Next Tuesday, June 16, 2020 our Biastes public discipleship men’s group will continue using The Great Reset in Education as a lens to explore issues of racism and repentance in the wake of the Killing of George Floyd.
Question
How can we retrain ourselves to measure everything against the reality of Jesus Christ — instead of our own understanding?
Cf. Peter rebuking Jesus — and vice versa (Matthew 16:21-25)
Perspective
Create systems where we are repeatedly:
- Emptied of our shame via the cross
- Submitting ourselves to be filled with power by the Holy Spirit
- Using those to connect transformationally with the Other
Context
Systemic racism is real, horrible, and needs to end. But is that necessarily the best frame for understanding and addressing what truly afflicts African-American (and other) communities? Is white supremacy the best term for the root issues that cause it? Or are they both merely symptoms of a deeper and more universal spiritual malady, which purely material remedies may not actually solve — and might even make worse?
We desperately need to reform our criminal justice, education, and employment systems to give all people a better chance to flourish. But for those reforms to succeed, I believe we need to build them (at least implicitly) around the gospel of Jesus Christ; not just uncritically adopt proposals based on radically different models of human nature.
Verses
Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.
Proverbs 3:5
For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
1 Corinthians 1:25
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
Acts 1:8