Posted 9 years ago
Moving Forward: Building bridges with broken pieces
By now, you know story of the death of Mike Brown and the grand jury’s ruling in Ferguson, MO. Now, Mike Brown’s family is left to mourn. Officer Wilson’s life will never be the same. Multitudes have grieved. Many have marched. Many have protested. Some have looted and destroyed property. (I believe they are an isolated minority, contrary to the media’s coverage of the backlash).
The whole country lost. No one won.
Now that the literal flames in Ferguson, MO are out, it is time to quench the figurative flames across America. It is time for true, tangible racial harmony in America.
I am fully persuaded that if racial harmony (not just equal rights or tolerance) will ever be prominent and pervasive in America it must start in the churches of America. Despite serving a God who delights in diversity, and a King who is weaving together a multicultural tapestry (Ephesians 2:11-22, Galatians 3:28, Revelation 7:9), historically the church of America has not aligned itself with The Lord’s agenda. Instead of the eclectic melting pot of gumbo we see in the New Testament, the vast majority of American churches are sharply divided by race and economic class. Frankly, we have just handled race and diversity badly.
For example, in 1963 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was met with harsh criticism and was later denounced for peacefully protesting Jim Crow laws by his fellow ministers of The Gospel in the state of Alabama. Even world renowned Evangelist, Billy Graham (yes, that Billy Graham!) PUBLICALLY discouraged King’s efforts. (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9501E4D81339E43BBC4052DFB2668388679EDE#) After marching and being arrested, Dr. King penned his now famous, “Letter From Birmingham Jail” (a must read) addressing his opposition from white clergy. Many denominations like the A.M.E. and C.O.G.I.C. were founded because black persons were not allowed to worship in white churches.
Black Christians are just as culpable for this gaping chasm in the church in America. Although many black denominations were spawned out discrimination, we must model the forgiveness and grace of The Lord Jesus Christ. Many preach a gospel of liberation, but are bound by resentment and prejudice toward whites. Many preach a gospel of forgiveness, but have not forgiven their former oppressors.
So where do we go from here? How do we began healing? How can we better coexist racially? How can our local churches look more like Revelation 7:9 “…every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages…” and Sunday at 11:00 a.m. not be the most segregated time of the week?
This is NOT a magic bullet or secret solution, but here are some things I think we could do to see progress:
Open your heart
Be sympathetic and gracious towards those who are different from you racially, gender wise and socioeconomically.
Acknowledge your ignorance about other’s culture and ask for grace to learn.
Open your minds
Don’t make assumptions. If you are not a part of the culture, you don’t know about it.
Ask questions before you give solutions/judgments.
Read and learn about others’ history that is not your own, i.e. black Americans, Native Americans, Latin Americans, etc.
Open your eyes
Look for possible injustice or oppression and address it.
Find opportunities to serve, bless and make your presence known in communities other than your own.
Look for opportunities to connect and serve with other believers/churches to edify and show Christ to your city/region.
Open your hands
Be intentional about establishing relationships with people of different cultures.
Experience their culture via worshiping in their context, going through where they live and meeting people who are totally different from you.
Allocate resources to those who are disenfranchised, under-resourced.
Unfortunately, when racial tensions begin to boil over in America, the ignored and unresolved issues in the American church rise as well. We can’t wait for the next tragedy. Let us get out of our comfort zones, have those hard conversations and reach out and work toward substantial progress. As the The Lord Jesus Christ’s Church, let racial harmony begin with us as we model it for our country.
Peace,
TPS