I’ve been wanting to do a series of videos called “Word on the Street” where I’ll discuss different topics surrounding the church, culture and the gospel with different ministry leaders from different perspectives. When it came to deciding what topics would be included on the list of things to discuss, the issue of racism and social justice was a very early addition. It seems as though every week I see something new in the news or social media regarding racism – whether it’s Colin Kaepernick taking a knee during the National Anthem or Lecrae leaving “white evangelicalism”.
Within the last few years I’ve been introduced to new terms and concepts I’ve never heard before, such as White Evangelicalism, Systematic Racism, New Jim Crow, White Privilege, etc… I have not been active in posting anything from my perspective about these issue because, to be honest, I don’t feel I would be adding much to the conversation. A lot of it doesn’t make sense, and I find myself asking more questions than giving answers. All of this is really new for me because I grew up thinking that racism was a thing of the past. I have a multi-cultural family (being the half-white son of a Filipino immigrant), I grew up going to a multi-cultural church, I’ve always had several friends from different ethnic backgrounds, etc.

 

Even though I don’t have any personal experience with racism, it’s blatantly obvious that I can’t (and shouldn’t) turn my head in apathy away from the conversation. So rather than ignoring it (or even worse – posting my irrelevant outside opinions on this subject), I felt it would be beneficial to ask questions and to learn from people who can give more insight from their unique perspectives and experiences. So I guess I’m inviting you to learn with me.

 

This first video was shot really on-the-fly. I was on the phone with my buddy, Pastor Jacob Rayford while I was at my office and mentioned that I wanted to do this video series and asked if he’d be open to do a video with me. He said “I’m actually free right now”, so he came over, we setup real quick and just had a conversation. In this video (and the entire series) I hope to demonstrate what Jacob mentions is the start of the solution to this topic – be humble, show love, and listen.