Monday, April 17, 2006

Being Different

Not too long ago, a friend of mine loaned me a book (Strength to Love) that is a compilation of Martin Luther King's sermons. King's commentaries and his breakdown of scripture give me a much better insight and connection to the scriptures than I have gotten in a long time. What I find so amazing about King's sermons is how parallel they are to current issues...particularly war and racism. He speaks truth. He speaks reality. And even though he gave these sermons some 40+ years ago, they still resonate today.

In his sermon
">A Knock at Midnight
King says,

"One of the shameful tragedies of history is that the very institution [the church] which should remove man from the midnight of racial segregation participates in creating and perpetuating the midnight."

What is any different today? Historically our churches have been segregated...and today our churches are still segregated! Granted, they may not be totally segregated. In any given church there may be one or two families that are of a different ethnic make-up than the rest, but overall, the churches segregate just like the rest of our society does. The church reflects the socioeconomic and ethnic demographics of the neighborhood where it exists. Yet, as a Christian body, we claim to be different.

I have come to the conclusion that many Christians are only different in their words and in their beliefs, not their actions. When we, as Christians, talk about being set apart from the rest of the world, are we talking about separating ourselves by our religious talk or are we talking about really acting on our beliefs? I know some people will argue and say that evangelizing is the way they act on their beliefs. But what about taking a stand for different issues? Isn't that what truly sets people apart? Evangelism is easy. It puts all of the responsibility on the person who is being evangelized. Whether or not they accept the Word is up to them. Long-term relationships are much more challenging and take much more time and effort.

Jesus was the type of "different" that I would expect of Christians. Wasn't Jesus so condemned by the Pharisees because he was hanging out and building relationships with sinners? The way I remember the scripture, it referred to him hanging out with, not evangelizing. I'm no seminarian, so I could be wrong. The Jesus I read about hung out with people, got to know people, and built relationships with people....people who were different than him.

Poor people.

Devious people.

Unethical people.

As he built relationships with people, he was then able to speak to spiritual issues...many times because they asked him his opinion. They asked questions and challenged him because he was so different from the rest.

Are we, as Christians, really that different from the rest? What issues do we stand up for? Do we notice that our churches, communities, schools, etc. are still segregated today? Do we care? What are we doing about it? Are we sitting back and waiting for people of other cultural backgrounds to flock to us? Or are we making the first, possibly uncomfortable, attempt to get involved in a church/neighborhood/community that is different than what we are used to?

What if churches and the people in them truly took a stand and fought for truth, justice, and peace? What if their actions spoke louder than their words? What would our churches and our communities look like then?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am going to go out on a limb and make a statement or whether pose a question to Christians especially white Christians. If God were to reveal himself to be Black, would white Christians want to surrender their lives to him? Now, what does this comment have to do with today's topic, I don't know but I thought it would be a good question posed since we are challanging Christians to stand up for injustice. Now, I know many would say it would it would not make a difference, but I would say that it would be a change in the hearts of many regarding their faith. Race is such a struggle with me since I have to deal with it on a ongoing bases. I encounter people who write me off because of the color of my skin, the very skin God created me in. The same folks who frequent their churches on Sunday and proclaim their love for God and all of his works.

Anonymous said...

Great post, Janet. I look forward to many more.

jt

Janet Morrison-Lane said...

Anonymous~
Thanks for the post. I guess there's no way I could honestly say what White Christians would or wouldn't do if God were Black. I think if God/Jesus had always been presented as Black, Hispanic, or any culture other than White our view of that culture would be much different than it is today.

I appreciate your comments and your viewpoint. Keep coming back! :)

Anonymous said...

This is to the person who left the first comment. I do not think it would make a big of a difference as you would think. Because people rant and rave that other races get wrote off because of the color I totally dissagree. Because white people have some of the same problems but if we say anything we are being racist. I think it is being took to far. This summer I worked for Janet in her summer program I was one of the only white people there I felt weird at some points because of how some of the people looked at me because I was white, but I got through it. White people are in the same place some of the times but if we say something we are wrong and are being racist.

Janet Morrison-Lane said...

Hey Jeremy~
Thanks for your post.

Food for thought: If it wouldn't make a big difference whether or not God revealed himself as Black, then why do the large majority of pictures, TV shows, Sunday School flannel boards, Bible study curriculum, etc. (minus the ones in some African-American churches) present Jesus as a White guy with long, straight brown hair? ...even despite the fact that region where Jesus was born and raised is a region of people with darker skin and darker hair?

Anonymous said...

Well Janet good point. If you remember right Jesus's father is God so the people he was raised around would not make a difference, Now would it?

Anonymous said...

You know, people the world over are one day going to have to deal with seeing God as having an appearance that is very unlike any of our races. In human flesh---not his original natural form---Jesus was clearly a Jew and looked like all the other Jewish folks of his time, otherwise Judas would not have had to point him out to the authorities. But in natural form, he has hair that resembles bright white wool, literally blazing eyes, feet like shining burnished brass, apparently demonstrating something of a metallic luminescent skin color, and a face that shines like the sun. We simply don't have any any human races that fit that description.