Restoring Shalom Through Justice, Repentance, and Racial Reconciliation (Exile Series Part 5)

Sep 14, 2016

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How a biblical vision of justice rooted in Shalom can inform our response to racial injustice, collective iniquity, and the pursuit of healing in a fractured culture. Mike and Andy dive deep into what it means to embody Jesus’s call to peacemaking amid systemic inequity, prejudice, and social unrest. This powerful episode sheds light on how the Church can participate in healing generations of injustice—not through political posturing, but by carrying wholeness into the frayed fabric of our society.

Key Takeaways: • Justice as Restoration of Shalom – A biblical understanding of justice as interconnected wholeness, not just fairness or punishment. Justice is the outworking of love and a return to harmony among God, humanity, and creation. • Sin vs. Iniquity – The distinction between individual sin and the communal, generational consequences (iniquity) our society bears today, especially regarding racism and privilege. • Following Jesus Means Laying Down Privilege – Exploring Philippians 2 and Jesus’s model of relinquishing status to enter into others’ suffering and bring renewal. • Seeing and Celebrating Difference – Why saying “I don’t see color” misses the biblical picture of diverse unity, and what it truly means to belong to the “new humanity” Paul describes in Ephesians. • Black Lives Matter and the Church – A call for Jesus followers to support the Black Lives Matter movement as an affirmation of dignity, not a denial of others. The broken leg metaphor: the whole body can’t heal until the broken part is treated. • What About the Police? – Honoring the complexity of the situation, lamenting violence against police while acknowledging systemic disparity. Empathy must hold tension. • Empathy Through Personal Lenses – Andy reflects on his interracial family and fatherhood, and how proximity to the marginalized reshapes understanding of injustice. • Gospel Forgiveness in Action – Highlighting the Charleston church shooting and the families’ decision to forgive the shooter as a public demonstration of embodied grace and resistance to hate.

Resources Mentioned: • Philippians 2 – The “Christ Hymn” highlighting Jesus’s descent into service and humility. • Ephesians 2 – Paul’s vision of a reconciled “new humanity” out of divided ethnic groups. • Galatians 3:28 – Neither Jew nor Gentile… all are one in Christ Jesus. • Books Referenced: Toxic Charity and When Helping Hurts • Black Lives Matter – blacklivesmatter.com • Non-ference Gathering Info – voxologypodcast.com

Join us as we reflect on how Jesus still enters our most broken places and invites us to do the same—for the sake of justice, wholeness, and peace. Subscribe to the podcast, leave us a review, and follow the conversation on social media.

As always, we encourage discussion as we pursue these hard conversations. Reach out to us at hello@voxpodcast.com and engage on Facebook or Instagram.

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Music by Timothy John Stafford Social: @GoneTimothy

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