Episode 224 - Race, Reconciliation, & the Church with Jemar Tisby

Race is one of the hottest of hot button issues in the world today, and when an issue is hot in the surrounding culture, it's usually hot in the church, too.

Some pastors will insist that we're living in a post-racial world.

Others want us all to just be "colorblind.'

Still others will have a vague notion of the idea of "racial reconciliation," but don't know what it entails beyond putting a few people of color on the platform and hoping for the best.

We believe that our listeners are hard-working and thoughtful pastors and church leaders--but we also know what the topic of race and racism can be difficult for even the most conscientious individuals to navigate.

There are real lives and real people involved, and even though we pastors might often have good intentions, our actions don't reflect those as well as we'd like.

On today's podcast, we're joined by Jemar Tisby, president of the Reformed African American Network, Director of the African American Leadership Initiative at Reformed Theological Seminary, co-host of the Pass the Mic Podcast, and doctoral student living in the great state of Mississippi.

Jemar brings some serious truth to today's episode and you are sure to be challenged by his words on race, reconciliation, and the work of the church. We were blown away by Jemar's willingness to be open with us and our listeners and so appreciate the wisdom he brings to the podcast.

If you haven't already, we'd encourage you to check out the Reformed African American Network and check out more of Jemar's work over there. If you're hungry for more content on reconciliation and race, head all the way back toepisode 86 and listen to our incredible conversation with Christena Cleveland. 

If today's episode made you feel uncomfortable, we'd encourage you to sit with that for a bit and invite God into sorting out why.

These are big and complex ideas and we both have listened multiple times to this conversation with Jemar seeking to understand and to grow in our knowledge.

Our hope and prayer is that you would be blessed and challenged by this episode as much as we were and that we can all begin to think differently than we have before--allowing God to mold us into who He wants us to be and our churches into the congregations He intends them to be.

Jemar Tisby