A handful of historical eras have marked our country’s long reckoning with race, and the age in which we find ourselves now appears destined to be remembered as another crucial turning point. Though a remnant desperately clutches to the fantasy of a “post-racial society,” every credible indicator confirms a deep and entrenched fracture along racial lines. Pick any index—education, economics, health—and the results make starkly apparent our racially stratified society.
Making sense of this landscape is quite challenging, especially for people of faith. Jesus’s final prayer was oriented around a vision for unity, and he commissioned his church to be the healing agent that brings the ministry of reconciliation into broken and fractured places in society. And yet an honest assessment raises more questions than answers. Is the church at large, and are we as individuals, currently making any contribution to healing the divisions? Or are we making things worse? Have we come to grips with our role in creating this divide, or are we stuck in a state of denial? The answers can easily leave us feeling lost, helpless, and hopeless.
For precisely this reason, I thank God for prophetic leaders like Latasha Morrison, who has committed her life to leading others with grace and patience through our challenging cultural landscape.
Latasha is not new to this conversation. She has gone on her own transformational journey to come to grips with the deep impact of white supremacy and has accepted the mantle from God to rise up against its evil forces and bear witness to Christ and his kingdom. Since emerging as a thought leader on race, Latasha has been inundated with requests for training, teaching, and ongoing support in standing up against racism. In response, she founded an organization called Be the Bridge, which has inspired and equipped thousands of people to pursue a distinctive and transformative response to racial division. Latasha has equipped want-to-be bridge builders in fostering and developing vision, skills, and heart for racial unity. She has built partnerships with existing organizations that are committed to diversity, racial justice, restoration, and reconciliation. Through it all, Latasha has continued to learn, grow, and refine her vision for how the church can effectively model true and meaningful reconciliation. This book, Be the Bridge, serves as her incredible and much-needed gift to all of us who want to more closely follow Christ’s call to unity.
We live in a fragmented time when people of faith often avoid discussions about race and when those who meaningfully confront the challenges often ignore faith. Latasha refuses to be defined by that schism. It is her faith in Jesus Christ that has made her who she is, and it is her faith that sends her into the world as a reconciler. The way she grounds everything in her faith is one of the most attractive qualities of Latasha as a teacher and thought leader.
In reading this book, you will learn a lot about how you can move from good intentions to genuine heart transformation and meaningful action. You will be pushed to take the work of reconciliation more seriously, and you will be inspired to join forces with a growing community of influencers who believe the gospel calls us to nothing less than a wholehearted commitment to truth and unity. But more than anything, you will see Jesus more clearly.
Savor the important words of each of these chapters. Let them challenge, nurture, and deepen your understanding of reconciliation. Come to see Christ and his kingdom with more vibrancy. And then take the next step to build a bridge.
—DANIEL HILL, pastor of River City Community Church and author of White Awake