Speaking What is Right: Cross-Cultural Conversations in the Church
Aaron Roy
One of the more daunting books of the Bible is the book of Job. It is a haunting yet hopeful story of a man named Job’s suffering and God’s care and sovereignty for him. When Job was at his lowest point, he was encountered by some well-intentioned friends who for days sat in silence and mourned with him. Up to this point in the story, they were model friends.
And then they opened their mouths. And from their mouths came simple and shallow solutions as to why Job was suffering. Their commentary consisted of essentially blaming Job for his sufferings and calling Job to task for his spiritual pride. They fell horribly short in offering any comfort and perspective for Job. God told us this much at the end of the book when He addressed Job’s friends and said, “you have not spoken of me what is right.” (Job 42:7)
Historically, God’s church in America has fumbled over how to talk about racism, injustice, and suffering in our country. We have become good at giving shallow solutions. We say things like “if we don’t talk about racism, it will go away” and “let’s just focus on the Gospel and everything will fix itself.” We come to the table with good intentions, but when we open our mouths we try to simplify and give cold, out-of-touch formulas as to how to become unified. Maybe God is saying to His church here, “you have not spoken what is right”? The fruit of our solutions is a church that is still divided and segregated.
Yet I still believe the church can create meaningful spaces for redemptive dialogue and solutions. As someone who is multiracial myself with a multiracial family, and who has had these kinds of conversations with churches for many years as part of my work, I would like to offer up a few observations. Here are three confessions that I think will be helpful as we press forward to have these hard discussions.
We must acknowledge that we all have prejudice within us. Ever since the “fall” in the garden of Eden we have been running away from God and each other. It’s helpful to acknowledge that we all struggle with thinking ourselves better than others at times. This struggle can come in many forms (class, ethnicity, geography, weight, etc.) This posture disarms us from our defensiveness and allows us to be present in hard discussions.
We must acknowledge that everyone comes to the table at very different starting points. Some are new to the conversation and just beginning to develop convictions concerning these issues. Others have spent their lives feeling the weight of racism and combating it daily, and often feel racially exhausted. Understanding that people are at very different points along the path toward unity is crucial. This allows for grace and patience as we all journey toward the same goal.
Lastly, we must acknowledge that for far too long the church has allowed politics to hijack the conversation. What should be a Spirit-filled, grace-filled dialogue towards unity has been infiltrated by blue vs. red. We must rescue the conversation from divisive political posturing and focus on Kingdom practices.
What would it look like to create spaces in your community where gracious, hard, truthful conversations can take place? What kind of deep relationships, transformation, and lasting fruit would we see? When the church is unified, the world sees Jesus more clearly!
Reflection Questions
Why do you think we are often inclined to offer “simple and shallow solutions” when people are suffering, as Job’s friends did?
Which of Aaron’s three points resonates for you the most when you think about cross-cultural conversations:
We all have prejudice (running from God and each other)
We all have different starting points
We can’t allow politics to hijack the conversation.
Where would you most like to grow in your understanding of racial, ethnic, and cultural differences in our community?
Find more resources for Cross-Cultural Conversations with your ACG, including a Preparation Guide, Conversation Cards, and Learning Agreements, here.
