Part 1 – Race and Reconciliation: Location, Language, and Listening – Genesis 11:1-9; Acts 2:1-11
January 5, 2020Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Speaker: Jerry Cisar
The church today is very worldly. Worldliness has invaded the church. I do not mean that we dress like the world, drink like the world, or dance like the world, etc. I mean something more significant, yet far more subtle, than that.
We live in a divided world. A world which cannot communicate with their neighbors because they listen only to sound bites and respond with their own sound bites. Sound bites that are rhetorical bombs. Words that make a mess of things, rather than bring healing. It has been said that Britain and America are two nations divided by a common language. That is true today within our nation, not just across the pond. To win a debate, simply means to talk over your opponent, such that you don’t let them explain their viewpoint. No one is convinced. No one has listened.
If the church is ever going to be a city on the hill such that the world can see the glorious righteousness, justice, and peace of God manifest, we are going to have to take the lead, not follow the herd, in regard to issues of race and reconciliation. We are going to have to find a common language. In a world in which we need no longer to be present in order to say something, thanks to social media, it is a necessary reminder that we need to be present in order to communicate. Saying something and communicating are two different things.
Join us as we explore how Acts 2:1-11 calls us to undo the curse that came at Babel (Genesis 11:1-9).