World Vision’s online course designed to equip churches and pastors to understand “racial justice” is a hotbed of Critical Race Theory, unbiblical syncretism, and radical progressivism, infecting the organization and resulting in the wokefication of World Vision and a denial of some core tenets of the Christian Faith.
Discovered through their monthly “May We Be One: Pastors pursuing Racial Justice” course, this is part two in a five-part series exposing the extent that CRT has compromised the mission of the famed NGO (See Part one for more information on these courses).
In this case, Dr. Soong-Chan Rah, Professor at North Park Theological Seminary and one of the primary moderators for World Vision, explains the CRT concept of “white male gaze” and the ways it is designed to frame black people as a threat, resulting in the propensity of White Christians to “act instinctively to preserve that narrative of white superiority” and “act naturally, instinctively, to preserve…the narrative of white superiority.”
Whose perspective determines the perspective of society? Willie Jennings [of Yale Divinity School] talks about the four quadrants of relationships, a four-part relationship, between the white male, the black male, the white female, and the black female. And that interrelationship between these four oftentimes is determined by the gaze or perspective of the white male.
In other words, how the white male views the others determines how the rest of society views the other. So, for example, when the white male gazes upon the black male, how is that black male perceived? The black male is perceived in such a way that the rest of society views the black male in the same way. So, when the white male sees the black male, that black male is a threat.
In fact, if you think about the six o’clock news and what leads every single news report on the six o’clock local news, what is the most scary, threatening person in our society according to the six o’clock news? It is the unidentified black male…
…Now that threat of the black male is translated in a lot of different ways, and one of the ways is translated is the gaze issue again, the perspective, when the black male looks at the white female, that is oftentimes conceived as a very real threat.
Narratives are like a good actor in a good TV show or in a movie. So there are good actors who use something called method acting. In method acting, what they do is they embody the character so deeply that they reflexively and improvisationally, impulsively act out of that character. So, for example, if Robert De Niro is playing a mobster in a movie shoot, and you run into him at a Starbucks, don’t talk to him, because he’s so into that character, he’ll respond to you like he’s an actual mobster.
So that embodied character, getting so deeply into that character that your instinct, your reflex, what you improvise, comes out of that character, that’s what narratives do. And so these narratives have been played out over and over again. The unidentified black male. The superiority of white culture over other culture. The demeaning of other cultures and the elevating of this culture.
When that narrative gets played out over and over again, we end up embedding that character into our imagination, our value system, our worldview, and we act improvisationally, instinctively, reflectively, reflexively, out of that character.
One of the questions we want to grapple with as we go through this material is what are the ways that we act instinctively to preserve that narrative of white superiority, white primacy? What are the ways we act naturally, instinctively, to preserve or act into that narrative of white superiority?”
h/t to @wokepreachertv for the clip and most of the transcript. Everyone should follow him on Twitter, Gab, and YouTube.
Cranking up his sarcasm to a level 10, Rev. Dr. Matthew Myer Boulton, the (now former) President of Christian Theological Seminary- a small progressive ‘Christian’ seminary in Indianapolis that boasts around 140 students and whose new President prides himself on teaching ‘Queer theology- preached a chapel message back in 2015, before much of Critical Race Theory had become popularized, explaining that the bible is bursting with white privilege ‘starting at page one.”
It would be nice, you know, you go back to the concordance and you look up “white privilege,” where is that in the Bible? “White privilege.” And it would be great, wouldn’t it? It’s really a shame that the Bible says nothing about white privilege at all and we have to kind of improvise, because the Bible just doesn’t provide us any help.
If only there was a narrative, I mean, this is maybe too much to ask, but if only there was a narrative close to the beginning of the Bible that was really all about race and slavery and liberation. If only there was a story like that toward the beginning of the Bible. And maybe it wasn’t just there. Maybe it was all throughout. Maybe the psalmist picks it up. Maybe Jesus picks it up. Maybe Paul picks it up. Maybe this is all through, I mean, wouldn’t that be, and then we could have something to work with…
If only we had the Son of God come down from heaven to the Temple Mount, of course, because that’s where the Son of God would show up is at the temple. Not some little backwater and some little ethnic kind of slum. I mean, that would be helpful if Jesus would show up, if the Son of God would show up in the slum as a little baby boy. If only we had a passage where Jesus was saying the essence of being, the essence of inheriting eternal life, the essence of following what, he was a Jew, he was always a Jew, he loves Judaism. The essence of being a Jew is to follow this other guy, this non-Jew.
If only we had a passage like that where the insider-outsider dynamic, which is of course at the heart of racism, this clannish thinking of us and them. If only Jesus wasn’t constantly working against that kind of us-and-them mentality. If only we had an apostle, an apostle who made his name in persecution and then had a tremendous change in his life and he actually becomes what he was persecuting. If only we had that kind of story.
And then maybe, oh yeah, maybe his whole theme of all of his writing was thinking about the outsider and the nations. And then if only we could have wrapped the whole thing up in the book of Revelation with an image of a tree whose leaves were for the healing of the nations. Then we would have something to work with.
White privilege is in the Bible, as it turns out, starting on page one and ending at the ends. Because the human condition is to think in these us-and-them terms, is to think clannishly, is to have implicit biases, is to mess up the Garden and contaminate it. And yet the human call and the human true identity is to be in the image of the one who wants a beautiful and radiant and diverse and lovely and joyful garden for all. For the healing of the nations and for the joy of the nations, freedom is coming.
A pastor who runs ministries for the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) explained in a recently unearthed video that he doesn’t understand how his black friends can still love him as a white person, given how much pain, suffering, and anger the white race has caused them.
Randy Nabors coordinates the PCA’s Urban and Mercy Ministries for the Mission to North America, as well as the New City Network. He is also the pastor emeritus at New City Fellowship, which is a “cross-cultural ministry, attempting to live out the power of the Gospel especially in reconciliation and justice. It has focused on ministries of evangelism, mercy, economic development, indigenous leadership, and the radicalization of the middle class into justice discipleship. “
With critical race theory coursing through his veins, he explains during the 2018 Greater Love panel put on by Perimeter Church, choking up and voice cracking as he laments:
I live with a black woman who is angry at white people. And she…it’s hard for me to say this without being emotional...I feel her pain sometimes, and the black people in my life that I have come to love, they’re angry and they hurt deeply, and I don’t understand how they can love me.
And it’s interesting because I’ve met Christians who are native American. They hate white people, and they love me. And I’ve met Africans who hate colonialists, and they love me. But the pain, the suffering is real to them. And as a white person, one way to approach it would be don’t bring it up. Don’t mention it. Don’t make me feel bad. But that’s not the way the relationships have worked.
My wife loves me, thank God. But she in many ways feels the suffering of her people, and I’m really thankful that she does, because she’s not buried her head in the sand, she’s not tried to deny it. But the gospel, the grace of God has enabled her to love white people as individuals. And I think that’s healthy. Because history hurts. People have suffered.
Nabors: “I live with a black woman who is angry at white people…I feel her pain sometimes, and the black people in my life that I have come to love, they’re angry and they hurt deeply, and I don’t understand how they can love me.” pic.twitter.com/p3XmsZkrOA
Well, well, well Danny Akin. For one part of the “seminary six” who signed a statement declaring that Critical Race Theory is incompatible with scriptures, you sure have a lot of explaining to do.
This, of course, is the result of James White, Pastor of Christ Our King Community Church in Raleigh, North Carolina preaching a Chapel Message at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS) on February 2nd.
SEBTS is one of the six seminaries operated by the Southern Baptist Convention, a repository for all those delicious cooperative dollars that SBC congregants sacrifice so greatly to give and is overseen by Danny Akin, surely the squirreliest of the bunch. Though Akin distances himself from CRT in word, he does not do so in deed and practice, with frequent collaborator Pastor White demonstrating that the message of Critical Race Theory is alive and well at SEBTS.
In the sermon, White “connects Mark 2:1-12 and the hypostatic union with American chattel slavery and social justice, accusing conservative Baptists of leaving the resurrection of Christ out of gospel presentation.” Include an obligatory reference to a fear of lynching by white folk and a note that the gospel of forgiveness of sins by faith in Jesus isn’t enough, and you have one for the ages.
The point of the story is this. It’s not who’s Southern Baptist, who’s not Southern Baptist. It’s not even simply a doctrinal argument. The point of the story is the doctrinal argument that clarifies who Jesus is. That’s what’s at stake. And it’s at stake because historically, when you’re a slave holder, historically, when you’ve not honored the Imago Dei, historically, when you’ve enforced and endorsed segregation, historically, when you haven’t changed positions of power, here’s the problem with that. Historically, when you align up with the nationalistic America rather than the gospel of Jesus Christ, the problem with that is simply this: that you misrepresent who Jesus is. And so Jesus changes the whole trajectory of this. So now that it’s about him, the paralyzed guy just happens to be there in the midst. Similar to being a tool of the story. I got news for you: I know you think that your ideas and everything are so important, but you’re simply just a product and a tool of the story about Jesus. And honestly, I really don’t care whether the Southern Baptist Association goes forward or not, because what’s most important is: will the gospel of Jesus Christ and will Jesus be represented correctly? That is what’s most important…
I serve a Christ who does the impossible when we do the unthinkable. I hope this is a generation that doesn’t get distracted. See, I serve a Christ that I can talk correctly about the historic reality of who we are as black people and white people. I serve a Jesus, who, where we can talk correctly about the injustices that’s been done to the black church. I serve, see, you got to understand, I’m even dressed that way today, because, understand something. From the top up, I’m dressed for the conservatives. From the top up, I’m dressed for you. From the bottom down, I got on my jeans because I’m ready to do some work. Then I got on my boots, too. And I wear a bow tie as a reminder that I tied this myself, and by tying it myself, my neck will not hang from anybody’s rope anymore, because I’m afraid of what I might say that there’s a possibility of lynching. Because black men often had to say those things, and their speech was relegated off of that. But my speech will not be relegated. I tied this myself this morning. And I have to wear that to remind me of speaking truth…
What you see here in Mark chapter 2 is the hypostatic union. That’s to help some of you seminary people out, to make sure that you understand your education is valued and very much so. But it’s the hypostatic union, that you see God and man at work. Don’t try to put him in a box. He’s the God that can deal with the pain of what you and I are going through. He’s a God that’s very present in any kind of sociopolitical framework that you might want to take him out of. But guess what? He’s also the God that can heal and has authority above all of that. God and man always comes together in the hypostatic union that we see here in scripture. Jesus could have just left him on the pallet. He could have just said, “I forgive your sins,” and that would have been enough. See, I’ve heard many say you just need to preach the gospel, and that is enough. But Jesus is showing the holistic purpose of him being God and man. He doesn’t leave this man paralyzed, because when you leave someone simply talking about forgiveness of sins, you leave them at the cross but you don’t take them to the three days later of the resurrection.
And so when you only preach necessarily theological truths without sociological and practical realities, you got a cross gospel but you don’t have a full gospel, because the resurrection says there will be change. You cannot have theological truth without social impact, because that would mean you would say that people are free and still leave the chains on. We’ve had a history of that. We have. You don’t simply have vertical celebration without horizontal reality.
[Editor’s note: Thanks to @wokepreachertv for the clip, transcript, and even part of the video description. It’s not theft, it’s flattery ;)]
(Reformation Charlotte) Matt Chandler recently joined a host of woke, anti-white racists at the heretical IF Gathering to denounce America as a demonic nation that has racism woven into its very foundation. Among his co-guests was Latasha Morrison, a racist person who once had an entire stadium of white students at a Campus Crusade (CRU) conference stand up and repeat a prayer of “lament” for being white.
During the panel session, Matt Chandler was asked “where do we go from here,” to which he replied:
“I think until we acknowledge that we’re dealing with some principalities and powers…we’re just going to talk. Until there’s a kind of a heartbreak that gets all of us asking the Spirit of God to break this thing that was woven into the foundation of the nation…theologically it was, in regards to the system to the system of structures, it was. In regards to the mindset, it was. So the quick fix here is for the Spirit of God, by the grace of God to destroy this principality and power that sits over us…”
By the way, do you catch how Chandler always culturally appropriates himself when he’s around black people? Did you catch the…
A ‘Christian counselor coined a novel diagnosis for white Americans while speaking on a panel at Renewal Church of Chicago’s “Annual Gospel and Race Conversation” explaining that white people have a mental illness that they don’t even know they have but which affects the ways they interact with minorities and people of color, which he describes as a “post-traumatic slave MASTER disorder.”
Nathaniel McGuire, the man with the ideas, has a Master of Arts Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Christian Theological Seminary (Indianapolis, IN). CTS has around 140 students and is a progressive, interfaith and ecumenical seminary which supports same-sex marriage and full inclusion of LGBTQ men and women in the church. Lead Pastor Derrick Puckett further explains that McGuire is a sought-after life coach who also happens to be the best friend of his mentor.
He goes on to share that race and privilege are a key component to mental health, and hence the desire to have the discussion. Speaking on a panel with Dr. Valencia Wiggins, and Dr. Deborah Gorton, both of who work at Moody Theological Seminary, McGuire explains his thesis.
Many times Christians miss out on truth. So they know the way, salvation, they know the life, eternal life, but they don’t understand truth, like mental health, depression, or racism. …
Racism is simply a disease that’s passed down from generation to generation…in order for something to be a diagnosis or issue, a majority of the population can’t have it. It has to be rare. So then, therefore, [the APA] concluded that it cannot be a disorder. This is our history, right? So what if racism is a disorder and the majority of the white population does have it? They’re dealing with a mental illness and they don’t even know it. …
The main thing that is causes is a superiority complex…many times we deal with the inferiority complex. We constantly talk about what racism has done to African-Americans and their issues and the pathology of that. But we don’t deal with the people who are dealing with the trauma of post-traumatic slave MASTER disorder. We’re not even dealing with it…Neither of these complexes, inferiority or superiority, are of God. Neither of them are. So mental health helps us deal with that, shed that, and allows us to have the mind of Christ so we can love one another.
Jemar Tisby, founder of the Witness Black Christian Collective (previously called Reformed African American Network or RAAN) which is an allegedly Christian organization created to “fight injustice” all the while promoting an openly pro-choice, pro LGBT radical to the role of VP, delivered a gospel presentation at Wheaton College back in late 2019.
Tibsy, perhaps best known for writing the theologically compromised book The Color of Compromise, gives us a primer on how woke teachers influence by Critical Race Theory can quickly twist scripture and insert unbiblical ideas even into a two-minute gospel presentation, so the point that if you’re not paying attention, you’ll blink and you’ll miss it.
Earlier when I was defining the prophetic voice I mentioned a kind of prophecy called a ‘prophecy of deliverance.’ I talked about Genesis 3:15, the offspring of the woman crushing satan under his heel, and I said ‘test the spirits’ and the way to test a forthtelling spirit is to see if it came true, well brothers and sisters that prophecy of deliverance prophesied all the way back in Genesis 3:15 came true.
It came true when Jesus Christ, the Son of God, took on flesh and became a person and entered into our experience so that he could identify with us and express solidarity with us!
Jesus Christ announced his public ministry by describing his role as a prophetic forthteller. He said that he was anointed by God the Father to proclaim good news to the poor, liberty to the captives, the recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
That prophecy came true, and because it came true, you now who believe in Jesus enter into that prophetic role of forthtelling the truth, even the truth about racism and white supremacy.
And on the cross, Jesus Christ tells those who have been bent low because of oppression: you can stand up straight. And he tells those who have bought into the myth of whiteness and superiority that you, too, are in need of a savior. If you have repented and believed this morning, then despise not the prophetic voice of the black experience. Amen and amen.”
That’s all it takes. A quick flick of the wrist. A couple of words added in to change the meaning.
A prominent Southern Baptist pastor has packed up his bags and taken his congregation out of the SBC, declaring, “we out,” and citing Al Mohler endorsing Trump and the letter sent by six seminary presidents rejecting Critical Race Theory (CRT) and intersectionality as his motive for leaving. The letter comes a day after the Rev. Ralph West, founder and senior pastor of The Church Without Walls in Houston, Texas, announced he was likewise cutting ties for that very same reason.
He wrote in a fiery departure letter to RNS how for years he was trying to give the SBC a chance assume good motives, but that that they’ve all shown themselves to be a bunch of racists unable and unwilling to change their kukluxklanning ways by not supporting CRT – an unforgivable betrayal which necessitates his departure. Dates laments:
Then, last week, a final straw. On Dec. 1, all six of the SBC seminary presidents — without one Black president or counter-opinion among them — told the world that a high view of Scripture necessarily required a corresponding and total rejection of critical race theory and intersectionality.
Dates, mad as a woke scold listening to a JD Hall sermon, continues:
When did the theological architects of American slavery develop the moral character to tell the church how it should discuss and discern racism? When did those who have yet to hire multiple Black or brown faculty at their seminaries assume ethical authority on the subject of systemic injustice?
How did they, who in 2020 still don’t have a single Black denominational entity head, reject once and for all a theory that helps to frame the real race problems we face?
He writes that the SBC is promoting the belief that a high view of Scripture “must mean an adaptation of Republican politics,” and with it, the dismissal of critical race theory and intersectionality because of a fear of “liberalism.”
Dates spent the rest of the time excoriating Mohler, makes a bizarre comment about abortion, says that some black SBC pastors are mere “tokens” or “assimilators,” calls SBC seminaries “vestiges of racial animus,” says that “Black people will never gain full equality in the Southern Baptist Convention. My acknowledgment of this is not a statement of submission, but an act of defiance. The SBC’s power structure wants to maintain white dominance,” and a bunch of other things.
In short, he loves CRT and intersectionality, they say they don’t, and so he’s out of here.
The funny thing, even though those six seminary presidents penned a statement rejecting CRT, half of them don’t even know what it is. Or they’ll say they reject it like Mohler, all the while creating a $5 Million dollar slush fund for only black students and allowing professors like Jarvis Williams, Matthew Hall, and Curtis Woods to teach there, all who have been heavily influenced by CRT.
In 2019 we were told by our #BigEva overlords that nobody in the SBC embraces Critical Race Theory, with Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) even saying in an interview a few months ago that he doesn’t know any conservative evangelicals influenced by CRT, and if someone put a gun to his head and asked him to name one, he wouldn’t come out alive.
In 2020, SBC pastors are leaving the Southern Baptist Convention because of a refusal to embrace CRT and intersectionality.
Dhati Lewis, the Lead Pastor of Blueprint Church in Atlanta, Georgia and the Vice President of Send Network with the North American Mission Board (NAMB) has some wild things to say about what the gospel is and isn’t, adding another brick in the wall of our claims that the SBC is going to hell in a handbasket over their failure to cut off and cauterize this progressive gangrene.
Dhati made the following comments on Sept 21 on his Where life exists channel.
Props to @WokepreacherTV for the video and transcript:
The gospel is not simply a message for the afterlife. It has real-time, real-life applications for our day-to-day lives. We see it modeled perfectly in the life of Jesus. We know he met the spiritual needs of people, but we also know that he met emotional needs, as well. He met economic needs and also social needs. He healed the sick, challenged corruption in leaders and systems. He honored the poor and the outcasts. Wherever Jesus went, holistic restoration was taking place.
The gospel is not good news without spiritual redemption and restoration, but the gospel is also not good news without emotional, economic, and social restoration, as well.The good news of the kingdom is that God is establishing a new order where all things, spiritual, emotional, economic, and social, are restored to their original, sinless design.
So let’s take a look at the gospel using my tool that have called the Three Circles. Traditionally, this is how we share the gospel, right? We see on here: God’s design. What do we mean? God created the world, and it was good. We lived in perfect relationship with God, with one another, and his creation. However: sin. Adam and Ever came in, sinned, and the whole world was put under a curse, bringing separation between us and God, and that’s why we understand and we look at brokenness. But the problem is is that we only are addressing spiritual brokenness. Sin led to our spiritual brokenness. We cannot earn our salvation, but we try to anyway. We look to sex, money, power, fame, and so many other things to try to get back to God. But they only lead us further and further away.
But when we learn the truth of the gospel, we learn that Jesus came to earth, died for our sins, and rose again, and that if we repent and believe, then we can have access to God. The Holy Spirit indwells in us [sic], gives us the power to recover and pursue God’s design for us, to live in perfect harmony with him.
But! Do you recognize how this gospel presentation falls short? Sin caused brokenness to more than just our spiritual needs. I believe Tim Keller is spot on when he says we must neither confuse evangelism with doing justice nor separate them from one another. You see, the gospel demands the church engage holistically with our cities.
"The gospel is not good news without spiritual redemption and restoration, but the gospel is also not good news without emotional, economic, and social restoration, as well." @dhatipic.twitter.com/hxuY4o9eyI
(Christian Intellectual) Tom Ascol has once again helped ministry leaders who push ideas inspired by Critical Race Theory to save face through a proclamation about a private phone call.
Before, it was Matt Hall (Provost of Southern Seminary). Now, it is Paul Chitwood (President of the Internation Mission Board).
In both cases, after concerns about the men’s ministries went viral on social media, Tom Ascol came to their rescue by announcing that he had had a private phone conversation with them, and that there was nothing to be concerned about.
In this most recent case, with Chitwood, Conservative Resurgence Voices recently released an article containing the text of an email which Chitwood had sent out on behalf of the IMB. (Published in full below) The email included a number of alarming indicators that the IMB has been cultivating the Woke ideology of the world within the organization (see below for details).
Of course, this raised quite a few alarms among conservative Southern Baptists––including Tom Ascol. But then Ascol was graced with a private phone call from Chitwood, and afterward announced that there was nothing to be concerned about.
Specifically, Ascol’s tweet focused on the language of the email, saying “The IMB no longer uses the language in the email, recognizing it as problematic in our environment.”
Okay… But what about the ideas communicated through the language? The concerns being raised were not about semantics. They were about the radical ideas and assumptions laced throughout the entire email.
Here are just a few:
The email talks about the “current events in June” (i.e. rioting after the killing of George Floyd) as if the killing was racially motivated (racial injustice is the context of the email). But only those who have bought into the Woke narrative — that American police are systemically targeting black people, and that racism is the motive behind any instance of a black man dying at the hand of police officers — would think that.
It recommends this deplorable article on what it means to “belong.” Here’s an excerpt:
It promotes the idea, throughout, of actively “diversifying” the IMB at all levels of leadership. This means utilizing functional racial quotas which artificially give preference to people based on their race.
It promotes the idea that white people need to “listen” and “learn” — as if most white Christians are ignorant about racism (which is only true if it’s the Woke / Critical Theory type of “racism”).
It talks about new training programs on “Cultural Sensitivity” and “Unconscious Bias Sensitivity.” Chitwood may be telling the truth when he says they don’t use that language anymore, but are they still the same programs? What is being taught by the IMB to their leaders and their missionaries? Are we just supposed to take Tom Ascol’s word that Paul Chitwood has given him his word that there’s nothing to be concerned about?
There’s a new “TEAMS channel” devoted exclusively to people of certain races (racial segregation). Is this still going?
This all came about through certain “conversations” conducted over the course of months. If it really is “problematic,” what about the damage already done? Chitwood says the language is “problematic in our environment.” Why? And if the language is problematic, aren’t all these other things much more problematic? Tom Ascol needs to stop helping these guys hide behind private phone calls.
Based merely on the email alone, there appears to be a MASSIVE influence of CRT-style thinking invading all levels of leadership at the IMB. Until and unless, Chitwood does the following to fix it, the IMB should be defunded and condemned:
Explicitly retract all language of “unconscious bias” and the promotion of the other problematic things listed above.
Explicitly denounce the idea that America is presently systemically racist & the idea that George Floyd’s death was an instance of systemic racism.
Explicitly denounce the idea of racial partiality which favors “people of color” as an inherently racist and evil idea.
Explicitly define racism exclusively as race-based partiality, and denounce every contemporary attempt to redefine it as something less.
These are bare minimum steps the IMB needs to take in order to demonstrate that it is not, and will not be, influenced by the evil ideology of Critical Race Theory. The only reason a Christian organization would not do the above is if it was attempting to tickle the ears of both sides.
Until Chitwood does the above, he is just being a politician.
And Tom Ascol is helping him to save face.
Email in Full
From: Chitwood, Paul <redacted> Sent: Tuesday, September 8, 2020 1:01 PM To: Chitwood, Paul Subject: Belonging
Hello Brothers and Sisters,
In Philippians 2:3, the Apostle Paul instructs us: “In humility, count others more significant than yourselves.” In Galatians 6:2, we read, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
As a father of an Asian daughter and a foster parent to a biracial son, I’ve seen up close the pain that racism and racially insensitive comments and behaviors bring. I don’t want to contribute to that pain, nor do I want our organization to do so. Knowing your love and passion for the beautiful mosaic of those from every nation, tribe, people, and language who will stand before the throne of God and before the Lamb, I know you agree.
Racism a direct consequence of the Fall and has infected every culture but the history of the US and, frankly, the SBC, is a tragic example of how God’s image bearers whose skin is black have endured unspeakable injustice, exploitation, and pain. In June, our company hosted a call for our employees who identify as Black, African American or Biracial to discuss current events, provide support for one another, and to introduce themselves to one another for the sake of creating new relationships. It was a beautiful time of fellowship and some have expressed a strong sense of belonging. What does “belonging” mean in this context? Here is a link to AN ARTICLE that explains the importance.
From this call, new friendships were formed, mentors were identified, and I am prayerful that some healing began. I want to share with everyone in our company family some insights from the participants so that all of us may better understand the feelings that were expressed and what we can do in response.
We asked the participants in August, “How are you feeling now?” and heard:
• I am encouraged, but I’m still waiting to see viable action to diversify our organization both on the field, staff, and leadership. • I am encouraged that many in our organization, including our leadership, are willing to listen and look at what changes need to be made. • I’m feeling focused. The lament was necessary, and the time together was healing. Now my attention has turned towards how we can move forward together. • While there are more public conversations going on about the issue of racism, I can’t see in my personal world that there has been much change in terms of dialogue and personal conversations with others. The “silence” is still there, which makes me sad. • Time has helped me process many things about what I was feeling and really come to terms with the sins that pervade life. Listening to others, reading articles, talking with others, and most importantly seeking what the Lord says in Scripture has helped tremendously. • I think it would be great for our organization to continue the dialogue of how we can do better and be better leaders in this area. • I’m excited to get on board with the ways that the IMB plans to move forward. Whatever that plan is, I plan to get behind and see how I can help to achieve the vision and goals.
We also asked, “How can your coworkers who are not Black, African American, or Biracial best support you now and in the future?” Some participants said:
• Several ways: Listen well. Educate themselves on how to understand and promote diversity. Learn to empathize with people as they walk through a crisis. There are Scriptural reminders, love others, treat people like you want to be treated, and bear each other’s burdens. Advocate for people when you recognize they are being treated unjustly. • I have found “silence” to be a bit hurtful in the past. While I understand that race is an uncomfortable topic for many, it doesn’t feel like an “optional” topic of conversation for me, especially when tragedies occur. • As intentional as each Affinity is in preparing their missionaries to engage their host cultures, I would like to see the same amount of intentionality in each cluster to receive cultural sensitivity training. It would be beneficial to have more intentional conversations and training on racial issues. • Our coworkers can assist with this by seeking to learn from the People of Color around them and not just when something happens. It’s important to seek the perspectives of People of Color on your team to know what changes need to be made for a more effective and fruitful future. • I want to be able to commend this company to People of Color knowing that the company at every level is committed to growing and welcoming and better supporting People of Color. • Don’t assume that everyone with the company has the same perspective on the issue of racism. Let’s seek what the Lord want us to do to move forward. As a faithful organization of like-minded followers of Christ, we must continue to improve in our efforts, and I am personally committed to do so.
We are already taking some actions based on what we have learned:
• Our mobilization team is focused on improving our engagement and relationships with churches throughout the nation that are predominately attended by People of Color. We hope this will also yield more People of Color as missionaries in the future. • We are in the beginning stages of rolling out two new training programs within GE and MOBI and plan to begin expanding to all in the near future: ◦ Cultural Sensitivity ◦ Unconscious Bias and Sensitivity • We created a TEAMS channel for our employees who identify as Black, African American or Biracial to have personal conversations and support each other in the future. New employees are also given the opportunity to join this as they are hired. • We are working to develop an Hispanic Employee Network • We will continue our efforts to become more diverse in our representation of our denominational family, in our thinking and across our teams. • In the spirit of celebrating diversity, we will begin to formally recognize two days on the calendar in 2021: Juneteenth and Hispanic Day.We will celebrate these days both internally and externally with communications via all online channels. ◦ Juneteenth, observed on June 19, is also known as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, Liberation Day, and Emancipation Day, and celebrates the emancipation millions of people who were enslaved in the United States. ◦ October 12 is Hispanic Day. For almost 75 years, the descendants of nations emerging from the Spanish empire have embraced the word “Hispanic” to give a name to the family of nations, comprised of almost 400 million people who are united by the common bonds of culture, history, and language. Many of our home office staff, and a growing number of our overseas personnel and the fellowships we serve in the US are Hispanic.
Pray. Pray with me that hatred or injustice towards anyone because of racial differences will cease. Pray that the horrific acts of violence unfolding daily across the US will end. And pray that we will see healing and reconciliation across our land and around the world. No one is better positioned to model what that can look like than us. Our mission to serve the most diverse religious body in the US as approximately 20% of SB fellowships are African American or ethnic. Moreover, our vision and work included every nation, people, language and tribe! I want to express my sincere thanks to the Human Resources team for moving us forward and I am excited to see what God has planned for us in the future.
Blessings, Paul
Editor’s Note. This article was written by Jacob Brunton and published at the Christian Intellectual. Republished in full with permission.
