Hank Aaron being congratulated after his 715th home run by a couple of white guys. Leading up to this moment, Aaron had received death threats if he potentially broke Babe Ruth’s previous record
Zimbabwean swimmer Kirsty Coventry after the 2004 Olympics. She won the country’s first ever Olympic gold medal. Coventry was treated as a true Zimbabwean and not just a white girl in a predominately black country.
CNN.com posted an article a couple of weeks ago about churches attempting to be racially integrated and the struggles and positives that can come from that. Why is it that heaven is preached as such a diverse place, but the refinement and earthly fellowship that we call church is so bad at it? The article is interesting. I would love to hear your thoughts on it and if segregation is necessary in churches for each race to feel it can function within its own respective subculture. There are clear “black denominations”, ” white denominations”, and “mixed denominations,” but that’s unfortunate because it seems that there will be one heaven. Will we be prepared for the great diversity of heaven. And where does the blame lie with segregated churches? Does the body shape the leadership or do the leaders shape the congregation?
A better question is, can the church truly lead the racial redemption that needs to happen in this world? Slavery is all but been stopped around the world, but there is still so much racial and ethnic tension. Americans treat is so subtly, but it exists. This also became a question while i was living in Bosnia as the country is made up of 3 distinct groups of people, and after having several significant friendships with all three groups, I often wondered will the church ever be integrated here. America has been inetegrated for 60 years now and does not have the racial and ethnic history that Bosnia has, and yet its apparently behind on church integration. Is there hope for the rest of the world? Will there ever be Sunni Christians worshiping with Shiite Christians? Is it something that is easier to keep separate?
Anyways, i would love to hear your thoughts on this very important subject to me. We live in a very diverse neighborhood here in Indy and I often wonder what a church planted right in the middle of our neighborhood would look like. Would house churches change a lot of this? Could house churches place people in a like-minded, racially equal setting, but still have a corporate gathering time to integrate the different subcultures? As far as I can tell, heaven will be one place and very diverse. I hope we are prepared for that. Jesus loves the little children; all the little children of the world; red, yellow, black and white; they are precious in the sight; Jesus loves the little children of the world…
I am very open to hear your thoughts. If you regularly attend a church or group of believers, how would you feel if another race started growing in numbers? Would you feel more comfortable in a one race church or would you rather experience the labor pains of integrating a congregation?
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I salute you for raising a question that makes people sweat and makes them try to change the subject.
This question and how it is being answered by particularly the white church is a real burr in my saddle. I’ve seen my church respond to this issue by moving to the predominantly white affluent suburbs. I heard a Promise Keepers leader apologizing for the group raising this issue in the past and for getting men to talk about it.
How do we tear down this wall between the races, especially in the church? The power has to come from the Holy Spirit. But, it takes people who are willing and motivated to try and do it. And, I feel, that this all starts with a love for all people regardless of how they look.
An effort for an inner-city house church that’s racially integrated is going to take a lot of prayer.
How can we help pray for that?
God bless your efforts in a major, big-time sort of way.
Wes
Adam, my name is Lance O’Donnell, a friend of your future father-in-law, writing from his MacBook here in Lansing. I’d like to recommend “We Wish for: An End to Generational Segregation in the Congregation” (Modern Reformation, Jan 2000 I believe.) Don’t have time for detail here, but the Biblical argument is powerful and parallels, I think, what you’re saying here. lao
Yo holmes, I can see that getting out of the South has been good for you. Seriously, I’m glad you put all this out there. I’m with you man. It’s a problem that needs some fixing. If you were closer I’d say, “Let’s meet up at Huddle House and talk about this some more.”
In spite of comeing from the south, I have always had a strong opinion that churches should be intergrated. I have attended various churches that have handled the segregated worship in several ways. One church I attended had members actually get up and walk out if someone of a different culture or race attended. Needless to say, this church truly struggled with the segregation issue. I’ve also attended a church in which white people were the minority in the congregation. That particular church truly strived to be a multi-cultural place of worship. Admittidly, it was a very different feeling to be in the minority, but I certainly never felt out of place because of my race. The church we attend now is also a multi-cultural church. There is a beautiful mixture of ages, races, cultures, and heritages. The point is that God did make each of us unique. All of us have different strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes, and opinions. But I think that part of the purpose in God’s doing that is to show us that we have to find a way to co-exist and celebrate our differences. Churches that are truly seeking the Lord have to embrace all people! And yes, there will be growing pains as we all learn to worship together. It’s similar to a marriage. In a marriage you are seeking to mesh two individuals into exisiting as one. At times this is an easy thing to do, and other times… well, Adam, just be prepared… it isn’t all that easy. The result though is incredible and pleasing to the Lord. I think that is how God sees our church. Afterall, He does refer to the church as His bride! Anyway, thatnks for posing this question. There is so much to say on the subject, but our direction is clear. Love everyone! (perhaps your next issue to address ahould be women in the ministry) Love you!!!!!!
God is very clear on this, we have to work hard to open our hearts to his message……we as humans tend to put comas in his messages where he has a period.( he did not leave any gray area on this one) Thank you and Abby for helping me to understand this sooooo much better through your actions, if people can work through this, life is better and more enjoyable! But by the same reasons (love of God) we should never measure Churches by numbers, if we are truly open minded we can see and understand there will be loving Churches with low mixtures at times. Nice question…..with lots of work ahead. Dad
Hey Adam…first time commenting…good to keep up with you here!
I think that integrating churches is a great idea…I am all for “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” – Something tells me Heaven will be more like New York City than many cities down in the south
I honestly think the issue comes down to style and culture. We would like to think it comes down to the unifying gospel of Jesus…but folks are attracted to style. Music is huge which I’m not sure if that is good or bad. Most churches in America that are supposedly “integrated” are charismatic churches with a blended music style. Also there is the style of preaching (loud and declaritive, calm and conversational, “reverent” and liturgical) – i think it is a simple as the lunch table at high school…people like their own culture.
I think that either a house church model that didnt rely as heavily on certain types of worship might work…maybe even going without music and “worshipping” some other way that wasnt as style specific. I also think alot of practical relationship building outside of the church walls would be great by individual believers. Not relying on church small groups for community…but rather intentionally having your own diverse community that is not as easily divided by denomination or cultural music styles.
That’s all for now…sorry for the mini blog
Adam, thanks for raising some good questions. Racism is not just rude or unfortunate, it’s a vile abomination. The answers to the questions you’ve raised are not easy to come by. They come only through painful wrestling and persistance. But they simply must be answered in order for God to be glorified. Until then may you be comforted with the vision of Tony Christmas, Dave Tesh, and Ken Fouts holding hands and singing an impassioned rendition of We are the World.
Some questions provoke thought more than others and this one is one that I enjoyed thinking about several hours last night. I believe most of us want to be open minded and not base our decisions on race and that is good…..with that said…why do we form churches…..and why do we seek to invite folks to church? God did commission us all to help spread his word so his grace could be enjoyed, I see us needing to help lost souls seek Him! So would it not be wrong to invite someone to church based on race only…….It would be an important day to look around in whatever church you are serving in, and say “we” all love God period! Just some thoughts I had last night and pray that I will start to do my part better! I have really enjoyed reading other folks ideas. Good stuff!
Hey guys,I’m from Liberia, west africa, grw p n the u.k. and did college in boston! Right now I lie in maryd and am a member of bethel world outreach church. Our bishop is really bent on trying to make the church multi racial which is very well meaning vision. I believe the only way churchs can accompilsh this is by each individual making friends with folks from other races and bringing them in to service. presently we are multi national, have about 40 plus nations represented but a only avery few whites. Most folks are from africa or black american. The bishop is from Liberia, a graduate of oral roberts univ and is super cool, he has teaching style to his delivery and does very well keeping the flock united. We have several services each sunday and about 2,000 members strong. all the talk about formulas for integration have their pros and cons but I got a lot out of listening to a pastor Brumbalow’s sermon online so I’d like you guys to check it out. I had not heard of him and don’t know when he actually delivered it but he has some excellent points and biblical references. It starts out with a reference to the apostle paul saying he recognizes no man according to his flesh, I think he goes onto 2corinthians5:14. anyway, it’s excellent. I just don’t know how Oprah winfrey manages to get that predominatly white audience to listen to her show day in and day out and we’re trying to intergrate our churches and still can’t quite seem to get it right.
Well said Jarsea! Its good to hear your story. I am always floored by groups of people that embrace each other for face value and not at the expense of their race, history, or comfort levels. Integration is such a difficult thing, but genuine bodies of people that are multi-cultural and multi-racial really represent the true body of Christ. It comes with a certain element of teachability. We have to show up willing to learn from other people and not just sit back in the easy, already discovered people that we flock towards.
My wife and I have been going to a small church in our neighborhood since this post and we are seeing it lived out. This small congregation of 50 or so has 5 different nationalities and races represented. Plus, the income levels vary and the church is genuine concerned for each other and the needs of the community. We feel blessed to be a part of it.
Thanks for your thoughts and I love that you are a part of a diverse group! Hope to see that continue to flourish! Take care