Pastor J.D. is joined by Pastor Bryan Loritts for a special edition of Ask Me Anything where they look at the events of the past week.

A glimpse inside this episode:

Immediately: Bear one another’s burdens, grieve with those who grieve. Love your neighbors as yourself. Pursue empathy. Relieve yourself of the burden of having to come up with answers, and take a posture of humility. Even in the face of Martha saying something untrue, Jesus listened and wept with Mary and Martha (John 11). He didn’t immediately correct her theology.

Longterm: We need a full-court press from the three institutions created by God, the family, the government, and the church, in dealing with the issues of systemic racism. Considering a healthy spiritual upbringing of our children, considering how we vote, and considering the heart change that happens with the gospel. God’s strategy for dealing with the problem of sin as part of the new covenant was not dealing with it from the outside in but from the inside out (Jeremiah and Ezekiel). Imagine the power of Ahmaud Arbery in a small group relationship with the McMichaels–where they’re all redeemed and getting to know each other. Proximity breeds empathy; distance breeds suspicion.

When something happens to one part of the body of Christ, it happens to all of us. That’s where we start. Don’t rush past lamenting into problem solving. “White evangelicals have a PhD in statistics and a third grade education in empathy” – Bryan Loritts, Insider Outsider

On social media, do the same: don’t rush to problem solving but spend time lamenting and empathizing. Simply, “We are with you.” Instead of being paralyzed by not having the answers, make yourself available.