No, Indigenous Canadians Don’t Just Need Jesus: Reconciliation Requires More

In the quest for reconciliation in Canada, some Christians feel that the answer to the problem is Jesus.

They correctly observe, “We can’t change the past.” They may feel that even if all of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) 94 Calls to Action were carried out, it would not be enough to satisfy Indigenous people. They emphasize that “the answer to the hurt, the pain, the emotional wounds, the trauma, the tears…is still JESUS.”

Isn’t the Answer Jesus?

Reading the above quotes will make some people fuming mad. But, in order for Canada to move forward toward reconciliation, we must listen and respond to one another with patience and humility.

Other people who read the above quotes are probably saying to themselves. “Amen!” or (if their Canadian) “Yes, I know, eh?” And, in some respects, I agree with the sentiment—all people, including Indigenous people, can find hope, healing, and restoration in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the hope of the world!

Nevertheless, even if every Indigenous person found healing in Jesus, reconciliation would still be necessary between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians. SO MUCH can be said, but this is only a blog post.

The Jesus Answer Alone is Insufficient

An analogy might be helpful here.

What if a foreign country (you pick a country) started sending lots of people to settle in Canada today? What if there were eventually so many of them that they decided to take control over your country? What if they replaced your system of government with theirs? What if they wouldn’t let you vote? What if they forbade you from forming political organizations?

What if they gave you a new name in their language? What if they forced you to live in a certain area and said that you couldn’t leave without their permission?

What if they took your children away to indoctrinate them in their culture and to “kill the Canadian in the child”? What if they wouldn’t allow you to practice your religion? And what if they wouldn’t let you speak your language any more? (These were all part of Canada’s Indian Act of 1876).

If this happened to you, would you feel like the answer to all this is Jesus? Jesus helps, but this “answer” is insufficient because there is a broken relationship not just with God, but also between people groups and nations. And a broken relationship between people requires reconciliation between people.

Let me put it another way, to go back to my questions above. Even if every person who lived in Canada before it was taken over was a Christian, and even if all these Christians (including you) forgave the foreigners who took over, I expect you would still think more needs to be done. And rightly so. In part because…

Reconciliation is Necessary, not Just Forgiveness

The “problem” is not just that Indigenous people need to forgive non-Indigenous people and heal. This would imply that the “problem” is only a problem that Indigenous people have a responsibility to address. Crucially, it implies that Indigenous people are “the problem”—they just need to heal and forgive.

And this implies that non-Indigenous people bear no responsibility to address the problem.

The real problem is that the relationship between Indigenous people and non-Indigenous people is not right. Reconciliation is necessary. This is even more so the case because…

The Problem is Not all “The Past”

Every Canadian needs to realize that the problem is not all in the past. The last residential school did not close until 1996. Yes, that is the (recent) past, but the results of this are still very much with us, as are the results of the last couple of centuries.

And it is not just that the results of the past are with us. There are still problems today. It is well known, for example, that First Nations schools are underfunded and that many reserves lack clean drinking water. And people are becoming more aware that Canada has “staggering rates of violence against Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people.” Even the United Nations recognizes that Canada is continuing to fail Indigenous people… today.

This is not the past.

Reconciliation is still necessary, and…

Reconciliation Requires More than Jesus

This is true not only for Indigenous-non-Indigenous relationships in Canada, but also of our relationship with God.

Back in the first century, the Apostle Paul wrote that “God was in [Jesus] Christ reconciling the world to himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19). However, he added that people needed to “be reconciled to God” (the next verse, 5:20).

What does this reconciliation with God require of us?

It requires repentance. Repentance includes an acknowledgement that we have done wrong.

However, repentance is not just confessing that we have done wrong. Moreover, for us to be reconciled to God, we can’t just be sorry for what we have done (2 Corinthians 7:9-11).

Repentance includes a call to action. It requires us to change. It requires us to turn away from our sinful actions, and to “turn to God and do deeds consistent with repentance” (Acts 26:20, NASB)—in other words, to “prove they have changed by the good things they do” (same verse, NLT).

In summary, our reconciliation with God requires more than Jesus. It requires something of us. It requires us to repent—to acknowledge we have done wrong, to stop our sinful actions, and to do good. You might say it involves 3 calls to action.

Similarly, to address the broken relationship between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Canadians, it requires something of us. It requires us to acknowledge wrongs that have been and are being done, to stop sinful actions, and to do good. It requires truth and reconciliation. And it involves 94 Calls to Action and more.

Am I saying that Jesus can’t help us with this? No. I am simply trying to emphasize that reconciliation requires something of us—both Indigenous and non-Indigenous.

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is Not Enough

Having a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is valuable. And it fulfills the TRC Call to Action #80. But, it was a relatively easy call to fulfil. The TRC had 93 other Calls for Action. Since the TRC reports were published in 2015, only 13 calls have been completed.

Having one day for truth and reconciliation is not enough. The government of Canada must do more. You must do more. I must do more.

What does reconciliation look like? Click here to read an answer.

What can we do? To start, we can keep government accountable. And each person can do what is in their power to help fulfill the TRC’s 94 Calls to Action.

I’ve also listed some links with ideas of what you can do at the bottom of my last post.

Reconciliation will take time. It will take patience. As Murray Sinclair has said, “It took seven generations to get to this point where we are at, and it could take seven generations to make things better.”

Reconciliation is possible.

Jesus help us.

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You might also be interested in these posts:

• Some Indigenous Reflections on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada
• 3 Ways the Holy Spirit Works Among Non-Christians
• Pentecostal Women in Ministry: Ambiguity and Affirmation in the PAOC

Andrew K. Gabriel, Ph.D., is the author of Simply Spirit-Filled: Experiencing God in the Presence and Power of the Holy Spirit as well as three academic books, including The Lord is the Spirit. He is a theology professor at Horizon College and Seminary and serves on the Theological Study Commission for the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada. You can follow him on Facebook or on Twitter.