Does the Gospel Mandate Racial Reconciliation?

African American pastors are less likely than white pastors to believe that the gospel mandates racial reconciliation, but more likely to be actively involved in reconciliation efforts, according to a new LifeWay Research survey of 1,000 Protestant senior pastors.

More than three-quarters of white pastors (77%) strongly agree that racial reconciliation is a gospel mandate, while only two-thirds of African American pastors (64%) say the same. Meanwhile, more than half of African American pastors (53%) strongly agree that their church is personally involved with racial reconciliation at the local level, while only one-third of white pastors (32%) say the same.

Overall, 72 percent of pastors say their church is personally involved in racial reconciliation, and 90 percent of pastors strongly or somewhat agree that racial reconciliation is mandated by the gospel, the LifeWay study found.

Among the many other findings: About three-quarters of evangelicals (74 percent) say religious leaders play a positive role in US race relations, compared to 61 percent of other Americans. But evangelicals are slightly less likely than other Americans to say racial diversity is good for the country (80 percent vs. 89 percent).

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