Do you remember all the things your mother said you shouldn’t discuss at the dinner table? Well, we are talking about all of them, and adding a few to the list.  In advance of each week’s sermon, I’ll be posting daily (or so) links to resources that have helped me think like a Christian on the week’s topics.

This week’s sermon is on race, and it is convenient that Gene Marks sparked a small internet storm with his article “If I were a poor, black kid.“ I thought the best response came from Ta-Nehisi Coates at The Atlantic, which resonated with with a couple of Christian themes in my mind:

This basic extension of empathy is one of the great barriers in understanding race in this country

As Christians, we have a saying about this. We call it the “Golden Rule.”

If you really want to understand slaves, slave masters, poor black kids, poor white kids, rich people of colors, whoever, it is essential that you first come to grips with the disturbing facts of your own mediocrity. The first rule is this–You are not extraordinary.

 

As Christians, we have a practice for this. We call it “Confession.”