GRACISM: A NEW WAY FORWARD (3 OF 3)
by Ross Lester
Scripture: Luke 10:30
This content is part of a series.
Gracism: A New Way Forward (3 of 3)
Series: gRace
Ross Lester
Luke 10:30
Intro:
Howzat BBC and welcome to week 3 of grace, a series exploring race, the gospel, community and hope.
Here is what we have said so far:
God's plan for his people has always been and will always be that they would be a radically diverse crew united by very little other than their common love of Christ.
In order to accomplish that kind of community, we have to be prepared to look at the past for understanding, the present for identity in Christ, and the future for hope and inspiration. If we do that, we can display the manifold wisdom of God to the world.
This week we want to get right into the nitty gritty of some current South African realities. Racial dialogue in South Africa is severely strained and people are talking past each other. What makes this worse is that we love caricatures and flat positions of things that are very seldom uniform in nature.
We have witnessed the severe trauma of Victor Hlotshwa in the coffin case and just what it speaks of. Melanie Verwoed wrote an article on News 24 about it and the comments section read like it was the late 70's. Seriously, I needed a sit down and extended prayer session after reading it.
What that does, is that it makes people of all sorts scared, angry and defensive. Then when we try to talk about sins of the past, systemic prejudices that linger in the present and ways forward in the future, there is very little opportunity for meaningful engagement.
Let me tell you about my own life experience on this. I will go carefully and not assume your experience. So don't get defensive, this is my story.
I was born at the top of the South African privilege pile. White male South African born in the 1970's. There is a Pearl Jam song that's says, ''he won the lottery by being born.'' That's me.
My parents were very much working/middle class. My dad was a groundskeeper when I was born, my mom was a nurse. They ...
Series: gRace
Ross Lester
Luke 10:30
Intro:
Howzat BBC and welcome to week 3 of grace, a series exploring race, the gospel, community and hope.
Here is what we have said so far:
God's plan for his people has always been and will always be that they would be a radically diverse crew united by very little other than their common love of Christ.
In order to accomplish that kind of community, we have to be prepared to look at the past for understanding, the present for identity in Christ, and the future for hope and inspiration. If we do that, we can display the manifold wisdom of God to the world.
This week we want to get right into the nitty gritty of some current South African realities. Racial dialogue in South Africa is severely strained and people are talking past each other. What makes this worse is that we love caricatures and flat positions of things that are very seldom uniform in nature.
We have witnessed the severe trauma of Victor Hlotshwa in the coffin case and just what it speaks of. Melanie Verwoed wrote an article on News 24 about it and the comments section read like it was the late 70's. Seriously, I needed a sit down and extended prayer session after reading it.
What that does, is that it makes people of all sorts scared, angry and defensive. Then when we try to talk about sins of the past, systemic prejudices that linger in the present and ways forward in the future, there is very little opportunity for meaningful engagement.
Let me tell you about my own life experience on this. I will go carefully and not assume your experience. So don't get defensive, this is my story.
I was born at the top of the South African privilege pile. White male South African born in the 1970's. There is a Pearl Jam song that's says, ''he won the lottery by being born.'' That's me.
My parents were very much working/middle class. My dad was a groundskeeper when I was born, my mom was a nurse. They ...
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