Thank you for the thoughtful, careful, measured articles in the Christian Leader January issue on racism. The biblical and Jesus-centered approach of each article is clear and consistent with the Mennonite Brethren commitment to be a biblical people. The Bible teaches that our God-given vocation begins with all humanity, male and female, created in God’s image to pursue God’s purpose of righteousness and justice (Gen. 1:27; 18:19). Righteousness involves right relations with others. Justice requires systems to promote right relations. Biblical justice, God’s justice, prioritizes marginalized people, orphans, widows, undocumented (Deut. 10:12-19). I am making it my aim to listen to people of color, particularly Christians, to learn how American political and economic systems have blocked people of color from opportunity. I want to pursue the questions addressed by Jesus—Who is my neighbor? How can I love my neighbor as myself? Thank you, Christian Leader and USMB Church for this fine issue to help me as a follower of Jesus!
Lynn Jost
Fresno, California
This article has been posted by Christian Leader staff. The Christian Leader is the magazine of U.S. Mennonite Brethren.
Yes to all of this. I am grateful for CL’s focus on racism, acknowledging the reality, and calling us to pursue justice.
I didn’t grow up in an MB church, but have chosen the denomination as an adult. I chose it, in part, because there are theological resources to draw from that center the needs of the oppressed. Thank you for prioritizing conversation about racism in CL. We need to be talking about this persistent source of pain and broken relationships.