Special Bonus Episode: The Talk: A Conversation on Race with Tyler Burns

On today’s bonus episode, we’re chatting with Tyler Burns, a youth pastor from Pensacola, FL, who serves as co-host for Pass the Mic, a podcast powered by the Reformed African American Network. Lindsy Wallace interviews Tyler and co-hosts Kristi James and Lori Harris weigh in and pose relevant questions to drive the conversation towards ways that white people can come alongside their neighbors and love well.

The reality of the fall means that we live in a broken world with broken systems and the world is pushing against everything that God desires for racial reconciliation. We see evidence of this truth online and on the nightly news and in our everyday lives.

The world is broken and yet, as Christ followers, we know that in Christ, we have been reconciled to God and to one another through the cross.

So while we’re on this earth, how do we live as reconciled children of God and act as agents of reconciliation as Christ followers?

The answer is simple: We must hold truth of scripture in one hand and the reality of our current world in the other and set wrong things right.

Have you ever wondered about The Talk? You know, that conversation black parents have with their kids about how to interact with the police? Depending upon where you live, you may not even be aware that The Talk is an integral part of rearing black kids.

The Talk is essentially a set of instructions for children on how to interact with law enforcement so that children can learn to navigate society with their blackness in mind.  And at its root, the overarching message of The Talk is this: Don’t give the police a reason to kill you.

If you’re white like me, the truth of this reality may hit you like a punch in the gut. Or it may seem silly or unnecessary. Or like a perpetuated narrative that isn’t helping the climate of America.

But as Christ followers who hold the scripture in one hand and hold the broken world and her broken systems in the other, we should lay down our initial gut reaction to The Talk and listen with ears to hear the groaning of our black neighbors.

And friends, The Talk is our neighbors’ groaning of injustice.

So I encourage you to spend five minutes on your face before Jesus, asking Him to search your heart and reveal to you any sin hidden away, and then take a listen to our interview with Tyler Burns. Maybe listen to it twice and then check out Pass the Mic. Or spend a week searching the scriptures that Tyler references {Colossians 1, Ephesians 2, Revelations 5, 7, 9) in regards to what the Bible says about racial reconciliation.

​Find us on Instagram or Facebook and join the conversation.

Grace + peace,
Lori

Never Miss an Episode: Subscribe to our newsletter.