Churches, the Last Frontier for Race Relations – Part 2

Pastor Rodney Woo of Wilcrest Baptist Church in Houston, TX who is half Chinese and half white, grew up in a black neighborhood, went to an all white church and married his Hispanic childhood sweetheart said in an interview with PBS, “When we started a lot of people were going, ‘Ah, this is making me feel uncomfortable.’ Whether the kids were in the nursery together, or their kids were in the young group, a lot of parents were fearful that their kids might start dating somebody that was a different race.”  This is a fear among many church members that wish to minister to the community around them, particularly if that community is Hispanic, African American, or lower class whites.  It is a fear of racial and cultural proportions.

Now that America is becoming more multi-cultural, communities reflect immigrants from the Caribbean, Africa, Mexico, Central America, and Arab countries.  These communities are usually in the heart of the city, and are generally more impoverished communities than the surrounding suburbs.  Inherent in racial tensions is the sense of classicism, you can’t escape it.  In the modern world, the poor are mostly people of color that are brown and black.  Please do not get me wrong, there are many poor whites in our communities as well, and they should not be neglected; yet my point is this: if we can overcome our racial prejudices, then we will be able to abandon our cultural prejudices.  Race, I submit is a more powerful source of contention because it is easily identifiable.  One can readily tell if someone is black or white; it isn’t easy to tell if that black or white person is Bahamian, Salvadorian, Czech, Norwegian, Nigerian, or Australian.  Culture is not as easily identifiable, granted language differences is a major factor too.

The fears that exist in Pastor Woo’s church are natural fears.  No one should be ashamed about their concerns for their children.  Who will my children marry?  Will they take care of them?  Will they love them?  Will they be safe when they are away from the confines of our home?  All of these questions present legitimate fears.  But at some point every parent has to come face to face with these fears whether their children marry someone of a different race or the same race.  The first step to overcoming fear is to admit that you have them.  When we admit our fears, we realize how far we need to come to overcome them.  After we admit and identify our fears, we need to eventually face them.  Part of facing our fears is giving up a sense of control.  We must surrender our instinct to run away from our fears and trying to prolong the inevitable.  I John 4: 18 says, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear…”

God has placed His affection upon His people.  Consequently, there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God.  Since this is true, we have nothing to fear because we know that God is sovereign above any fear we may possess.  His love frees us!  For freedom Christ has set us free.  Now that we are free, we, by Christ power are freeing agents of grace.  God has called us to preach the gospel to the poor, the widow, the orphan, the prisoner, and anyone who is held captive by sin.  Our children get front row seats to God’s magnificent work in our lives.  As parents, we are teachers and mentors of the next generation.  If our children congregate with other children of different races and one day fall in love with one of them, then we should not be afraid.  Our greatest fear should not be whether or not my child marries someone of a different race, yet our greatest concern should be whether that other child is freed by the gospel and is able to love your child with the same love that Christ has loved them.