Atlanta-based pastor and rapper Trip Lee sat down with Desiring God to talk about, “How the Gospel of Grace Speaks to Race,” and he offered three minutes and 20 seconds of insight.
“There have been lots of incidents in the last few years that have stirred up lots of racial conversation,” he said, “a lot of them having to do with unarmed black men being killed — often by authorities, police officers.”
Trip explained that as painful as these incidents are, and as challenging as they are to address, the church should be intentional about doing so.
“The world is talking about these things because they keep happening,” he said, “and it would be a wasted opportunity for us if we didn’t ask ourselves, ‘There are terrible things happening out there. … What kind of prejudice is happening within our churches? What kind of unwillingness to bend for the sake of unity happen inside our churches? What types of stereotypes do I believe? What type of racial prejudice exists in my heart?’
“If we don’t ask those questions, I think we’re making a mistake, and if we don’t think about how the gospel that we preach speaks into those, we’re making a mistake.”
Trip then expounded on how the gospel speaks to race-related tragedies.
“We see this racial divide out in the world, and Jesus says, ‘Hey, people are going to know you’re my disciples by the way you love one another.’ Let’s show the world the kind of unity the gospel can produce,” Trip said. “Then when the world comes among us, they at least see little bits of, ‘These people would never be friends. What’s going on there?'”
Watch his full interview below.
