Be the Bridge | Part 1

Part 1, The Bridge to Lament, describes the steps a Christain must take to grief racism. The first step in the process of racial reconciliation. Steps:

1. Awareness of the truth: “Truth is the foundation of awareness, and awareness is the first step in the process of reconciliation.” pg. 32
2. Acknowledge the truth and Lament the truth: “The work of racial reconciliation requires us to acknowledge the harm and to lament it.” pg. 49

These steps aren’t wrong in any way. Advice is advice and if it helps one person, it was fruitful. But this explanation of lament doesn’t align with what we see in the Bible. The end goal of lament should be to trust in the Lord, to allow him to work, and to trust in the Gospel. Never to take matters into our own hands. The end goal of Christianity is to make me more like Jesus and that principle isn’t preached in this section of the Be the Bridge.

Image via Andrey Popov

Step 1: History Just Is.

Merriam-Webster defines history as the following:

• “a chronological record of significant events (such as those affecting a nation or institution) often including an explanation of their causes”
• “a branch of knowledge that records and explains past events”

Classic question: why do good things happen to bad people and vice versa?

God doesn’t see events as good or bad. Why would he? A common misconception about God is that people think he is black and white. Rather, I speculate he thinks of events, people, and objects as with or without him. Put another way, did the thing in question bring him glory?

What does it mean to glorify God? It means to acknowledge His greatness and give Him honor by praising and worshiping Him, simply because He deserves it. God made us to love, worship, serve, and fellowship with him.

What does it mean to glorify God?

For example, in the story of Esther, Haman planned to destroy the Jews, but Esther pleaded with King Xerxes to do something. The king gave the Jews the right…