America's Greatest Sin: A Frank Talk on Race
“Race is a social construct,” says Jim Wallis from the stage of the 2016 Revolutionary Love conference at Middle Church. “We invented it. We made it up to justify our greed."
The racism in our country can easily leave us feeling hopeless. But Jim is always hopeful. “Our job,” he reminds us, “is to provide the hope that too often isn’t there.
Hope is not a feeling. It is a decision that you make because of this thing called faith. Hope means believing in spite of the evidence and then watching that evidence change.
And how we do the change, Jacqui Lewis reminds us, is just as important as the change that we do. Because together we can build an interreligious, intergenerational, multifaith movement that can heal the world.
“You are the one.” (Jacqui’s talking to you right now.) "You are the only one who will be in the place that you need to be to say the thing that needs to be said to do the things that needs to be done. You are the only one. And your qualification is only this: you are human."
Because Revolutionary Love will kick hatred in the butt. And twice on Sunday.
Jim Wallis is a New York Times bestselling author, public theologian, speaker, and international commentator on ethics and public life. He recently served on the White House Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships and was former vice chair of the Global Agenda Council on Values of the World Economic Forum. Jim is the author of 12 books, including his most recent, America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege, and the Bridge to a New America. He is president and founder of Sojourners, where he is also editor-in-chief of Sojourners magazine. His columns appear in major newspapers, including Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and Boston Globe. He frequently appears as a commentator on television shows such as Meet the Press, Hardball, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and The O’Reilly Factor. He has taught at Harvard University, Georgetown University, and other academic institutions.
The Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis is Senior Minister at Middle Collegiate Church, a 900-member multiracial, multicultural, welcoming, and inclusive congregation in New York City. She is an activist, preacher, and fierce advocate for racial equality, economic justice, and LGBTQ equality. Middle Church’s activism for these issues has been featured in media like the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and Essence magazine. She is a frequent contributor to MSNBC, where she is host of Just Faith at MSNBC.com. Jacqui co-founded The Middle Project, which trains leaders for the movement for justice. She has been adjunct professor at Wesley, Princeton and Union theological seminaries. She is ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Jacqui is the first African-American and woman to serve as senior minister in the Collegiate Churches. She is working on a book about finding a grown-up God and is the author of 10 Essential Strategies to Grow a Multiracial, Multicultural Congregation; The Power of Stories; and the children’s book, You Are So Wonderful!