Many Christians want to stand for racial unity, but don’t know how. And many approaches to “racial reconciliation” can create more problems than they solve. In this episode, Monique Duson, founder of Center for Biblical Unity, will help us understand how we can pursue racial unity from a Biblical perspective.
listen here:
A Note from Linda:
Our intention in this episode is not to dive into Critical Race Theory. If you want to know more about that and get a good background for what you're about to read and hear, check out this episode. Today, we take the next step and answer the question, what does a Biblical approach to racial unity look like?
When we think about difficult topics, we need to think about them first of all as believers. What does this issue look like in the church? The next question is, “How do I take this to my students and the public sphere?”
If you teach in a public school, don’t jump straight to implementing this in your classroom. We need to first understand how to think Biblically about this topic and implement it in a community of faith. Then, our hearts and minds will be ready to explore how to best interact in the public sphere.
highlights
Be sure to listen to the full episode! You can also use these time stamps to jump to a specific section of the conversation.
(These timestamps are from the podcast episode above and vary slightly from the video below)
- We are one race and one people with one Savior. (05:23)
- We always need to look at culture through the lens of Scripture. (08:01)
- Because of the reconciliation available from our hearts to God through Christ, we are now brought into the family of God. We are reconciled together as brothers and sisters. (08:57)
- The separation and division present in culture should not be present in the church. (13:00)
- The book of Ruth gives us a familial principle telling us how we should treat one another. (16:30)
- Our definition of justice should come from Scripture, not culture. (19:15)
- Conversations around inequitable outcomes do not always value the dignity and worth of a human person. (22:24)
- Fear, suspicion, media, and definitions in culture are obstacles to racial unity. (23:41)
- We are all created with equal dignity, value, and worth as image bearers. (27:46)
- Ask the Lord to search your heart and uncover unconscious bias. (30:42)
- The early church had to stay and work unity out; they couldn’t switch to the church across the street if they didn’t like something. (35:40)
- Christian school teachers can help their students pursue Biblical unity by helping them understand their identity in Christ, emphasizing human worth as image bearers, treating the classroom as a community of brothers and sisters, and helping them understand objective truth. (40:50)
- In the public school classroom, we can teach our students to treat each other equally because we are all human. We teach forgiveness, grace, and patience, which help build unity. (46:34)
- There will come a time when teachers will have to take a stand on whether or not to teach things that are antithetical to Scripture. The church needs to rally around these teachers as a faith community. (50:40)
This enlightening conversation comes from the Rise Up Summit from 2021. To find out more about our annual Rise Up Christian Educators Summit, go here.
resources mentioned:
Interested in more?
Check out another article and accompanying podcast where we discuss 7 ways to embrace diversity in the classroom (and why being colorblind isn't the answer).
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I just LOVE your podcast and only today found this site! AS a teacher in a public school, I often wonder if I am doing enough to make sure that I am being true to what I believe and my values as a Christian.