As a beginning, take a very brief time to identify words or phrases describing the difficulty of a church community seeking to discuss a volatile subject. What makes us uneasy for our church to engage in such discussions?
Preserving community relations.
Note the importance of acceptable norms that govern relationships in a healthy society.
Review the Ten Commandments
Note how the Israelites entered a Wilderness that threatened their way of life. It was totally unfamiliar territory to them.
So they began to set out parameters for their behavior.
Note the commandments are expressed in the negative—Thou shalt not.
Consider how the commandments are describing basic behaviors within a community that embody the Great Commandment of Jesus—
The first three commandments are focused on the relationship with God
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul, your mind and your strength.”
The last six focus on relationships among neighbors.
“The second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
The fourth Commandment (Remember the Sabbath . . .) carves out time to evaluate and focus on both sets of relationships.
With respect to our wilderness journey, in our time of anxiety, we need to set up our own set of “Thou Shalt Nots” to shape how we relate to each other as we walk through this volatile wilderness of racism filled with potential conflicts and misunderstandings.
The TEN COMMANDMENTS are a good foundation, but you might rephrase them to clarify how the Christian community, and then society, in all its diversity, should relate to each other.
Write several “ Thou shalt nots” relating to God and to the neighbor as we proceed across a volatile wilderness of racism.
We shall not . . . . . .
We shall not . . . . . .
Then try to compile your own list of behaviors for your church.
It would be a healthy exercise to have your leadership to each go through the same exercise and then to discuss them together.
(This exercise is drawn from an eight part webinar that I am developing about anti-racism and the local church. If you are interested in seeing more, let me know.)
