I am still in the process of writing my thesis. I am researching and writing about reconciliation (more specifically, racial reconciliation) as a rhetorical movement. It is a fascinating study, seeing the ways words create, define, and in many ways ARE a movement. In the course of research, I am reading a book called Hegel's Social Philosophy: The Project of Reconciliation. It is entirely too thick for me, but I do understand about every fifth sentence! This book, however, has prompted me to write what I have been wrestling with for quite some time now--my biblical understanding of reconciliation.
I (believe I) grew up in a church culture that defined reconciliation in transactional terms. Reconciliation is a balancing of the ledgers, making sure that we don't overspend our resources. The act of reconciliation between God and humans in the person of Jesus was simply a deposit into our account to put us at break-even. From there, the important thing in life was to keep my account balanced. When sin goes out, forgiveness must come in or else I will be overdrawn and the fee is really steep! I say I believe this was my church culture because I think there is always the possibility that I misconstrued what I was hearing. This may not have been the intellectual understanding of reconciliation in my group, but it was at least implicit in everything we learned and tried to live.
If reconciliation is transactional, then the goal is "equal rights." If I can, in a very legal sense, state that everyone has the same rights, reconciliation has been accomplished as the ledger is balanced. It doesn't take into account prior inequity but simply brings everything up to date and says, "Start here." Transactional reconciliation assuages the overdrawn by giving them a clean slate, a balanced bank statement. However, it does nothing to address the root of the problem.
I believe more and more that reconciliation is not essentially transactional, but rather is intended to be restorative. Restorative reconciliation intentionally looks at the causes of the imbalance and changes not only the account balance but also the way we think about our "spending." When viewing our relationship with God through this restorative lens, it means going deep into the roots of our separation and breaking down the barriers to heart relationship. When viewing racial reconciliation through this lens, we go beyond simply balancing the ledger. We seek to understand the pain and suffering of our brothers and sisters, to acknowledge and repent of the acts that have contributed to the inequity, and seek to live in ways that bring healing and redemption to both our individual relationships and the systems that create and support brokenness.
I'm not sure this is as clear as I would like it to be, but I hope it is the catalyst for conversation that will contribute to a genuine, passionate pursuit of reconciliation. Reconciliation that begins with Christ and extends to human relationship.
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2 comments:
Great post. Here's my question. How is it that many who have never experienced reconciliation with God (or restoration)still seem to get this concept about reconciliation/restoration with other races?
Additionally, it seems odd so many who should have experienced this r/r with God have so much bigotry or animosity toward those of other races. Perhaps it is as you said, they have only entered into a transaction with Him so they bring to other relationships that same sense of transaction - I will do for you if you somehow deserve it (or pay for it).
I can't wait to read your thesis, Joe (of course you have to get it done first :) )
This reminds me of something Greg talked about recently. If our goal is mere fairness, then equaling the score is enough. But there is no extravagant love expressed in the concept of fairness, and no grace whatsoever. You're right, restoration demands so much more. It reflects the love, grace, compassion, healing, hope and tender care of the One who restored all of us. It redeems past pain, instead of essentially ignoring it.
I grew up in the multicultural setting of inner-city Mpls and was always passionate about this issue. But racial reconciliation became extremely personal when I married my husband and then gave birth to my beautiful, brown-skinned children. I'm so grateful that you are dealing with this issue.
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