From feeding people in their local communities to walking with protestors to listening and learning from members of the community here are what five pastors are doing in their neighborhoods to address racial injustice. All of these examples can be done in your local community – but first slow down and pray.
The Gospel Coalition
A Christian website with articles, commentary and podcasts about church culture and the culture outside of the church. Follow The Gospel Coalition on Twitter @TGC. TheGospelCoalition.org
ARTICLE: The FAQs: What Christians Should Know About Social Justice
A comprehensive history of the terms justice, social justice and biblical justice. On the technical side, but if you just want the facts then this is an excellent starting point. If you would like a different writing style, but similar content try Tim Keller’s “What is Biblical Justice?”
ARTICLE: Psalms of Justice
Associate professor of theology and culture at Fuller Theological Seminary W. David O. Taylor says all that we need to do to learn about justice and the Bible is to open the book of Psalms. In the book we can learn what Biblical justice is, who should pursue justice and what justice looks like.
SERMON: Generous Justice
Most Christians fall into two camps – one champions justice but not justification while the other prizes justice but not justification. Theologian Tim Keller argues that justice and the doctrine of justification should work hand in hand.
ARTICLE: The Day After
Empathy is the key to healing America. It needs to be learned as it provides the path to loving our neighbor and the solution to real-world problems.
ARTICLE: The Ballot Booth Is Not Your Baptism
Realizing that you are not an expert on all issues, that neither the Democrat or the Republican party is Christian and that candidates are human and will fail and disappoint are three reasons to recognize how a person votes does not determine whether a person is a Christian or not.
ARTICLE: How to Navigate the Generational Divide in Politics
Studies, and probably in your own experience, have shown that there is a political divide between younger and older generations of Christians. Being disappointed without being disrespectful, recognizing that history repeats itself and taking the time to pause and critique our own motivations are three ways we can bridge the gap between the younger and older generations.
ARTICLE: Are Christians More Confident in Politics Than in Christ?
Unfortunately there is almost no distinction between how Christians and non-Christians are engaging in politics on social media. Name calling, condescending remarks and canceling family and friends is the norm. To combat our false sense of certainty and pride we should be slow to post and quick to pray while being more certain of your failures than others.
ARTICLE: We Need Prophets, Not Partisans
After laying out why we lean towards tribalism around topics and acknowledging that Christians are shaped more by politics then the Bible senior editor at The Gospel Coalition Brett McCracken calls on the church to be prophetic “from the center point of the Gospel.” That means making a lot of people angry because the Gospel will attack multiple sides at the same time while not subscribing to any political party.
ARTICLE: Not White Fragility—Mutual Responsibility
Baylor University professor George Yancey says that the white fragility term has some truths, but there is a better way to engage in dialogue and come up with solutions between people of different colors.