Churches, the Last Frontier for Race Relations – Part 1

Dr. Michael Emerson, Professor of Sociology and director of the Center on Race, Religion, and Urban Life at Rice University, said in an interview with PBS, “We do not have an American culture. We have a white American culture and a black American culture. So when those two groups try to get together, [it’s] very difficult because they each feel like they have the right to their culture.”(http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/july-31-2009/interview-with-michael-emerson/1736/) 

What an insightful statement!  As I look at what it takes for PCA churches to reach out to African Americans in their communities, I realize that there is a formidable barrier that has been in place ever since the founding of this country.  Black and White Americans have a long and painful history of racism and distrust of each other.  Even after the Civil Rights Movement, race relations are still not what it should be, especially in the church.  We have elevated our ethnic cultures above the place of God.  The cultural expression of theology has been made more important than theology itself. 

If the church is ever to be one as Christ is one with the Father and the Spirit, then some serious changes have to be made.  Because of globalization, cultures are finding a common language to communicate with each other.  We are all users in the World Wide Web.  And so, to maintain a sense of cultural identity in a globalized market that seeks unilateral consistency, we hide are cultural biases, traditions, and expressions in the one untouchable place, the church.   

Businesses pride themselves in innovation and diversity.  Schools receive government grants on the amount of ethnically diverse students that attend, and boast about it on their websites.  Collectively there is a sense that we must reflect diversity in order to be on the cutting edge so that we can market to each other. Individually, however, there is an heir of sanctity to our own cultural identities.  What is the church to do amidst such obstacles?

First, let me suggest prayer.  Ephesians 3:20 says, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us…”  What is the power that is at work in us?  Well, Romans 8:11 answers this question in this manner, “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”  So, to my brothers and sisters in Christ, I ask this one final question, where is our faith?   

Prayer gives an opportunity for the Triune God to flex His eternal muscles and make a public spectacle of all principalities and powers that seek to wreak havoc upon the kingdom of God by dividing and conquering.  We must understand that a house divided against itself cannot stand.  Let us stand as one in Christ, united by a common faith that is able to withstand any prejudice and divisive scheme.