Truth and Racial Reconciliation

Hey, this is Tim Pratt Jr. and I want to welcome you to the Student of Life Podcast. Listen, we're going to get into so many transferable truths throughout the content of these episodes that I believe God is going to use to help you apply, because he's going to reveal what's already been there the entire time. Enjoy. Yo, what's up? So this is your host Tim Pratt Jr. and this one is just a bonus episode, bonus content. That I want to jump on here. And really, through much prayer and wisdom, I believe I was led through the power of the Holy Spirit, man, to just share some thoughts on just some, some recent stuff that has happened. I'm very open with a lot of things. There's some things I don't share, but I do believe in being authentic. Authentic. I can't even get my words right. Uh, I do believe in being authentic, uh, and, you know, balance transparency. Some people I'm very transparent with, and others it's just balanced, you know, because you sometimes you can't show every— share everything with everyone. Some people might disagree with that, but that is something that is a principle in my life. You know, Darius Daniels said it best, you know, uh, be authentic with everyone but transparent with you. Everybody can't handle your transparency. Uh, and even we see this with Jesus. I believe he, you know, he modeled it well in his inner circle, you know, Peter, James, and John. Uh, he didn't, he didn't allow every disciple to be in the inner circle. So that's another episode for another day. Uh, but I do believe in that, you know, but I do believe we are required to be authentic with everyone. Uh, so yeah, let's jump into this one. Uh, so man, I just, you know, and it's a book, you know, with Paul. Uh, I've studied in depth in the Bible and stuff, uh, and you know, I kind of want to talk about, uh, racial reconciliation. Um, so I know depending on, you know, what news channel you subscribe to— I'm not a big news watcher, um, but depending on, you know, what channel, where you're getting information from Um, I'm not going to sit up here and act like, you know, these things still don't exist. I mean, you know, I seen a post just the other day, and I don't know if it was appropriate to share it, but it was like when all this stuff was going on with, um, I think something— I can't remember what it was. I think it was around the George Floyd stuff. And then, you know, Black History, last one was like, I appreciate all the Black History stuff, I appreciate all the pro-blackouts and things like that, but if you really want to Uh, if you really want to show me that you are, um, you know, about the— about your talk, if you really want to show me that you're about that life, in other words, you know, show me what your board of directors look like. Uh, and I do think there's some truth in there, man. You have to have representation. Uh, and so what I want to kind of share is that, uh, first and foremost, I want to say that I do not believe, um, the, the school that my kids go to is racist. Um, I do not believe that certain events that have happened, um, should be treated lightly. I do believe that, you know, uh, the school has handled things the way they, uh, can, and, you know, within the parameters that they're allowed. But what I want to touch on is this, um, I'm not going to drop this school name or anything like that. Now, you probably can trace my social media and figure it out, but I'm not going to say the name on this podcast. But nevertheless, Uh, some things, you know, have been going on and it's, you know, all out there. And this is not the first time, you know, with school districts, not just this school. I mean, I've seen it in many schools. And so I just want to say, you know, predominantly, man, when you are around— and I'm just going to be very open, um, I don't speak for all white people, I don't speak for all Black people, I don't speak for all, you know, Hispanic, uh, I don't Asian, whatever. I don't like— I don't— I just— but I know I have a voice, and that voice, you know, I understand the seriousness of, you know, my ethnicity. I understand the seriousness of what my ancestors and things went through, uh, but at the same time, you know, I am a kingdom citizen, man. I'm going to preach the kingdom, but with the understanding that, you know, I also too have to use a lot of wisdom through the power of God to deal with situations appropriately. So let's just jump straight into it because I feel like I'm just rambling, but I want to kind of put that out there, that kingdom first, kingdom first, kingdom first. But Jesus dealt with things appropriately and accordingly. Um, so some stuff happened, uh, man was just once again, you know, blindsided by some things, uh, that had been taking place, and just all out of nowhere it shed a light on a lot of stuff. And, you know, so I started reaching out and, uh, just, you know, talking with different people, talking with different parents. And instead of being mad about it— yes, I was furious, you know, my humanity is like, man, wow, like, I hope, you know, man, people don't feel this way. And some people like that, that happened, I don't think for one minute that they are racist. Uh, I just think, you know, a lot of people have become desensitized to a lot of stuff. And, you know, sometimes not speaking up, uh, is just as harmful as people that are racist. So in other words, it's like not saying anything, not trying to be a part of the change. Sometimes neutral is just as deadly as, uh, people that are basically— that are racist. Uh, and what I mean by that is that we have to be the change. We have to be intentional. Uh, if I seen someone being attacked and so I didn't want to get into it, so I've been— I've seen a man beating the living daylights out of his wife, and say, this is like physically this man was way more bigger than me, way more like just physical and very intimidating, uh, and I just seen him beating his wife. And I say, well, I don't want to get into that, I'm going to remain neutral. Um, I don't call the police, I don't try to pull my gun, you know, I don't try to maybe get a few other men and say maybe we can take him together or whatever. And I say, I'm not in it, it has nothing to do with me, I'm gonna remain neutral. And this— he goes on to kill this woman. Uh, with me being passive and neutral, truthfully, it was just as deadly as someone would have jumped in on that man's behalf and start stomping that woman with her— with him. Uh, you might disagree, but that's how I feel. That's the best analogy I can come up with right now through the, uh, just really— I'm not even gonna put God in there. This is really the best analogy I can come up with. Um, so what I'm learning is that, you know, we want to make sure, no matter how uncomfortable we feel, but that we are equipping ourselves to have challenging conversations. Uh, so the stuff that transpired, you know, I can look at it two ways. It can make me put up a wall or divide, uh, or I can say, man, God, how do I become an answer? How do I move things forward? How do I be more intentional with representation and helping be a part of the change? Uh, I'm not trying to change things overnight, but how do I organize and lead a group of people as well as being led and taught and open to help impart and impart change in certain environments. So what I'm learning, man, I was just— I just had released in Priestess, I say, man, if someone had called me a nigger or a nigga or whatever, my humanity— and when I say someone, typically, yes, I'm talking about a white individual— my humanity would probably want to go upside their head. My humanity probably would, no matter what they look like, you know, I'm not an easily intimidated person. Um, like, I know what background I come from. And so the thing is, it's like, but at the same time, it's like, I probably would like, bro, I, I'm coming to you, like, well, when I see you, I want you to still talk like that. But at the same time, spiritually, man, being a Christ follower, um, it's like, what am I going to side with? So am I going to side with my humanity and my flesh? And yes, it should be consequences. Like, if someone I worked with right now just start dropping racial slurs or racial, you know, uh, racial slurs and racial bombs or whatever, I do believe there should be consequences behind it. But at the same time, that person has a soul. And this is where we really wrestle with things, man. Being kingdom mindset and a person of God. It's like, how do I deal with the act of the person but at the same time still love the person and understand that they have a soul, that God loves them, and no matter what they have done or said, uh, God loves this person but he hates the sin. So sometimes, man, people can do something and it is so detrimental to our humanity that we don't hear God, that we don't allow the Holy Spirit to convict us and teach us, okay, yes, you have to deal with it like this, but at the same time, I want you to still love that person. Because we might come off as an Uncle Tom, we might come off as weak, we might come off as passive, we might come off as not being aggressive, we might come off as like, oh, you're trying to be sided with the white savior, and so on and so on, when that's the furthest from the truth. And, and so then we, you know, we deal with labels, we worry about people talking to us. And so now racial reconciliation, uh, is on the back burner. It's like, man, I don't want to deal with that pressure. So what happens is we start to become neutral, even on the Black side. And so in this situation, you know, I was just like, man, I've kind of seen this several times. Like I say, not just with this school, but a few times. But I was like, man, God, I've seen it. I've observed some things. I've been very active, you know, from an athletic standpoint with coaching my oldest son. Now I'm coaching my middle son. Um, but where can I kind of give a little bit more time, man, and not just represent— be a representation of a Black father, uh, because my kids go there? But how can I also be a representation of the kingdom? How can I be a representation of Christ where people see like, man, okay, yes, he's a Black man, but at the same time, man, he's a Christ follower? Like, his demeanor, the way he carries himself, the way he loves, the way he tells truth and, and stand on truth, and, and and call out wrong, but at the same time understand that, you know, people need help, people are broken. And so it is very challenging and hard, but man, I just want to encourage you, you know, uh, we, you know, I'm drawing a blank right now, but I know it's a short chapter in the Bible that I studied in seminary school. I'm just literally drawing a blank right now. I think it's Philemon, whatever, but, uh, and I might be butchering that name, but, you know, Paul, when he dealt with this reconciliation uh, in the, in the Bible, like, you know, and he was writing this letter because of a slave and then an owner and so on. But the thing is, man, we want to make sure that we are maintaining a heart posture in the context of saying, okay, I am going to deal with things accordingly. I'm going to deal with the bad things just like God hates sin, but I'm going to have the difficult conversations. I'm going to pray and make sure that I have wisdom from God, and I'm going to make sure that I represent Christ well and try to be the hands and feet of Jesus, and to allow him, the true reconciliator, to work through me to bring forth reconciliation to any situation, man. Because like I say, we as believers, you know, it's a fine line, but there are certain conversations that we just need to have. I don't want a white person, uh, never to be around me and almost have to be so apologetic that they feel bad that they're white. And I don't want to be a black person basically feeling so bad or whatever, like, oh man, like, it sucks, or someone always thinking I need a handout, and like, I'm like, oh, like, I'm very apologetic that I'm Black. No, we need to embrace our uniqueness, man, and the cultural diversity, and just basically tap into that and say, this is the beauty of Christ. Because outside of all of that, when you strip it away, it's the blood of Christ and what he has done. And so, man, like I said, I'm open to any dialogue. Like, it's all type of listeners out here, uh, but man, I just want to truly be the hands and feet of Jesus, and whatever that looks like Like I say, the authenticity, the transparency, man, I just want to see true change because the only way we can see true reconciliation is— I believe in my heart that it starts with the word of God and it starts with an inward transformation of seeing everybody on the same playing field and our humanity. And that's basically through Christ Jesus, man. So all of that being said, I love you all. Just wanted to get on here and share that with you. You might hear my daughter in the back. I think she just woke up. Not going to edit it out. So I'm going to get to her, man. Just want to kind of jump on here and share that bonus content with you all. So love you all, man. Share this, reach out, tap in, and let's go to work. Hey, what's up? I want to thank you for taking the time to listen to this Student of Life podcast today. If this content has impacted you in any kind of way, please take some time to share it on your social media feeds. And also, if you want to connect with me or just learn more about me, go over to www.timothyprattjr.org. Once again, thanks.