As I put my baby boy to bed last night, my spirit was heavy. Up until that point, I had not allowed the information I’d received regarding George Floyd’s death to seep from my head to my heart.

I rocked my son to sleep and sang a familiar tune, “red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.”

And as I sang to my white son, I thought about the Church and our response to racism in our country. I’m certain all Christ followers would tell you they believe that Jesus does love all the little children of the world but what about when those children grow into men?

At what point is there a shift in Jesus’ sight where people of color are no longer precious and are now seen as scary, vile or dangerous? I assure you, there is no such shift.

George Floyd is precious in Jesus’ sight.

I wept as I thought about his family, his community, and my black brothers and sisters as they mourn. And while I mourn with them, the ability to receive that information early in the day and choose not to process it until hours later is a privilege.

As a white woman, I could remain detached from the situation. I could look away. I could chalk it up to not having the full story and the reason why that’s possible is because the looming threat that lurks over the shoulders of Black America is not a weight I carry unless I choose to do so. That is a privilege.

It’s time – actually it’s past time – that we as White Americans rise up and against the burdens cast on the black community by centuries of injustice in this country.

It’s a privilege to have a choice to make in this instance so let’s choose to carry the burdens of our black brothers and sisters.

Let’s choose to link arms.

Let’s choose to speak up against racial injustice.

And if you don’t know how to leverage your privilege, pray and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you because He has already called us the ministry of reconciliation and He is faithful to lead us in that work if we will choose to step up and step into where He is at work.

I’m a firm believer that the road to racial reconciliation starts in our hearts, in our homes and on our street.

It starts with humility.

It starts with empathy.

It starts with repentance.

It starts with seeing one another as image bearers of God the Father who’s beauty is magnified through the diversity of his creation.

Our black brothers and sisters are looking to us to stand with them and support them in the same fight they’ve been fighting for far too long.

It’s time.

It’s time to stand up for justice.

And it’s time to teach our sons to do the same.