{"id":634211,"date":"2023-09-13T03:06:40","date_gmt":"2023-09-13T03:06:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hillsong.com\/collected\/?p=634211"},"modified":"2024-02-15T12:28:48","modified_gmt":"2024-02-15T01:28:48","slug":"increased-understanding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hillsong.com\/collected\/ua\/blog\/2023\/09\/increased-understanding\/","title":{"rendered":"Increased Understanding"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u0412\u0438\u0431\u0430\u0447\u0442\u0435 \u0446\u0435\u0439 \u0442\u0435\u043a\u0441\u0442 \u0434\u043e\u0441\u0442\u0443\u043f\u043d\u0438\u0439 \u0442\u0456\u043b\u044c\u043a\u0438 \u0432 “\u0410\u043d\u0433\u043b\u0456\u0439\u0441\u044c\u043a\u0430<\/a>”.<\/p>

I was having a conversation with a new friend the other day who with curiosity asked me, \u201cwhat are you trying to do?\u201d\u00a0 She admitted her own lack of understanding as her why for asking the question.\u00a0 She was asking what we as Hillsong Church are trying do when it comes to Ethnic and Racial Healing and Unity.\u00a0 I explained how we believe that understanding can bring us to ethnic and racial healing, justice, and unity.\u00a0 I explained how understanding is a key role of discipleship, of us ultimately becoming more like Jesus in this area.<\/p>\n

This is in part why we are trying to increase your understanding through every word written and every Collected Blog post, published on the topic.\u00a0 I would like to explore the following two questions in this next blog post:<\/p>\n

Do you understand the depth of ethnic and racial division and injustice that exists where you live, and within the world today?<\/p>\n

Do you understand the depth of God\u2019s heart for ethnic and racial justice, healing and unity?<\/p>\n

I would challenge you that regardless of your answer to these questions, that you would make it your heart posture to increase your understanding.\u00a0 Spend time becoming a disciple of God, by studying the book that He gave us to live our lives.\u00a0 I\u2019m of course talking about the Bible, our main resource for all things, including the topics of ethnic and racial justice, healing and unity.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s explore the word justice a little bit in the Bible.\u00a0 Let\u2019s let the Bible be our standard for justice.\u00a0 For our purposes, let\u2019s agree that justice means to make wrong things right.\u00a0 Did you know that the word justice, in different forms, appears in the Bible about 140 times?\u00a0 This right away makes me want to pay attention.\u00a0 Very early on in the Bible, in the book of Deuteronomy 32:4 (NIV) we find one of these 140 times.\u00a0 It says:<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just.\u00a0 A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s look at one more verse of the 140, as part of our exploration.\u00a0 In Psalm 89:14 (NIV) it says:<\/p>\n

\u201cRighteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Did you notice what we just read?\u00a0 The Bible says that God is just. The scriptures I just shared, and there are others, tell us that justice is part of God\u2019s character.\u00a0 This means that God is always just and that He cannot be unjust.\u00a0 This is huge. God is not unjust towards certain people groups, races, ethnicities, or nations.<\/p>\n

With Deuteronomy 32 and Psalm 89 in our spirits, I want to propose a question, something for us to consider.\u00a0 I could be wrong, but it seems to me that we hear more about how God is love and holy, more often than we hear that God is just.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 I think we all would agree that we let God set the standard for holiness, as an example.\u00a0 But do we let God set the standard for justice?<\/p>\n

Consider how the world is doing in ensuring that things are just and right for all people groups, ethnicities and races.\u00a0 If I asked you to give this an academic grade, what grade would you give?\u00a0 I would give it an F, which means a fail.\u00a0 Throughout our societies, across the globe, we see communities that are built around ethnic and racial injustice.\u00a0 We see certain people groups being elevated over other people groups, we see things not being fair, and we see accepted normative societal behaviors that are unjust.\u00a0 It is a consistent theme.\u00a0 Typically, the people groups chosen to have the most comforts and privileges, are chosen based on their race or ethnicity.<\/p>\n

Perhaps you are thinking that my grade is a bit harsh.\u00a0 But remember, our Biblical lens.\u00a0 God is always just.\u00a0 That is my standard.\u00a0 That is my comparison.\u00a0 That is my measure.\u00a0 In my personal life, ministry life, and role I have the honor of hearing both individual and collective stories of racial and ethnic injustice from people all over the world, from people I consider family.\u00a0 They are my spiritual sisters and brothers, of many different ethnicities and races.<\/p>\n

The truth is things are not just in our world.\u00a0 To increase your own understanding, I encourage you to do an internet search of the community and country you live in. Or try talking with a trusted person of a different race to you.\u00a0 Crucial to increasing your understanding is your heart posture, having a heart posture of curiosity, humility, and listening to understand.<\/p>\n

Since God is always just, and as God\u2019s representatives here on earth, we should be on a lifelong journey of increasing our understanding.\u00a0 It is part of His heart that we know about and understand the racial and ethnic injustices that do exist.\u00a0 Discipleship is to look to the Bible to let it define what is wrong in the world, to reveal to us the just and unjust things, and to show us how we go about making wrong things right.\u00a0 This mandate is not new. It is not a popular fad that arose out of 2020, or something that is simply a trend today. Throughout the Old and New Testament, God\u2019s heart on justice is clear.<\/p>\n

So what do we do?\u00a0 How do we make things just and right for all people groups, for every ethnicity and race?\u00a0 The reality is there are so many changes that need to be made, it is easy to become overwhelmed.\u00a0 I suggest two things to help you get started:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Commit to your own journey of increasing your understanding of the depth of God\u2019s heart for ethnic and racial justice, healing and unity.<\/li>\n
  2. Commit to your journey of increasing your understanding of the ethnic and racial injustices that exist where you live and within the world today.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

    To help increase your understanding, here is one of my favorite podcasts to listen to on the topic.\u00a0 It is called Be The Bridge Podcast<\/a><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Written by:<\/em><\/p>\n

    Hillsong Global Ethnic and Racial Healing and Unity, RDEI Manager\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

    Maria Hansen-Quine, LASW, MSW<\/em><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    We acknowledge all First Peoples of the beautiful lands on which we live and celebrate their enduring knowledge and connections to Country. We honor the wisdom of and pay respect to Elders past and present.<\/em><\/p>\n

     <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    \u0412\u0438\u0431\u0430\u0447\u0442\u0435 \u0446\u0435\u0439 \u0442\u0435\u043a\u0441\u0442 \u0434\u043e\u0441\u0442\u0443\u043f\u043d\u0438\u0439 \u0442\u0456\u043b\u044c\u043a\u0438 \u0432 “\u0410\u043d\u0433\u043b\u0456\u0439\u0441\u044c\u043a\u0430<\/a>”.<\/p>\n

    Throughout the Old and New Testament, God\u2019s heart on justice is clear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54160,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51,15421,1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hillsong.com\/collected\/ru\/blog\/2023\/09\/increased-understanding\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"uk_UA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"[:en]Increased Understanding[:] - Collected\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[:en]Throughout the Old and New Testament, God\u2019s heart on justice is clear.[:]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hillsong.com\/collected\/ru\/blog\/2023\/09\/increased-understanding\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Collected\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-09-13T03:06:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-02-15T01:28:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"angelaheberley\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hillsong.com\/collected\/de\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/hillsong.com\/collected\/de\/\",\"name\":\"Collected\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/hillsong.com\/collected\/de\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"uk\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hillsong.com\/collected\/ru\/blog\/2023\/09\/increased-understanding\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/hillsong.com\/collected\/ru\/blog\/2023\/09\/increased-understanding\/\",\"name\":\"[:en]Increased Understanding[:] - 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