Lent is a season for looking inward, for seeking repentance for the things we’ve “done and left undone,” as the liturgies say. This Lent, I’ve found myself thinking a lot about the “things undone” part.
You know the conversations about racism and racial injustice. They surface everywhere, whether in the stories of confrontation from the DC marches in January, or in witnessing insensitive, or even casually racist attitudes in your own community. Until we can place ourselves in a position of listening and humility, of trusting the stories of oppressed and marginalized people, can we ever really, truly seek peace?
But what if we were listening people, slow to judgement and quick to compassion? What if peacemaking starts with addressing the collective sins in our own communities… namely the racism undergirding America and the ways the church has failed to step in? Before reconciliation comes repentance. And repentance begins with submitting to the stories around us. We’ve found a new book that can help.
This spring, join us as we read Jemar Tisby’s brand new book The Color of Compromise together. Released in January of this year, The Color of Compromise offers a historical survey from America’s colonial days and the foundations of slavery to Black Lives Matter and America’s ongoing conversation about racism and equality. Along the way, Tisby presents a challenging portrait of sustained injustice in American Christianity, while offering hopeful ways forward so we the church can resist our complicity and fight injustice together.
Our hope is that these six weeks will provide a safe, open place to wrestle with these difficult conversations, acknowledge and lament our roles in an unjust world, and consider ways to move forward in repentance and love. We may not come up with all the answers, but we’re confident this will be hard but good and fruitful work.
Starting next week, we’ll offer reflections on the week’s reading, some questions to consider, and opportunities to discuss the book both on the Rabbit Room blog and in a private Facebook group. You can get started by ordering the book from The Rabbit Room Store and requesting to join the Facebook group here.