Evangelical leaders aren’t doing enough to promote black leaders in our circles.
Why aren’t there any black speakers at the *insert evangelical mega-conference*?
Racism is still alive and well in the SBC, PCA, RAC, ABC, DFG… We’ve got to do better.
These, and similar comments, are constantly popping up on my Facebook and Twitter feeds. And that’s saying something, because I’m hardly on either. Outside of the church, as well, one need only tune in to CNN, or watch the latest episode of the Colbert Report, and it becomes obvious that race discussions are still alive and well (which is good), but apparently, things are all bad. Terrible, in fact.
I’m super happy to have the race conversation. In fact, I often go out of my way to have it. If I’m being completely honest, though, sometimes I wan’t to just take my ball and go home after just a few seconds of conversation. There are more than a few reasons why I feel like our race conversations aren’t always that healthy or helpful, none of which I’ll get into right now. In writing this article, I’d simply like to ask one question:
Are we doing anything right?
Where are the “my church is really doing a good job of handling race issues” tweets?
Where are the “there may still be some issues, but on the whole, I’m really thankful for the progress we’ve made on the issue of race in the church” articles?
Where are the “Christian” Hip Hop songs waxing eloquent on the grace of God in the life of His people as they’ve fought to overcome racism, and for the most part, have made significant progress?
Listening to much of the current dialogue, one can easily get the impression that all non-minorities are, to their own surprise, actually pretty racist. They just don’t know it…
Is there anything to be said for the millions of white kids who are growing up in homes where the “N” word will never be heard or spoken? Is there anything to be said for the several solid evangelical seminaries going way, way out of their way, trying to reverse the church’s academic failures within the black faith community by intentionally reaching out to that same community? Is there anything to be said for the thoughtful, kind, loving dialogue taking place in churches, classrooms, living rooms and chat rooms all across the country? Is there anything to be said for projects like eraceourselves.com, or books like Bloodlines?
Just twenty years ago, the odds of any given Southern Baptist pastor being racist were pretty high. Like one out of every two. I kid, I kid. But really, racism was still a huge issue in the SBC. Today the president of the SBC is an African-American, and the odds of finding a racist SBC pastor are almost nonexistent (which is not to say that they don’t exist, but rather that they would be the exception, not the rule). Racism has seemingly disappeared from the SBC, and any surviving racists are hypoxic and, at the very least, black sheep (no pun intended). I don’t see any Christianity Today articles extolling the graces of God there. No one’s tweeting about that.
Are we doing a good job of talking about race issues if we never praise God for the grace He has given us to overcome so much, or to make the progress we’ve made thus far, or even the progress that we are still making today, even as you’re reading this article?
Did you celebrate the breakthrough you had in small group last week when the issue of race came up? 140 characters about that? Has anyone thought about writing a book or an article series about how far the church has come on these issues? What about an article about how hopeful we ought to be, knowing that God is building his church, and nothing will stop that, not even racism?
There are many, many positive things happening in the arena (gladiator arena?) of race conversation and reconciliation, and as Christians, we ought to be pointing those out and celebrating the mercies of God. Maybe we’re afraid that if we do, people will get complacent and will want to just move on from the whole messy ordeal. Fear based strategies are rarely the best ones. Shouldn’t we take the time, every now and then, to celebrate the progress we’ve made and extol the grace of God that is obviously moving in these areas?
Let me take this opportunity to do just that:
We’re doing a good job, guys. We’re not perfect. Not even close. There are still issues, and there probably will be until we arrive at the foot of the throne in all our techni-color beauty. Don’t lose heart. Keep having those hard conversations. Keep loving one another. Keep fighting racism, ethnocentrism, and cultural ignorance, while watching the beauty of it all unfold. Thank you to all the brothers, sisters, and organizations that are going above and beyond to keep the progress ball rolling in this area. Thank you to all the brothers and sisters who are having the hard conversations, repenting of subtle sins, and enduring the turmoil for the sake of a more perfect faith and beautiful church.
To my white, black, Filipino, Mexican, Bolivian, Ugandan, Chinese, and Russian brothers (don’t get your feelings hurt if I left you out), keep striving for a fullness of understanding in the area of race. We’re making progress. Let’s celebrate the grace of God in the life of His church as he continues to build us up into the image of his Son. Let’s not just celebrate, but be quick to do so, just as quick as we are to complain. Let’s not just celebrate, but be quick to do so publicly, just as quick as we are to condemn in public. In light of His mercies, let us praise Him.