40|50 Project: 40 Days To Heal A Nation’s Racial DivideSample

Prologue

Day 1: One Family in God

1:00 AM | Eyes shoot open.

"Oh no!," I try not to panic. "You're changing the message?" One that I have labored all week preparing and will deliver in nine hours?

Why such last-minute theatrics? In hindsight, if God had revealed sooner that He wanted me to address Racism in the Church, as a guest African American speaking to a predominately Caucasian congregation, I may have pulled a Moses-at-the-burning-bush and asked, “Can you send someone else?” But in these wee hours, there is no argument. Only swift obedience.

I try not to wake my husband as I scramble to my quiet spot. I am grieved as countless memories of blatant and hidden prejudice resurface, interspersed over twenty-five years of ministry serving God and His people. This leads to a daunting epiphany: We seemingly have two very different churches in our nation and in our world, fiercely divided along racial lines.

This breaks God’s heart. What of His vision of one Body, one Lord, one Faith? What of Jesus’s declaration that we - His family - would be known by how well we love each other? How can we expect our nation to love one another when we as the family of God do not love one another? How can we expect our nation to value lives that God created when we as the Church are deeply conflicted over the value of life?

This 40-day journey to heal our nations’ racial divide starts with us, the family of God, humbling ourselves and asking God to intervene, producing life and love in place of fear, pride, greed and death. 

The Scripture God gives me to preach that Sunday is John 13:34-35, a passage that raises the same questions for us today as we set ourselves to fast and pray. 

Is it possible for us to obey Jesus and love one another as He loves us? Can we humble ourselves and sacrifice for each other instead of lording over one another? Would our nation know that we are brothers and sisters if they observe how we treat each other?

PRAYER

Father, as we embark upon these next 40 days together, please reveal truth by Your Spirit of Truth, and show us how we may become one family in You. We pray Your protection and banner of life and love over each one of us and our families, in Jesus's Name, Amen.