One of the most powerful things I got to witness this year was at the United Cry event in Washington, DC. The leaders of predominately white denominations asked the leaders of predominantly black denominations for forgiveness of the racial injustices that blacks have suffered in this country. After seeking forgiveness for being quiet during those times, they then washed the feet of those ministers and joined in prayer together. They then agreed to work together in unity to bring about revival.
Separating ourselves based on race, skin color, and language has gone on since the Tower of Babel. Somewhere along the line, people stopped treating other people as equals because they weren’t the same. This line of thinking became part of cultures and even grew into the Church. The Early Church, including its leader Peter, struggled with it. His whole life he had been taught that non Jews were unclean and he couldn’t even go into their house. But all that changed one afternoon while he was praying on a rooftop.
In Acts 10, God gave him a vision of a picnic type blanket lowered from the heavens, and it was filled with unclean animals. God told Peter to kill and eat the animals. As Peter was struggling to understand, some servants of a Roman centurion knocked on the door. God told Peter to go with them. When Peter arrived at Cornelius’ house and he heard how God had spoken to him too, he said, “I now realize that it is true that God treats everyone on the same basis. Those who fear him and do what is right are acceptable to him, no matter what race they belong to” (GNT).
Peter learned that day that God is against racism. He learned to love other races. That one encounter changed Peter’s entire life and ministry. So many of us are like Peter before that encounter. We are content to keep God’s love within our own race, language, and culture. We disassociate with people who don’t look like us, act like us, or think like us, but that is wrong. Racial reconciliation should begin in the Church. It should flow from God’s love for all His children. What happened in Washington, DC was a great start and should be happening all over this country. It’s time we put down our walls, sought forgiveness, and worked together for one cause.
If you’d like to watch the video of what happened at United Cry, click here. It’s about 30 minutes long.
Devotions by Chris Hendrix 