If you
ever want to make White people become edgy, defensive, and maybe a
little bit indignant just bring up the topic of race in America or
better yet mention “White privilege” and watch the ensuing
fireworks. Believe me, I get it. I grew up a poor White kid. The
last thing I felt was “privileged.” My dad was a minister, and,
being one of eight kids, I knew from an early age that I was on my
own when it came to buying my first car, paying for college, etc.
I've had to work two jobs, seven days a week, at various times in my
life just to make ends meet. The suggestion that I was somehow benefiting from my pale complexion seemed absurd. What's more, the
implication that I was a “racist” or that I contribute to a
racist system that favored me and harmed others was personally
offensive. I subscribed fully to the “colorblind” mentality. If
you asked me about race, I'd probably proudly assert that I “don't
really notice skin color,” and that I “treat everyone the same.”
I would of course agree that there are a few vile White racists
living in our society (of the KKK and Swastika wielding variety), but
they have long since been marginalized by the majority culture and
currently posses very little influence. As a result, If you tried to
convince me of the need for widespread racial reconciliation within
our churches, communities, and culture, I would be left thoroughly
unconvinced. I'd probably argue that “race isn't much of an issue
anymore.” Flash forward to today—I now believe strongly that
there are presently deep, festering, unacknowledged and unattended,
racial wounds within our culture, our communities, and, most
tragically, within Jesus' church. I also firmly believe that this
unfortunate reality breaks the heart of God, and His Gospel, in no
uncertain terms, compels His people to seek repentance,
reconciliation and healing. Why the change of heart? I'm glad you
asked.
Before I
continue sharing my ideological journey, however, I'd like to offer
up some preliminary clarifications. First off (if it's not already
clear), I'm primarily writing to the people of God, those who are
captivated by His Gospel and are passionately invested in living it
out (with all of its wonderful and terrifying implications). All are
free to read on, but—fair warning—there are many things I will
say that will only make sense and/or be of interest to those who have
already succumbed to the power of the Gospel. Second, I'm not at all
interested in promoting a generic so called “White guilt.” You
know what I mean—the kind that calls for trudging around with head
hung low as you dutifully carry the weight of the knowledge that you
are the product of and heir to an irredeemable ethnic heritage of
imperialism and oppression. Simply knowing and proclaiming that you,
as a White person, are the scum of the earth is your penance. It's
the least you can do (quite literally). I find it narcissistic and
ultimately unhelpful. The Bible describes a self-centered form of
sorrow over wrong doing that does not lead to godly repentance. We
would do well to steer clear of that sort of nonsense. Third, I
would encourage that you hear what I have to say without immediately
becoming intellectually defensive or dismissive (after which, you are
of course free to disagree with me). When we feel threatened, we
tend to dig our heels in and become hardened to the foreign idea that
challenges our preconception. I find this natural, guarded stance to
be antithetical to earnest learning. The Bible also warns us against
an unwillingness to receive a rebuke or to hear counsel. He or she
who will not listen has denied themselves any opportunity to grow in
wisdom and understanding. Fourth (and understanding/accepting this
point seems to be an insurmountable hurdle for most of the majority
culture), systems that favor one group and/or punish another can be
created and maintained by participants who harbor no particular
malice toward the punished and have no awareness of the system at
work. Finally (and this point is important), the suggestion that
there may be unjust systems at work within our society that favor
Whites and punish non-Whites is not to say that non-Whites are
fatalistically incapable of succeeding within said system(s).
Likewise, White individuals' accomplishments within this same unjust
system are in no way negated or achieved without heroism or hardship.
Said another way, a runner can still come in first even if they've
unfairly been set back ten yards behind the other contestants, and
another runner's course is not without difficulty in the event that
they unknowingly had a ten yard head start. Setting out to discuss
the initial fairness of the contest in no way expresses knowledge of
the runners' final placement, and pointing to anecdotal evidences of
individual achievements in no way refutes the claim that there was an
injustice at work that should be addressed (to offer up your White
grandpa's personal hardships or President Barack Obama's election to
the highest political office as definitive evidences that White
privilege or systemic racism no longer exist is to miss this point).
My first
serious introduction to systemic racism and the pressing need for
racial reconciliation was through InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.
I volunteered with the dynamic college and university campus ministry
for a year (an extremely rewarding experience). My staff leader
during my time with IV was Amos Mbong, an African-American man from
Cameroon. He had his team read A Transforming Vision: Multiethnic
Fellowship in College and in the Church our first semester
together, and we would gather weekly to discuss each chapter. I'm
gonna be honest, I remember feeling like it was kind of a waste of
time. I had a sense that there were more pressing issues to
address. As a result, It was not uncommon for me to debate the
merits and validity of the book's content at our meetings. Amos was
patient with me (probably even more than I know). He and his wife,
Emily, would regularly welcome us into their home. They would
initiate and encourage frank discussions about race in a safe
environment. Sometimes we would talk about foods and traditions that
our families enjoyed (I was regularly surprised at how many things I
had assumed were universal, or “normal,” yet were never a part of
Amos' or other non-White student's experience). I find that White
culture usually discourages this kind of discussion outside of one's
own racial group. I guess the danger that one may misstep is
considered too risky, so questions go unanswered. It became apparent
that members of the majority culture have the luxury of determining
whether or not they will engage in a discussion of race (hence the
ability to declare race “no longer an issue” and therefore
no longer worth discussing), while non-Whites, on the other hand, are
unable to avoid the reality of race as a powerful cultural construct
with vast real-world implications.
I
learned that many non-Whites (especially Black Americans) have much
they would like to share with their White friends, co-workers, and
brothers/sisters in Christ. They often hold back, though, feeling
that their stories will be once again dismissed, “explained,” or
completely ignored. Perhaps they will be labeled another “angry
Black person,” a “reverse racist,” or someone who is just
impossible to please. When I inquired of the various Black people in
my life, asking them to speak frankly, the stories flowed freely as
if they had been penned up and were eager to be released. Common
themes wove them together. It quickly became clear that their
experiences with law enforcement, restaurant servers, educators, etc.
were not typical of my experiences. The accounts came from non-White
teachers, government employees—a diverse sampling of professionals
that White culture would consider credible sources. The stories were
too numerous to ignore. Am I saying that the White people in the
stories were all racists? Not exactly. If only it were that simple.
Anatomy
of an Unjust System
Systemic
racism, a system or series of interacting systems that favors one
racial group and/or punishes another, is undoubtedly the most
widespread and damaging form of racism at work in our culture today.
It is insidious because it goes unnoticed by the majority culture
that both creates and maintains it. It often exists as a shared
collection of presuppositions—arbitrary preferences and
proclivities that are silently, even subconsciously, agreed upon and
imposed as societal orthodoxy by the majority culture. The majority
culture by shear numbers will always be the gatekeepers of society.
It's no wonder that our preferences and predispositions are canonized
as the norm, the standard by which all will be measured. When you
stop to think about it, systemic racism is a natural, expected,
perhaps inevitable byproduct of typical human selfishness. From a
naturalist's perspective, one would be right to say, “so what?”
“Of course the majority culture's preferences will become the
standard.” “And why shouldn't they?” “If not ours than
whose?” “Imagine you have ten people in a room with one
television, where nine of them prefer American football as their
sport of choice and only one is an ardent soccer fan—guess what
they'll be watching.” The Christ-follower, however, is not
permitted to think like this. We are commanded to set our
preferences aside and to consider others as more important than
ourselves. He or she who would be great in God's kingdom must become
the servant of all. This is the Gospel way. More on this later.
The
majority culture's unspoken preferences manifest on a spectrum that
ranges from arguably benign to severely oppressive. They might be
expressed as an arbitrary volume expectation for public spaces or a
hairstyle or clothing type that's deemed “unprofessional.” In
these instances, one might argue that the offending party could
simply conform to the “rules” that the majority culture has
agreed upon (changing one's dreadlocks, for example, to an approved
hairstyle would be rewarded within such a system). Uncharitable as
this expectation may be, it would at least present the minority
member with a choice. But what of the instances where conformity is
not even an option? What if one's complexion means “dangerous”
or one's name says “uneducated” and “unemployable” in the
majority cultures' arbitrary language? This could result in having
one's application unconsciously passed over or even the loss of one's
life in a split second decision where a heightened assumption of
danger would make all the difference. Many of these presuppositions
become self-fulfilling-prophecies. White property owners'
investments can increase, for example, while non-White property
owners' values inversely plummet all with the unspoken market
perception that purchasing property in a White neighborhood is a
safer investment. “But my neighborhood is diverse,” one might
say. A measure of diversity is acceptable to the majority culture.
There is a tipping point, however, that once reached the neighborhood
starts to be seen as unfavorable by the market. That is when the
White property owners are outnumbered by their non-White neighbors
(so called “White flight” ensues). I would encourage further
exploration into the shameful history of systemic racism in the real
estate market (from loan procurement to market perceptions regarding
racial demographics, partly perpetrated by benign data collection
from government agencies that is then wielded by a majority culture's
preconceptions and ultimately shapes the market and largely
determines the geographic distribution of racial groups within a
city). In short, the shared arbitrary perceptions of the majority
culture can and do become concrete realities, sometimes with
devastating results.
Human
societies are like complex ecosystems. Most people are familiar with
the peppered moth and how it's adaptation is used as an example of
the mechanics of natural selection. The environment changed due to
the Industrial Revolution, if I remember correctly, and the darker
version of the peppered moth, which was previously rare, thrived
among the newly soot-covered trees. Societal systems work in much
the same way, favoring one trait over another. In some cases, as in
nature, there is an objective relationship between the trait and its
reward. Showing up to work on time, for example, may be rewarded
with positive performance reviews, raises, and promotions
(punctuality is highly valued by White culture as it lends itself
nicely to another core value: efficient productivity). Human
societies tend to reward traits with arguably objective value. The
majority culture likes to think that our societal structures are
comprised entirely of these sort of “correct,” “objective,”
“normal,” and “true” guidelines. This assumption is based on
blissful ignorance. Much if not most of our social ecosystem (in
which we work, play, live and die) is comprised of arbitrary rules
which are subconsciously generated by the majority culture. Those
who do not, and in many cases cannot, observe the rules are punished.
It's a vast system (made up of various intersecting systems) that
was effortlessly designed for us and by us, and it's no surprise that
we fit comfortably into its inner workings. This is the
essence of “White privilege.” Its about power—the power of the
majority culture to collectively tailor society to our preferences,
proclivities, and preconceptions—the power to have say in the
system's creation (whether we are aware of our individual
contributions to the collective narrative or not) –the power to
have a voice—the power to be heard. It should be noted, sinful
human beings, left to their own devices, do not willingly give up
power.
This is
a lot to take in—a lot to process. In the words of William
Wilberforce, the British abolitionist, “You may choose to look the
other way but you can never say again that you did not know.” I
briefly mentioned how systemic racism can affect property values.
This is a significant example due to the role home ownership plays in
American culture. In most cases, a family's home is their most
valuable asset and the foundation of all other wealth building
endeavors necessary for future investments in the next generation's
education, retirement, etc. As a property appraiser for a county
Assessor, I am very aware of how shared perceptions create value
within the market. My job is largely predicated on my ability to
track market trends and note any and all value indicators. I don't
claim to be able to produce a comprehensive list of all occurrences
of systemic racism within the various realms of our society. I would
imagine only God could produce such a list. The common, and often
confidently stated, majority culture response, however, that
“systemic racism simply does not exist” implies an absurdly vast
level of personal knowledge. It would be reasonable to state that
one is “currently unaware of any such system(s).” Obstinate
ignorance maintained in the face of countless testimonies and
numerous observable examples, however, quickly loses its innocence.
Christians
tend to be culturally and politically conservative. I know many
Christian brothers and sisters who will have difficulty with what I am
saying for no other reason than I am using what's seen as “liberal
language” in my argument (“systemic racism,” “White
privilege,” “natural selection” etc.). If that's you as you're
reading this, I would urge you to not let your heart become
calloused. You may need to wrestle with some of these concepts for
awhile, as I did. Hang in there. Keep in mind, this is ultimately
not about “Left” or “Right” ideologies, memes, or mottos.
It's about Jesus Christ and His Gospel which He has entrusted to us.
We take our marching orders from the King of Kings, not political
pundits or talk-radio personalities. His interests determine our
actions. From Moses to Jesus and all the prophets in between, God
has plenty to say about His heart for the marginalized and ignored of
society, the poor, orphans, widows, and immigrants. He claims that
ignorance of their plight is not a legitimate excuse to ignore their
cries for justice. He uses very “liberal language” when
page-after-page He expresses His concern that laborers are being paid
fair wages and impartiality is being extended to outcasts. He warns
the would-be oppressor that the marginalized are under His protection
and He stands ready to avenge. All this to say, It would take an
enormous effort on the part of the selective-listening
Christ-follower to ignore God's consistent preoccupation with the
underdog.
The
Beauty of Diverse Unity
God
seems to love rich diversity. A quick perusal of His beautiful and
vastly varied creation makes a strong case for this assertion. The
Gospels attest to the fact that many of Jesus' miracles were done for
racially/ethnically un-kosher (in the strictest sense of the word)
individuals. He seemed to go out of His way to make the point that
He was not interested in merely being the Savior of one or a few
people groups. He had global intentions from the start. This
inclusiveness infuriated the religious authorities. It was far too
liberal of an ambition for their taste. In the upper room, the night
before Jesus was to be crucified, He prayed for the unity of the
diverse family He was creating. He expressed His deep desire that
the family of God would be “one,” and went on to state that our
unity would authenticate His divine identity and redemptive ministry
to the onlooking world. That's what's at stake here. In his letter
to the Galatian church, Paul explains how the Gospel brings us all to
a level playing field (elevated by Christ's imputed righteousness to
the status of heirs). Our new identity in Christ is so
all-encompassing, in fact, that now “There is neither Jew
nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female,
for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
That is not to say that my maleness or my Whiteness has been
extinguished, but it has certainly been superseded. I think the
clearest picture of God's endgame for this whole diversity thing is
seen in Revelation 7. John, the disciple Jesus loved, describes “a
great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe,
people and language, standing before the throne and before
the Lamb,” and with a single “loud voice” they cried “Salvation
belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”
This is an incredibly explosive multicultural, multilingual,
multiethnic worship service in honor of an adoring God who is loving
every second of it! I've heard it rightly said that Christians who
are uncomfortable with diversity will be very uncomfortable in their
final state. We may as well get in line with God's final intentions
on this side of eternity.
Repentance:
The Road to Healing
This
discussion of racial reconciliation cannot be divorced from America's
unique history. The majority culture's—White culture's—ancestral
fathers and mothers more than dabbled in race based oppression.
Millions of indigenous people and uprooted Africans were slaughtered,
subjugated, and dehumanized in a wholesale industry of human brokenness at its worst. Centuries of oppression cannot be so easily
undone in a few generations (even if the majority culture agrees that
it is so), and it would be naive in the extreme to think that the
oppressors' heirs do not still reap the residual benefits of stolen
resources beyond measure. In our own time, Near Easterners have been
mistreated and Central and South American immigrants exploited. Most
of us are not horribly interested in what the wages and working
conditions are like so long as the produce ends up at our grocery
store in a timely manner and at a reasonable price. “But wait a
minute,” says the reader, “You promised you weren't going to
promote 'White guilt.'” And I'll stand by my initial claim that
what has come to characterize “White guilt” is narcissistic and
unhelpful. The Gospel speaks forgiveness and new identity over those
who have received the lavish love of the Savior. In spite of its
faults, I love my culture and the people who create it. I believe we
can simultaneously, honestly admit our historical failings while
still being affirming of our people's historical victories and
accomplishments. No need to throw the baby out with the bathwater,
as they say. The same people who exhibited uncommon bravery and
innovation are unfortunately guilty of unthinkable barbarism and
duplicity. This is an unavoidable truth. As Christ-followers, we no
longer need to aggressively defend our personal or collective
goodness. We've been liberated from that endless and pointless
pursuit to rest in the foreign goodness that has been graciously
attributed to us. I've gotta say, it certainly feels great having
nothing to prove. Repentance, however, is an essential part of, and
an appropriate response to, the good news. “You expect me to
repent of things I had no direct part in?” one may protest. “My
family never owned slaves.” “I've never wronged anyone because
of their race.” “I have no culpability.” This is not the
language of the Gospel. This is the voice of sinful flesh. I know
it well. While I acknowledge God's mandate that an individual is not
to be punished for the crimes of their ancestors (Ezekiel 18), I
can't help but notice that those who were considered righteous in
Scripture identified with the sin of their people. Moses, Isaiah,
Nehemiah, Daniel, to name a few, spoke of “our sins” and used
“we” and “us” statements as they interceded for their people.
The greatest Interceder of all time took personal responsibility
for a multitude of sins that were not His to atone for. It should be
clear from our Teacher's example that the often expressed sentiments
of “not my burden to bear” and “my hands are clean” are
unbecoming of a reconciled minister of reconciliation. Furthermore,
It's odd to me that people who subscribe to the foundational
doctrines of original sin and substitutionary atonement can so easily
disassociate themselves from the actions of our fathers. I think
this is at the crux of the majority culture's stubborn refusal to
admit any wrong doing, implicit in the acknowledgment of the
existence of systemic racism. We vehemently reject the notion of
collective sin and guilt, as it offends our culturally-specific high
regard for individualism. I believe firmly that admitting to the
problem will be the unavoidable first step toward racial
reconciliation within Jesus' church. Unfortunately, as long as
majority culture church members refuse to budge in this regard, we
have reached an impasse. Forgiveness and healing are impossible
without confession and repentance.
The
Gospel Way: Observing the Law of Love
The
Gospel transplants a foreign desire to love boldly and sacrificially,
the way we have been loved. I appreciate how Paul talks about his
obligation to love his brothers and sisters who may find the eating
of meat offered to idols offensive. He basically affirms his freedom
to partake, but graciously states that if his spiritual family is
harmed by the expression of his freedom then he is prepared to bite
the bullet and become a world class vegetarian in order that they
would thrive. That's the Gospel way. Likewise, as his disciples
were constantly jockeying for power, Jesus spoke of and illustrated
another way. He said that unredeemed humans consistently exert power
over each other, but that the one who aspired to be great in His
kingdom would need to divest themselves of power and become the
lowest and the least. This is the counterintuitive nature of kingdom
economics. We are not to stockpile power (those who are invested in
practical ecclesiology, take note). Power is given to empower.
Jesus' invitation is to follow Him as He lays down His life, and
only through our mutual death do we share with Him in His
resurrection. This is the ultimate act of releasing power. In light
of all authority and power being given to Jesus, he immediately
distributes His power to His church, as He sends them out with
borrowed authority to carry out His mission. He invites. He does
not force. His “yoke is easy” and His “burden is light,” and
yet there are millions inhabiting every epoch of time who would
gladly lay their lives down for Him if He were to only ask. That's a
profound and otherworldly form of true power that we can't wrap our
heads around.
I
would contend that listening to our neighbor is the first step to
loving our neighbor. James says,
“Everyone should be quick to listen,” and “slow to speak.”
Unfortunately, the majority culture does not have a great track
record of listening well. White Christians, not unlike the rest of
the majority culture, often rabidly endorse, bolster, and share on
social media the few non-White individuals who atypically share the
majority culture's perspective (the occasional Black individual who
loves and defends the Confederate battle flag or thinks Trayvon
Martin “had it coming,” as an example). While these anomalous
non-White individuals are, of course, welcome to their opinion (no
community is a perfectly homogenous monolith), I take issue with the
White Christian who erroneously offers up said opinion as if it were
the result of their thorough investigation into the prevalent Black
community's perspective. These type of videos, interviews,
blog posts, political candidates seem to be employed by the majority
culture with the intent of restating an already deeply held
preconception (the fact that the sentiment comes from the mouth of a
minority member is thought to somehow give the position greater
credibility) rather than an honest effort to know the other side by
listening to learn. I believe that many well meaning White
Christians were extremely, though unintentionally, rude with the “All
lives matter” counter movement that was launched in response to the
original plea that “Black lives matter.” When criticized, the
majority culture's response was typically “well, it's true, all
lives do
matter.” “How can you argue with that?” The inappropriateness
of the popular counter campaign, as with many nuanced human
interactions, was in the timing and the underlying reason. If your
friend was sharing with you how devastated they were at the recent
passing of their loved one, I'm sure you would see how unloving it
would be to immediately talk over them with the truth
that many other people have recently lost loved ones so there isn't
anything particularly unique or unusually grievous about what they've
just shared with you. I have also heard it rightly compared to
someone running through a breast cancer awareness rally yelling “What
about heart disease!?” “It's also a serious illness that affects
millions of Americans!” While the zealous counter activist has in
fact made a true statement, most would see the inappropriateness of
their poor timing (and reasonably be left wondering what was the
greater factor: the shouter's uncontainable commitment to heart
disease awareness or their intent to disrupt the meeting
in-progress). Given the timing and setting in which their true
statement was shouted out, it is at best grossly inconsiderate and at
worst outright malicious. I would contend that it is better
understood as a show of power by the majority culture, using its
louder voice to correct
the arrant claim that “Black lives matter” (thereby denying the
Black community's stated grievance—which was clearly “Black lives
don't seem to matter to the majority culture” and not “Only
Black lives matter”) with the more
true statement, “All
lives matter.” It is dismissive, rude, and unloving. We, the
majority culture, are known for our proclivity to condescendingly
explain, correct, and declare rather than our ability to
compassionately listen with the goal of growing in wisdom and
understanding. The Scriptures commend the one who reserves judgment
until hearing both sides. May the people of God be gracious
listeners.
One of
the First Century church's earliest, and potentially crippling,
obstacles pertained to the budding multicultural nature of the family
of God. Bluntly stated, the first Christ-followers were vile racists
(thank God for the redemptive grace of the Gospel!). Granted, race
and ethnicity were viewed differently
(religious/cultural/socioeconomic ties to ancestry as opposed to
fixations on skin pigmentation). There were, however, comparable
themes of racial superiority and presumptions of manifest destiny.
The Spirit of God patiently led the early church through stages of
difficult transition (inclusion of Hellenized Jews, then Samaritans,
and finally Gentiles). Had the Jewish Apostles been unwilling to
submit to the Spirit's multicultural vision for Jesus' church, the
Gospel would have quickly begun and ended in First Century Palestine
(Due to the sovereignty of God, this was of course never really at
risk). The early tension is chronicled in Acts 6, where a group of
Hellenized Jewish Christians (Greek speaking and cultured Jews who
had trusted in Jesus), a minority in the church at this point, bring
a grievance to the Jewish Apostles. Their claim (in the midst of a
radical family-style sharing of the community's resources) was that
the Hellenized widows were being unfairly “neglected” in the
daily distribution. We really don't have the particulars. Was this
an unintentional oversight by the majority culture (Jewish
Christians), or was there some intentional prejudice at work?
Perhaps the Hellenized Jewish Christians were honestly mistaken in
their claims of being slighted. What's pivotal about this event is
the Apostles' Gospel-centric response. They don't dismiss the
complaint with an assurance that “no one is a racist here, so you
simply must be mistaken.” Or explain the grievance away with,
“Perhaps your people aren't lining up properly—we have rules, you
know—or maybe their ridiculous baggy togas are making them look
shifty and causing the Jewish distributors to get nervous around
them” They didn't retort, “All widows matter.” They wisely
responded with, “we hear you, we want to address your concern, and
we'd like you to pick new distributors from among you” (my
paraphrase). As a result, the first seven deacons were selected, all
with distinctly Greek names. Did you catch that? There was an
extremely humble release of power on the part of the majority
culture. That's what I call Gospel progress. They could have easily
taken a defensive posture and said, “How dare you call our
integrity into question? —I've known brother Hezekiah for years,
and he is definitely not a racist,” or “We walked with Jesus, who
was Jewish by the way, and this is how we've always done it.” The
growing tension reaches its pinnacle in Acts 15 at the Jerusalem
council. The still Jewish-Christian run church gathers to give their
definitive ruling on whether or not future Christ-followers must
first become Jewish in order to be eligible for membership in the
family of God. This was a landmark decision for Jesus' infant
church. Their unanimous vote was for an enormous release of power
that inevitably marked the beginning of the end of the current
majority culture's influence over the rest of the family. The Jewish
Christians quickly became the minority in an ever-expanding
multicultural family of God. As a result, the four Gospels were
written in Koine Greek, I imagine the Apostles had to let go of some
of their favorite Hebrew hymns, they had to adapt to Corinthian
worship styles, and the original members of this dynamic movement of
God willingly and humbly put themselves at the mercy of the new
majority culture. As I mentioned earlier, this type of willing,
sacrificial release of power from a majority culture to its minority
brothers and sisters happens nowhere else but in God's family.
Martin
Luther King Jr. asserted that Sunday morning contained the most
segregated hour of the American week. Decades later, this is still
true. I find this undeniable fact devastating. What's more, it
breaks the heart of a loving Father who yearns to see His children
live as “one.” Why is it that the secular world has become more
integrated than the family of God? Reconciliation, building bridges,
is supposed to be our thing.
I can't overemphasize how important it is that we get this right.
By His own testimony, the validity of Christ's incarnation rests on
our unified oneness. The onlooking world is supposed to stand back
in awe and say “see how they love each other.” “There is no
earthly explanation for what we are witnessing.” And instead they
have just cause to smirk and walk away. “Hypocrites” is our duly
earned title. But brothers and sisters, let's shake it off once and
for all. The Gospel will have it no other way.
If your
local church congregation and, more importantly, leadership team
reflects the diversity of your city, then you are in the Christian
minority. If your church is more like the rest of ours, then I would
encourage you to actively and graciously seek diversity within your
corner of the family. We ought not to try to presumptuously speak
for our minority brothers and sisters (this would be conventional
majority culture thinking), but we can use our privilege, our voice,
to make room for them to be able to speak for themselves. It is we,
the majority culture, who are impoverished for lack of their voices
within our divided church community. Cliquey homogeneity is our
natural human bent—par for the course—and diversity will not
happen without intentionality. The Gospel of Jesus Christ
prescribes, in no uncertain terms, the necessary intentionality. As
mentioned, people do not typically seek out opportunities to rid
themselves of their current power, privilege, and ability to
institute their preferences. I'm inspired by organizations like InterVarsity, that have been leading the charge toward sacrificial
racial reconciliation. Some gestures are small, but get the ball
rolling. InterVarsity regularly incorporates multicultural worship
styles into their gatherings, for example (I awkwardly sang Spanish
or Korean, etc. worship songs on many occasions during my time with
IV). Gestures like this seem to say “we don't have to, but we want
to, because we're family” to our frequently ignored minority
brothers and sisters. I remember attending InterVarsity's awesome
mission conference, Urbana '12, and was puzzled at first when I saw
the teaching lineup for the week. David Platt, an incredible
speaker, best selling author of “Radical” and “Follow Me,”
and mega-church pastor—a veritable, Christian majority culture rock
star—was only asked to speak one evening. Why isn't this guy
headlining the week, I thought? In lieu of Platt (who is undeniably
an awesome leader in the church today) the keynote speaker was a
Kenyan pastor that I had never even heard of. Because of Urbana's
intentional dedication to actively seeking racial reconciliation
within Jesus' church, I was exposed to the incredible teaching of—the
previously unknown to me—Calisto Odede. I'm also inspired by the
voices of conservative pastors like John Piper who have declared
their intentions to seek diversity within their leadership teams. We
can all respectfully request that our current church leaders consider
making room for future qualified non-White leaders. It does us no
good to merely absorb them. We must release power to them if we are
to benefit from their voices, their God given uniqueness. If our
intention is to seek out Gospel-centric racial reconciliation within
the American church, we must be prepared for the inevitable push-back
from comfortable naysayers and the unavoidable messiness of
cross-cultural interactions. Our worship and teaching styles will
change. It will mean the death of our preferences in hundreds of
large and small ways. But didn't we always know that was part of the
deal when we answered the call to take up our cross and follow Him?
I've heard doubts from non-White Christ-followers who question
whether the majority culture will ever “get it.” I love the
church. I'm hopeful in the transformative power of her inherent
Gospel DNA, and I know, through the power of His Spirit, she can be
all that Jesus graciously sees in her.
