HandH 005: Racial Tension and the Body of Christ with Retha Nichole

Retha Nichole is my wonderful guest for episode 5 of the podcast, and I am honored to be chatting with her today. On today’s episode, we dive deep into the issue of racial tension in the church and culture. This chat is a very meaty conversation on what is too often a very difficult, oftentimes touchy, topic. I’m so grateful for Retha and the wisdom, wit, encouragement, knowledge, and perspective she shares with us today. It is my prayer that this conversation you hear serves to make a difference in the climate of racial tension we are experiencing in our day.

What we Chat about in this Episode

~How one even begins to address such a difficult issue; what to say to the person we know who is in denial that there is a problem of racism still left in America, either in the church or in the culture; the existence of “white privilege”

~Specific cases/examples of racism and racial bias still alive and well in our country (ex., police cases, red-lining, CRA programs in banks, etc.)

~What to say to the erroneous sentiment that is out there that “blacks should just stop lamenting their place - after all, they have already been freed from slavery and segregation!”

~How to address the shooting incidents in the news between police officers and black folks and why we all need to be talking about this; answering both the automatic assumption that the officers are always in the right, as well as the assumption that the blacks are always the victims

~What some of the worst things are that we inadvertently say these days in terms of race and racial tension and what to say instead

~How we can embrace each other while understanding that we have cultural preferences that can be different within the body of Christ

~What white adoptive parents of children of minority races can do to celebrate, preserve, promote, and include their uniqueness and cultural heritage in the family

~Advice for couples who are struggling with finding a church that is comfortable for them, racially

~Answering the question of why racism and racial bias exist in the church when we claim to believe that all people are created equal in God’s image, and what we can do about this problem

~And more!

Resources Mentioned in this Episode:

Alive in Him: How Being Embraced by the Love of Christ Changes Everything by Gloria Furman

The podcast episode with Tiffany Castleberry, Emily Thomas, and Retha Nichole

Racial Tension and the Unified Body of Christ

Be the Bridge

For the Love: Fighting for Grace in a World of Impossible Standards by Jen Hatmaker

The Magnolia Story ~Chip and Joanna Gaines

The Husband’s Secret ~Liane Moriarty

Video on “Driving Black in America”

Inspiring Quotes from Retha:

“You can’t talk about race with everyone, everywhere. You have to talk about race in a safe place and you have to include into the conversation people who don’t look like you.”

“You have to be in relationship with people who don’t look like you - so that you will understand and feel their pain on these issues. We need to quit automatically pushing our own viewpoint and instead seek to understand the experiences of the other person.”

Where you can find Retha online:

Website – Retha Nichole: My Light Still Shines

Podcast – My Light Still Shines

Instagram – @rethanichole

To Leave a Rating and Review on iTunes:

Have you been encouraged or inspired by today’s episode? If so, could I ask a little favor? If you could leave the podcast a rating and review in iTunes, that would be amazing! The more ratings and reviews a podcast receives, the more iTunes shows that podcast to other folks searching for shows to listen to, so by leaving me a rating and review, you truly are partnering with me in this podcast ministry to encourage and help as many women as we possibly can. Thank you so much for taking the time to do that! Here’s how:

If you’re on your computer:

Access iTunes on your desktop and type Home and Hearth in the search box on the upper right hand corner.
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