Teaching on race in a church context is not something I vied for as a personal ambition. 

Truthfully, it’s an area the Lord is still growing and stretching me in. (And an area I’ll be growing in for a long time.)

But the other day, I stood in front of the chapel at one of our church’s locations and gave a 40-minute lecture on race followed by a brief question & answer section. 

As I drove home that night, I left with a few thoughts. Here are 4 of them: 

1. Race conversations require pastors, not just “prophetic voices.”

I am grateful for those who boldly confront God’s people with the truth. The church has always needed voices crying out in the wilderness. But the church needs more than mic drops. In order to truly move the needle forward, we need a pastoral merging of truth and grace. 

For example, when Paul talks about confronting Peter’s partial treatment of the Gentiles in Galatians 2, he describes Peter’s behavior as being motivated by, “….fearing the circumcision party.” (Galatians 2:12) In other words, Paul pastorally acknowledges what drove Peter on the inside, as opposed to simply calling out his external behavior. He recognized Peter’s fear. We need the truth, but it will always be God’s kindness that enables us to see deeper and this will lead us to repentance. 

2. Race conversations need to appeal intellectually, not only emotionally. 

Someone shared afterward that it was helpful to see the merging of multiple disciplines in my lecture. Now, I am not a sociologist or a historian. There’s a ton I don’t know nor would I claim to know. But I believe discipleship in this area requires the engagement of multiple disciplines (theology, history, sociology) on the part of those who teach and instruct. 

Why do I believe this? Because this grounds the conversation in things deeper than mere experiences or the outrage of the latest cultural situation. We have to remember: the race conversation is already super emotional for people. It’s already emotionally charged. Robust engagement, therefore, requires deeper anchors. 

3. Race conversations are done best in a local church context, not in isolation.  

I have a stack of books on theology and race. I love poring into these resources. But it’s a completely different experience to be learning about race in a room with other people who look different than me. It becomes real in a way I can’t manufacture on my own. 

One of the losses of the race conversation amongst Christians today is how much of it just happens on Twitter or some other disembodied, disconnected platform. Someone clicks “send” and scrolls on. But talking about God’s vision for his church and the sin of racism in real-time with real people? It’s a different game. Theology was meant to be done in community. 

4. There is so much more to be encouraged about than discouraged by. 

I’ve heard a lot of rhetoric in the last few years about the “discipleship failure of the modern church” and so on. It’s certainly true that there are discipleship struggles of every generation. Even Paul had wondered if he had labored over the Galatians in vain as they turned away from the gospel. 

At the same time, the sheep always hear the voice of their true Shepherd. I felt like I got a small window as I watched the precious people of God show up on a Monday night to do theology. I saw an earnestness, an eagerness, fully locked in from beginning to end. Sure, one lecture isn’t the answer, but it’s something. 

Conclusion

If you’re a follower of Jesus who is really into the race conversation, I want to encourage you to pursue it in community, and not in isolation. If your church offers something, I’d encourage you to take it and learn alongside those around you. If your church doesn’t offer a resource on it, don’t be discouraged. Play the long game. Do the work of finding trustworthy voices in the community and propose going through a book study together. 

If you’re a pastor, I want to encourage you to lean into the conversation as a shepherd. Not in a way where it’s a convenient virtue signal moment for your social media account. Not in a way so that you gain clout with other pastors. But in a way where God’s people, the sheep you’ve been entrusted with, are led to a place of greater grace and truth. This will require much more work than including a mic drop moment in our sermons. 

Jesus has a beautiful vision for his church. 

Let’s pull the eternal future into the present as much as we can.