Christians Seeking Racial Reconciliation: A Quick Word

This world is fractured along many lines due to sin.  Christians, however, because they walk in repentance, do not need to dwell with the same separations, whether they be racial or otherwise.  The unity experienced between the Jews and Gentiles in the mystery of the Christian church is our guide.

Peter O'Brien in his commentary notes, "The believers’ unity is described rather surprisingly. It is the unity of the Spirit, that is, a unity which God’s Spirit creates, and is not the readers’ own achievement. It already exists, hence the admonition to ‘maintain’ it. Believers certainly do not create it, but are responsible to keep it."
Peter Thomas O’Brien, The Letter to the Ephesians, 
The Pillar New Testament Commentary 
(Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1999), 64.

We need to simply believe and maintain the unity that we already have in the gospel.  We don't need to create a false sense of unity by, for instance, taking a census of the racial composition of our congregations and attempting to match community standards by attracting in the lacking demographics.  Many churches are seeking to change their music styles, hire on people of color (in majority-Caucasian congregations), or similar attractionally-motivated practices to correct a perceived disunity.

Our pulpits simply need to preach and believe the gospel.  If we find that we are out of line with the gospel (creating events for only one group of people to the exclusion of others, for instance), then we are failing to maintain gospel unity.  We don't need to create it, for it already exists in Christ, to the glory of God!

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