Personality development is essential for personal growth and involves different assessments, including awareness, relationship, and commitment, which determine character development. Self-awareness is the initial step of the development process that helps understand oneself and acquire introspective information. There are five primary self-awareness techniques: mindful meditation, personal vision, grounding techniques, observing others, and assessing emotional strength. Second, it is impossible to grow without understanding how to relate with oneself and others; thus, it is crucial to carefully evaluate relationships and qualities (Tisby, 2019). Third, relationship satisfaction is one of the indicators used to assess relationships based on family attachment, level of anxiety, and ability to take the pain. Finally, commitment into relationships occurs in two ways; personal dedication and constrained commitment. The relationship forces one to develop attachments in the former, whereas the latter arises due to personal responsibility to commit to a relationship. ARC assessment helps determine the rate and direction of personal growth and informs on the areas that require improvement.
Where have you Grown? Where do You Need to Continue to Grow?
I have improved all three perspectives based on the ARC analysis, but it is not significant to indicate personal development. First, I have enhanced awareness of the politics around racial activism and the church’s role and leaders supporting the movement or the organization. The paper has made me aware of differences between different religious groups regarding the concept and organization. However, it is essential to appreciate the role of every person in the fight against racial injustice because it brings conflict to the evangelicals. Second, my relationship with people with different ideas has improved because I have understood that they recognize the plight of racial discrimination. However, they have other ideas on how to end it. Last, my commitment to alleviate racial injustice has improved because I have understood black Americans’ issues despite several campaigns to end racism. Therefore, the book by Tisby has improved my personal development as indicated by the ARC assessment, which demonstrated significant improvement.
Tisby’s Distinction Between the Concept/Movement and the Particular Organization
There is a distinction between the movement and particular organizations due to the activists’ different motives and conflicting interests. For instance, racial reconciliation during black lives’ movements following the killing across America attracts debate because the ideas of the movement and the organization are different. In his book, Tisby concluded on page 191 of chapter 10 that “the centuries of racism in the American church cannot end by pious irrelevancies and sanctimonious trivialities that ignore the deep social, political, and cultural divides persist across the racial line” (Tisby, 2019, 191). He argues that because religion reinforces accountability, individualism, and rationalism, some Christians believe that racism only includes the act of overreacting. For instance, white Christians believe that calling other words such as “nigga” is racist. However, black Christians foster a personal relationship with Jesus to save faith and appreciate that structures affect unique characters; thus, addressing racism requires a system change.
While other Christians spent their time preaching and supporting civil rights activists, others continued to provide the bible reading that promoted racial segregation as a will of God. For instance, the different ideas supported by Billy Graham and Martin Luther King show that Graham promoted the earlier American narrative of loving one’s neighbor (Tisby, 2019). On the contrary, King was actively involved in racial activism and believed that there was a considerable problem of complicity with racism. From this narrative, it is evident that different religious leaders saw the plight of the black Christians, but they chose different paths of addressing the issues. For instance, some white Christians opposed King’s idea of direct-action campaigns because they thought it was radical. However, they appreciated his idea decades after his death. Tibsy succeeded in convincing the audience that there is a gap between religious leaders in terms of accepting the concept and the proponents of the idea, since they judge the bearer of the information.
Understanding of the Existential Equality of Black People and the Need to Lament
Based on Tibsy’s distinction between concept and organization, it is clear that there is a divide between white and black Christians regarding the concept of racial injustice. His conclusion helps me appreciate the reality that racial reconciliation requires a deeper understanding and interpretation. For example, it is ironic how white Christians will react when no action occurs following the killing of a black Christian. I also understand that the black lives matter movement served as a tool for protests and asserted the image of God upon the black people. Besides, the black lives matter movement offers white Christians an opportunity to express their profound statement regarding racial discrimination (Tisby, 2019). The activity helps to devalue the racist patterns that existed in the American culture and gives the Christians an opportunity to mourn with the bereaved and ease the burden that racists have put on the back of the black Americans.
Furthermore, Tisby’s distinction made me realize that the church cannot form a more viable and unified movement against racial injustice because they cannot agree on the action and the organization. Tibsy concluded that the evangelicals who are best suited for reconciling the waring communities do not see the need to foster peace. Similarly, Tibsy called the church in action by borrowing the idea of the Southern Baptist Convention as a forum that can help to lament the repudiate historical injustices and evils, such as slavery. I support the question that Tibsy asked about the evangelical’s support for Trump despite his obvious racist actions (Tisby, 2019). Therefore, if the church desires to see hopeful progress in the racial relationship, it must take bold and costly action with unprecedented urgency. The solutions may not be easy or popular, but they are necessary to restore order and change the church’s contribution to racial wars.
ARC assessment is a standard way to determine the rate and direction of personal growth and informs on an individual’s areas to improve. Therefore, based on the ARC analysis, I have made significant improvements across all the regions, but it is not enough to substantiate personal development. Furthermore, Tisby’s distinction made me realize that the church cannot form a more viable and unified movement against racial injustice because they cannot agree on the action and the organization. Tibsy indicated a distinction between the movement and organizations, which derails the efforts of a racial activist to eliminate decimation based on gender, skin color or religious beliefs.
Similarly, while other Christians spent their time preaching and supporting civil rights activists, others continued to provide the bible reading that promoted racial segregation as a will of God. Tibsy’s distinction between concept and organization indicates a divide between white and black Christians regarding the concept of racial injustice. It is crucial to make collective efforts towards eradicating racial discrimination because it is a recurring problem deeply rooted in the system.
Reference
Tisby, J. (2019). The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in Racism. Zondervan.