Ambassadors

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:  that God was reconciling the world to himself….. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19a

I [the Father] will keep you [the Servant, Jesus] and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles . . . Isaiah 42:6

Our God is a reconciler. To the point of becoming light in the darkness. We desire to become like Christ, and the Spirit himself urges us, compels us, transforms us into Christ’s likeness.

Where is the darkness we are called to? Will we be honest with our own fear? Oh, God, our own fear and our own pain. Will we empathize with the others? With their pain?

 

“Any time we engage in difficult issues, we get to represent the kingdom of heaven. We get a chance to live out our identity as reconcilers and speak on Christ’s behalf, to be the very conduits of God’s grace of bringing together what sin has divided. This often requires going into hostile territory. . . . [In the Roman empire] ambassadors were most needed, not in peaceful areas, but in hostile areas in order to bring peace. Advocates experience this same hostility. Advocates are not needed where there is unity--only where there is division.”

Dhati Lewis, Advocates

We run from difficult opportunities--but will we see it as an opportunity to represent the kingdom of heaven? Do we see it as a means of being like Christ? Do we see it a very emptying of ourselves so we can be a conduit of grace? So often we see reconciliation as pain. We flight. We freeze. We fight.

Dhati Lewis calls us to see race as an area of being an ambassador, an area where we are to be like Christ and be reconcilers. His well-written book walks us through awareness, vision, strategy, and challenges. He unpacks Philemon relevantly, drawing out principles for us today. But what struck me most was his call to be an ambassador. How seriously have we taken that? Have we seen that call, Christ’s own nature, in relation to race?

But we do not go alone. Christ is a Reconciler. Let us look to him. 

REVIEW
Advocates by Dhati Lewis is worth reading: I am white--and grew up white. But as Dhati Lewis reminds me, that does not define me. Nor does it have to be my only story and framework from which I live my life. Lewis’ book Advocates is a well-organized call. It describes some of what I am becoming aware of--my own colorblindedness, fragility, fear, passivity, flight, or freeze. Yet he does so in a kind, reconciling, wise tone. His book begins with awareness, moving to vision, strategies, and closing with challenges, making it well-organized. His is not a long book nor a treatise, but a simple call that alludes to many other resources that treat the subject of race and reconciliation in depth. It is an accessible book for all. He has a good balance of content and stories, helping us see through different lenses. In addition, it allows us to see Philemon in a different light. This small, often just glanced over book of the Bible is truly relevant and has a lot to share--if we take time to listen. May we listen to Paul and Philemon and Onesimus, listen to Dhati, to one another, and ultimately to our Lord the Reconciler.

"I received this copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review."