they have uniquely endured (in America specifically), empathizing in the process and not accepting simplistic answers when the problems and struggles are rooted in a history that goes back hundreds of years.

Part of the reason for these interviews is to let you be a fly on the wall with one of those conversations, and model for you what those conversations can look like. It doesn’t mean that you need to be an expert in history, but it does mean that we’re at a pivotal point in America where the dominant culture (white people) will need to, in humility, stop, ask questions, listen deeply, and really seek to understand in order to love well. This Racial Justice series is part of that.