Topics:<\/b> Acceptance; Attitudes; Communication; Double-mindedness; Fear; Friendship; Hospitality; Prejudice; Racism; Reconciliation; Unity<\/p>\n
References:<\/b> 1 Samuel 20:42; Luke 10:5\u20138; Acts 10:24\u201328; Galatians 3:28; 1 John 2:9\u201311<\/p>\n
It was my third year with the ministry. I got a call from a prominent white Christian leader asking me to go to lunch with him. As we\u2019re sitting down to eat, all of a sudden this guy started crying. He explained that God had blessed him\u2014his children were healthy, he was known throughout the country. But, he said, \u201cI\u2019ve had a hard time sleeping throughout the night.\u201d And I was thinking to myself, \u201cWhy is he telling me this? I\u2019m not a therapist.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI just came back from an annual conference on the other side of the country,\u201d the man told me. \u201cA bunch of us got together to discuss reconciliation and cross-cultural ministry. Usually, when black leaders come into the meeting, we make them feel right at home and let them be part of the decision-making process. But to be honest with you, the decisions are made before your leaders ever get there. I\u2019m used to hearing the jokes and the use of the N<\/i>-word. But this time, when the jokes were going on and people were saying things, it didn\u2019t sound right to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow can I get over this?\u201d the leader asked me, sobbing. \u201cHow can we be friends?\u201d<\/p>\n
I was silent for a moment then asked him, \u201cDo you like football?\u201d He seemed a little puzzled, but he said yes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do, too,\u201d I told him. \u201cI used to coach high school and college ball, and I have a lot of friends who play pro. I love a good game, and I love to cook out. So here\u2019s what we do: I need to get to know you, and you need to get to know me. Why don\u2019t you come over to my house?\u201d I was the only black in my suburban neighborhood at the time. I said, \u201cBring your wife and meet my wife, and we\u2019ll just sit and talk and get to know each other. I\u2019ll barbecue some steaks, and let\u2019s start there.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said, \u201cYou want me to come to your house?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d I said. \u201cIf you want me to sit here and clear your conscience for all the crap you did, I can\u2019t do that. Friendship is not cheap. It takes time and commitment.\u201d I gave him my home phone number and told him to give me a call.<\/p>\n
I never heard from him again.<\/p>\n
\u2014Ed Gilbreath, Reconciliation Blues<\/i> (InterVarsity, 2006)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Topics: Acceptance; Attitudes; Communication; Double-mindedness; Fear; Friendship; Hospitality; Prejudice; Racism; Reconciliation; Unity References: 1 Samuel 20:42; Luke 10:5\u20138; Acts 10:24\u201328; Galatians 3:28; 1 John 2:9\u201311 It was my third year with the ministry. I got a call from a prominent white Christian leader asking me to go to lunch with him. As we\u2019re sitting down … Continue reading “COSTLY
\n RECONCILIATION”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6126\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}