The Scriptures paint beautiful images of God’s people from every tribe and nation joining together to worship the living God. Revelation 7 gives us an amazing picture of various cultures, languages, societies, and tribes all blending together in the unity and harmony that comes from being part of God’s family. Before Him, every single person, regardless of ethnicity, race, dialect, and background, is valued and significant.
Maybe you long for the day when this vision becomes real in heaven. This future hope is hard to hold onto when we are faced with such great divisions amongst people here on earth. It seems like racial tensions, political differences, gender inequalities, and social disparities prevail. The Apostle Paul reminds us that, in Christ, the divisions that often separate us no longer need to. We don’t have to be captive to the racism and prejudice that subverts one group of people to elevate another. In Christ, there is no Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female (Galatians 3:28). Of course, today, when we watch the news and our social media feeds, it can feel as if we are no closer to bringing diverse peoples together into one body under Jesus. Do you ever find yourself feeling hopeless about reconciliation?
There are many times in the Bible when God’s people felt like their situation was hopeless. Imagine for a moment when Nehemiah returns to Jerusalem and finds all of the walls broken down. How can just a few people begin the impossible task of repairing what has been broken? The Scriptures purposefully tell us the names of the individuals who rebuilt the portions of the wall that they had capacity to fix. They focused on what was in front of them to repair and did their part faithfully. And as is common in God’s kingdom, He takes our small offerings, pieces it with the offerings of others, and weaves them together into something more larger and beautiful than any of us could create on our own.
In light of these reflections, how can we embody the heavenly kingdom value of unity right now? We can choose to move towards each other, seeing people as God does, with love and empathy. We can start by listening to each other, lamenting the pain that others have experienced due to discrimination, inequality, and injustice. Finally, we can consider what we are able to do with what we have, playing our part to rebuild and restore a fractured nation.
If you want to learn more about how you can become a repairer of racial divides, we invite you to attend a special MLK Day webinar, hosted by American Bible Society and the Trauma Healing Institute. Our special guests include Dr. Ed Stetzer and Dr. A. R. Bernard, who will offer perspective on how the Bible has informed the church’s engagement with race and culture from the times of Dr. King until now. Participants will also be encouraged to learn more about Trauma Healing Institute’s program, “Healing the Wounds of Generational Trauma: The Black and White American Experience,” and have opportunities to get involved with this racial healing ministry.
You can register at ABS.Bible/justice. We hope to see you there!
