Urban Experience is a program designed for suburban youth groups. The students are almost always all white.
Each session I invite several teenagers I know well to participate. They are mostly black...sometimes Hispanic.
My goal with the Urban Experience program is to create awareness...to create new understanding...to help suburban teenagers challenge some of their preconceived (and, often, unconscious) notions about the inner city. I include our teenagers so there is real interaction and engagement with people on an equal level instead of always interacting with inner city residents on a "charity" or "service" level.
I have high hopes that once people begin to see--whether black or white, poor or wealthy, gay or straight, Christian or Muslim--that everyone has goals and dreams...everyone wants to be treated with dignity. I want them to talk to each other so they can understand someone else's definition of dignity and respect. I want them to listen to and learn from each other. I try to challenge participants by initiating conversations (and requiring every teenager from both groups to participate) about racism, socioeconomic status, neighborhoods, and talking about themselves.
This year I began to regret my decision to include my teenagers from Dallas.
As my teenagers talked to me after they had spent their days going into different urban neighborhoods with the group, I felt like I had perpetuated the very stereotypes that I sought to counter.
Though I tried to put teenagers on an equal level, the "poor, black, inner city resident" stereotype, and the assumptions that go along with it, remained. Though it may not have been intentional or obvious to the suburban participants, it was strongly felt by the teenagers I had asked to participate. The absolute last thing I wanted was to hurt the teenagers I interact with on a regular basis.
After contemplating much of this in my own mind, one of the speakers (before his presentation) randomly asked me, "Is segregation natural?"
As I looked across the room, I thought back to the beginning of each week of Urban Experience. Each week, students came in and sat down--whites on one side, blacks on the other. Each time, I made everyone "move around" and "mix it up." By the end of each week, some would gravitate back toward the people with whom they were comfortable (i.e. people of their own ethnicity...people they had known for a while). By the end of the week, however, I only had to give a "look" and people would begin to switch seats and move so that they were sitting between and conversing with new and less familiar friends. As the group would leave on Friday, many exchanged phone numbers, facebook, and myspace pages.
I don't expect that one week fixes everything. In fact, some participants left and did not like or necessarily agree with the approach. However, by creating honest (and uncomfortable) conversations, I have hope that it has challenged people to think about and talk about segregation, assumptions, what led us to this point, and what we can do to reverse it....with others who look like them as well as continuing and seeking out conversation with those who don't. I have hope that as we get to know each other and "see beyond the surface," we will do more to value and respect each other for who we each are...not overlooking people's differences, but celebrating them and learning from them.
As I look back on the three weeks of Urban Experience groups, I reflected on the speaker's question:
Is segregation "natural?" (i.e. innate)
No.
Is segregation "natural?" (i.e. normal...instinctive)
Yes...but only because we have made it that way, make excuses as to why "it's not my fault," and, thus, allow it to continue.
By purposefully and intentionally getting involved with each other, with an openness to learning something from the other, maybe we can change that.
Showing posts with label segregation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label segregation. Show all posts
Sunday, August 03, 2008
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Changing our future...for the better or the worse??
To what extent will we (Whites) go to in order to avoid being around people of color?
If you read the history books, that was a real problem back in the '50s. Thank goodness we are beyond that.
...aren't we???
This week we have a new landmark case to add to our history books. Fifty three years after Brown v. Board, we now have Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1. As a result of this case, schools are no longer allowed to use race as a factor when trying to create a diverse student body.
What bothers me most about this decision is the way it was argued. Chief Justice Roberts argued that, “The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.” He went on to say that his views were “more faithful to the heritage of Brown,” the landmark 1954 decision that declared school segregation unconstitutional.
Roberts' argument is flawed. True, discrimination means creating unfairness. However, Brown came into effect because schools were segregated and unequal. A school system that is committed to racial diversity for the sake of our future is not unfairness. It is strategizing the only way it knows how because it recognizes that we have not and are not choosing to live beside one another. Our neighborhoods are highly segregated...which is why our schools are highly segregated. (The average White student attends a school that is 80 percent White, while 70 percent of Black students attend schools where nearly two-thirds of students are Black and Hispanic.) The school systems that chose to make racial diversity a priority in their schools obviously recognized that unless we begin associating with one another on a regular basis while we are still young, we will continue to remain segregated.
Unfortunately, many people side with Justice Roberts...liberals and conservatives alike. Maybe not so much in their speech as in their actions. Over many years, we have become comfortable with who we live around. Because of those time-honored traditions, it is hard to change. Because of those time-honored traditions, we like to make all kinds of excuses as to why we don't need to participate in active diversity initiatives:
We say our children are already in diverse situations. (Yet when you look at their friends, they are all one color)
We say it's not fair for our kids to have to endure such a long bus ride away from their family and friends. (What's the difference in a child commuting to school and an adult commuting to work? We accept it later in life. Why not get them ready for commuting while they are still young?)
We say it's not fair that the kids have to go to school with other kids that aren't their friends (Yet families move from city to city and state to state and kids change schools. The kids always seem to make friends in their new settings in those situations. What is different in this situation?)
It was uncomfortable for the Little Rock 9, Ruby Bridges, and so many others to integrate schools in the 50s. I'm sure they didn't always enjoy doing the right thing so that the rest of us could benefit. Those kids and their families persevered because it was "the right thing to do." We need to do the same. They have already paved the way for us. It is our turn as White people to make some sacrifices so that what they started will continue to progress.
Note: The Time magazine cover in this blog was from 1971.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Building walls internally and externally
"You have got to be kidding me!" was my first thought as I read the title of the New York Times article: U.S. Erects Baghdad Wall to Keep Sects Apart.
Is that our new solution to everything?? If we can't get along or if we don't want to deal with them, build a wall. Talking to and listening to people is too difficult, I suppose. It takes too much time, effort, understanding, and (God forbid!) possibly some compromise about what we have always thought is the "right" way to do things!!
Walls allow us to block people from our view...We don't have to see them. We don't have to deal with them.
Do walls work??
Creating walls and distance seems, to me, to have started in the 60s. People moved out of the city fleeing people who looked different than them without any desire to even try to get to know the people they were running from. People moved out and built large houses with alley garages and privacy fences. But the walls, gates, and backdoor entrances did not keep them from having problems...drugs, domestic violence, and homocide still exists in their homes, too.
Despite the failure of creating barriers from our fears, we still continue to create walls...only now they are bigger, more obvious, and very deliberate...We can't figure out how to deal with immigration, so we create a wall....We don't know how to handle the Shiite and Sunnis, so we create a wall. The way we're going, I wouldn't doubt if the next wall built separates inner city communities from suburbia. (I'm only being slightly sarcastic here. The rate we're going, it honestly wouldn't surprise me. It scares me to think we would do that, but wouldn't surprise me.)
What's worse than a physical wall, however, is that those physical walls help create and allow us to justify our emotional walls. We have created these walls in our own country, and now we are projecting our fears and our unwillingness to listen and compromise onto the global society. We avoid people we don't know and/or don't understand. We say that "they won't listen to reason," but the reality is we haven't taken the time to listen to them. We say that "they're taking over our country," but we haven't sat down with them to listen to their delimmas and asked them to help us create a solution. We say that "our inner cities are violent and uneducated," yet we want to be selfish and keep all of the resources for our own children and our own communities.
We ignore and refuse to believe the intelligence and capacity of people who are different than us.
Walls ostracize people. They create barriers between people. They create anger and resentment because people do not know each other.
For those of us who recognize this, we have to actively work against this...in our own hearts, in our communication with our politicians, by our actions, and by our choices. Walls do not eliminate our problems; they exacerbate them.
Is that our new solution to everything?? If we can't get along or if we don't want to deal with them, build a wall. Talking to and listening to people is too difficult, I suppose. It takes too much time, effort, understanding, and (God forbid!) possibly some compromise about what we have always thought is the "right" way to do things!!
Walls allow us to block people from our view...We don't have to see them. We don't have to deal with them.
Do walls work??
Creating walls and distance seems, to me, to have started in the 60s. People moved out of the city fleeing people who looked different than them without any desire to even try to get to know the people they were running from. People moved out and built large houses with alley garages and privacy fences. But the walls, gates, and backdoor entrances did not keep them from having problems...drugs, domestic violence, and homocide still exists in their homes, too.
Despite the failure of creating barriers from our fears, we still continue to create walls...only now they are bigger, more obvious, and very deliberate...We can't figure out how to deal with immigration, so we create a wall....We don't know how to handle the Shiite and Sunnis, so we create a wall. The way we're going, I wouldn't doubt if the next wall built separates inner city communities from suburbia. (I'm only being slightly sarcastic here. The rate we're going, it honestly wouldn't surprise me. It scares me to think we would do that, but wouldn't surprise me.)
What's worse than a physical wall, however, is that those physical walls help create and allow us to justify our emotional walls. We have created these walls in our own country, and now we are projecting our fears and our unwillingness to listen and compromise onto the global society. We avoid people we don't know and/or don't understand. We say that "they won't listen to reason," but the reality is we haven't taken the time to listen to them. We say that "they're taking over our country," but we haven't sat down with them to listen to their delimmas and asked them to help us create a solution. We say that "our inner cities are violent and uneducated," yet we want to be selfish and keep all of the resources for our own children and our own communities.
We ignore and refuse to believe the intelligence and capacity of people who are different than us.
Walls ostracize people. They create barriers between people. They create anger and resentment because people do not know each other.
For those of us who recognize this, we have to actively work against this...in our own hearts, in our communication with our politicians, by our actions, and by our choices. Walls do not eliminate our problems; they exacerbate them.
Monday, December 04, 2006
For the benefit of all
Where do our selfish motives and our fears come from?
I read an article in the Washington Post about the current attempts White parents are making to sway desegregation orders so that their children can get put into the best schools and avoid the worst. The "best" schools have AP classes available, multiple opportunities, challenging coursework...and are made up of primarily White children. The "worst" schools have few, if any college-prep, rigorous classes, fewer extracurricular opportunities, and lower expectations for the kids...oh yeah...and are made up of primarily Black and Hispanic children.
Here's what I don't get. These parents who are working so hard to keep their children out of the "worst" schools...why don't they go ahead and put their child in the school and then work just as diligently to fight for the same quality of education and classes at that "bad" school so that all of the children involved can benefit?? Instead, they work overtime to make sure their child avoids the "bad" school...even to the point of enrolling their child illegally in a suburban district and lying to the school about their child's enrollment until their child gets moved up on the waiting list in their own district and is able to attend the school of their (or their parent's) choice.
I suppose I'd be naive to say that I don't know why urban schools don't have more rigor, more AP classes, and other programs that middle and upper-middle class parents want for their children. On the surface, kids in those schools appear to not care...about themselves, their community, or their academic achievements. However, I know that many of these kids, with the right expectations and the right challenge, can far exceed what the schools are currently expecting of them (I've witnessed it!). Think about it, though, that's exactly why many White, middle class parents are working so hard to get their kids in other schools. They recognize that if you put a child in a situation where there is little or no opportunity to grow, they won't! The difference in these White, middle class parents than many of the parents in the area around these "bad" schools is that the White, middle class parents have the money, time, resources, connections, and knowledge of the system to make sure their child gets what they want/need.
If parents who ultimately end up with successful, academically prepared students are making sure they secure those opportunities for their own children, shouldn't we think about what they are seeking out and figure out how to offer it in all of our schools for all of our children?? I have been around kids and "systems" long enough to know that putting a few AP classes into a school is not going to draw the masses of our urban kids. It's going to take time and it's going to take an effort by everyone involved to make sure the kids know about the wealth of opportunities available, can access them (financially and physically), and are prepared for them. This cannot be done by making the opportunities available and then lowering expectations. Our kids deserve so much better than that. We need to make the opportunities available and then work to make sure our kids are prepared for the intensity of those higher expectations.
Look below the surface of what you see in urban neighborhoods and urban schools. The problems aren't the unruly and out of control kids. It's not just the parents or lack thereof of the unruly and out of control kids. The problems run so much deeper. Look at the way the system is set up. Decide if you would want your child to be in those situations. If not, help us figure out how to solve those problems at a systemic level so that every child has an opportunity to be successful.
And realize that the ones who do come out of that system successful are way more extraordinary than we ever give them credit for.
I read an article in the Washington Post about the current attempts White parents are making to sway desegregation orders so that their children can get put into the best schools and avoid the worst. The "best" schools have AP classes available, multiple opportunities, challenging coursework...and are made up of primarily White children. The "worst" schools have few, if any college-prep, rigorous classes, fewer extracurricular opportunities, and lower expectations for the kids...oh yeah...and are made up of primarily Black and Hispanic children.
Here's what I don't get. These parents who are working so hard to keep their children out of the "worst" schools...why don't they go ahead and put their child in the school and then work just as diligently to fight for the same quality of education and classes at that "bad" school so that all of the children involved can benefit?? Instead, they work overtime to make sure their child avoids the "bad" school...even to the point of enrolling their child illegally in a suburban district and lying to the school about their child's enrollment until their child gets moved up on the waiting list in their own district and is able to attend the school of their (or their parent's) choice.
I suppose I'd be naive to say that I don't know why urban schools don't have more rigor, more AP classes, and other programs that middle and upper-middle class parents want for their children. On the surface, kids in those schools appear to not care...about themselves, their community, or their academic achievements. However, I know that many of these kids, with the right expectations and the right challenge, can far exceed what the schools are currently expecting of them (I've witnessed it!). Think about it, though, that's exactly why many White, middle class parents are working so hard to get their kids in other schools. They recognize that if you put a child in a situation where there is little or no opportunity to grow, they won't! The difference in these White, middle class parents than many of the parents in the area around these "bad" schools is that the White, middle class parents have the money, time, resources, connections, and knowledge of the system to make sure their child gets what they want/need.
If parents who ultimately end up with successful, academically prepared students are making sure they secure those opportunities for their own children, shouldn't we think about what they are seeking out and figure out how to offer it in all of our schools for all of our children?? I have been around kids and "systems" long enough to know that putting a few AP classes into a school is not going to draw the masses of our urban kids. It's going to take time and it's going to take an effort by everyone involved to make sure the kids know about the wealth of opportunities available, can access them (financially and physically), and are prepared for them. This cannot be done by making the opportunities available and then lowering expectations. Our kids deserve so much better than that. We need to make the opportunities available and then work to make sure our kids are prepared for the intensity of those higher expectations.
Look below the surface of what you see in urban neighborhoods and urban schools. The problems aren't the unruly and out of control kids. It's not just the parents or lack thereof of the unruly and out of control kids. The problems run so much deeper. Look at the way the system is set up. Decide if you would want your child to be in those situations. If not, help us figure out how to solve those problems at a systemic level so that every child has an opportunity to be successful.
And realize that the ones who do come out of that system successful are way more extraordinary than we ever give them credit for.
Friday, October 06, 2006
Christianity and Diversity????
I'm at a conference for youth ministers this week. There are supposedly about 2500 people attending the conference. I'm staffing a booth for Urban Experience. As I was sitting here today watching people walk by, I saw an African-American man walk by. It dawned on me that that was the very first Black person I had seen attending the conference and I have been here for two days now. There is an African-American girl a couple of booths over and another African-American girl across the aisle staffing a booth. But as far as people walking through, I hadn't seen anyone other than White people except for that one guy. What is all of that about? Why is it that there are 2500 people here and only a handful are anything other than White?
And people say our world isn't still segregated??? Paleese!! Let me allow the benefit of the doubt. Maybe it's just churches that are segregated...but that's even more depressing! I wonder...are there other youth ministry conferences that are primarily targeted toward Blacks? Hispanics? Asians? Maybe there are, but why can't we all come to the same one and why can't that one have something for everyone??
People say that I am too sensitive...that it's more about socioeconomics than race (even if that's true, I still have a problem with that as well, though). They tell me that middle class people are all mixed together and I just don't see it because I choose to stay in my corner of the world in the inner city. I beg to differ. This conference is obviously targeted toward an upper-middle class audience. There are flat screen tvs, multimedia presentations, and ipod, laptop, and overseas trip giveaways. Some groups have rented booths and equipment that cost thousands of dollars. Yet with all of that obvious upper-middle class marketing, there are still no people of color here.
I do agree that it seems suburban communities do oftentimes have a fairly diverse population and I probably don't see that. But if that's the case, what does a Christian conference that is primarily made up of White people say to everyone?? What message does it communicate??
Call me cynical. Maybe you have a different take on things. If so, I'd be interested in hearing.
(ok...just to make sure I'm being fair...since I started writing this I have seen one more African-American guy, one Asian guy, and an Asian couple. In fact, a lady just walked by who may have been Native American. So that's 6 people. ...out of 2500.)
And people say our world isn't still segregated??? Paleese!! Let me allow the benefit of the doubt. Maybe it's just churches that are segregated...but that's even more depressing! I wonder...are there other youth ministry conferences that are primarily targeted toward Blacks? Hispanics? Asians? Maybe there are, but why can't we all come to the same one and why can't that one have something for everyone??
People say that I am too sensitive...that it's more about socioeconomics than race (even if that's true, I still have a problem with that as well, though). They tell me that middle class people are all mixed together and I just don't see it because I choose to stay in my corner of the world in the inner city. I beg to differ. This conference is obviously targeted toward an upper-middle class audience. There are flat screen tvs, multimedia presentations, and ipod, laptop, and overseas trip giveaways. Some groups have rented booths and equipment that cost thousands of dollars. Yet with all of that obvious upper-middle class marketing, there are still no people of color here.
I do agree that it seems suburban communities do oftentimes have a fairly diverse population and I probably don't see that. But if that's the case, what does a Christian conference that is primarily made up of White people say to everyone?? What message does it communicate??
Call me cynical. Maybe you have a different take on things. If so, I'd be interested in hearing.
(ok...just to make sure I'm being fair...since I started writing this I have seen one more African-American guy, one Asian guy, and an Asian couple. In fact, a lady just walked by who may have been Native American. So that's 6 people. ...out of 2500.)
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Is separation and segregation really the way to go?
I was reading through a newsletter I received from another non-profit this morning. It made me think back several years ago when I had first come in contact with them. This particular non-profit was attempting to involve more inner-city groups in their camp at the time. After agreeing to take a group of kids, I remember a lady calling and explaining to me that since our group was small, they would make sure that they found another inner city group to go with us. I can still remember my irritation at that comment. Why could our inner-city kids not be in a group with any random group who signed up to go? Of course, I posed that question to her, to which she replied, "They just don't have the Bible knowledge that the other kids have." Once again, I was shocked and appalled! How did she know that?! She had never even met the kids I would be taking! I encouraged her at that point to make sure we were signed up with a NON inner-city group. I then discussed the issue with one of their board members. They listened. Over the years it has gotten much better. We still attend the camp. And if our group isn't big enough, we are often combined with other suburban churches.Why is that so important? It's not the reason some people might think. I think some people figure that the reason combining groups must be good is so that the inner-city kids can see a "different way of life." (I've heard that many times before). I look at it differently. Of course I want our group to be with different groups so that they can get to know other people. But I also think it's important for us to be with other groups so they can get to know us!
Contrary to popular belief, inner-city kids and teens often know a whole lot about suburban children. They are faced with them all the time. Our society focuses on middle class, primarily white, lifestyles. However, those middle class, primarily white children don't often know about our low-income, predominantly Black and Hispanic children. The images they receive of children in those situations are of criminals, impoverished people, victims, who are uneducated. I would argue that it is the suburban children who need our children, not the other way around.
Don't get me wrong. I think that we can all learn from each other. But I think most of the time people with good hearts are trying to put poor, inner-city children in situations to help them learn something instead of thinking about what the poor, inner-city child has to teach someone else--perhaps their own child.
We separate and segregate a lot. We say it's for the good of the child. I would argue that it's probably more to allow us to remain in our comfort zone. We say separating children in blind schools, special ed schools, gay/lesbian schools, etc. allows that school to provide specific and specialized resources more efficiently to a group of children. But what happens later in life? What does segregating children teach all of us about approaching each other in life after school? And what does it say about our willingness to share our resources with others who may not have as much? Because we've been separating and segregating for so long, it's extremely challenging to think of restructuring. But I have no doubt it can be done. It starts with us. It starts with our choices for ourselves and our children.
Saturday, May 13, 2006
We've still got a ways to go
Though I am not often surprised by racist, prejudiced, ignorant, or clueless statements anymore, I am much more aware of them than I used to be.
The other day I took my film to Walgreens to be processed. Once I had gotten home and finally had time to look at the CD, I realized that the pictures were of people I had never seen before. I took the pictures back the next day in hopes that someone else had returned my pictures as well. When I walked in, the White lady behind the counter very excitedly said she had been waiting on me to return my pictures. She started looking through a couple batches of pictures that had been returned. As she flipped through them, she looked a little disappointed as she said, "Oh, nope. These aren't yours." I wasn't quite sure how she could be so confident that they weren't my pictures if they didn't have my name on them and she didn't know me or the people who might be in my pictures. I asked her if I could look at the pictures myself. She, very confidently, said, "They're not yours. They can't be." I pressed a little more and asked if I could just look. In a much lower voice, she then said, "They can't be yours...unless you know a lot of black people." When I assured her I did, she let me flip through one of the rolls. Unfortunately, they weren't my pictures.
I guess her comment struck me so much because of her assumption that because I am White, the people I know and interact with must be White as well. It wasn't that I was offended. Instead, the comment made me very aware of the fact that our country is still very segregated--to the point that we don't even assume that different ethnicities would mix and mingle. The lady simply voiced the reality: Most people don't interact with people who are ethnically different than them (we could also extend this to economics or any other difference). From what I can tell, we like to stay in our comfort zone. We like to find people who agree with us and see things our way. We value sameness.
Because we are still so segregated and because we value sameness, it takes a big effort on our part. No one...Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, disabled, able-bodied, etc...can wait around or expect the "other person" to make the move. In order for us to move toward an inclusive society, each of us must make the effort to get to know the "other person's" personality, their struggles, their joys, their fears, their goals, etc. on an intimate level.
It takes time.
It takes effort.
It requires openness.
It is sometimes uncomfortable.
If you don't already have these diverse friendships, I challenge you to genuinely seek them out. If your friends are anything like mine, it's so worth it!
The other day I took my film to Walgreens to be processed. Once I had gotten home and finally had time to look at the CD, I realized that the pictures were of people I had never seen before. I took the pictures back the next day in hopes that someone else had returned my pictures as well. When I walked in, the White lady behind the counter very excitedly said she had been waiting on me to return my pictures. She started looking through a couple batches of pictures that had been returned. As she flipped through them, she looked a little disappointed as she said, "Oh, nope. These aren't yours." I wasn't quite sure how she could be so confident that they weren't my pictures if they didn't have my name on them and she didn't know me or the people who might be in my pictures. I asked her if I could look at the pictures myself. She, very confidently, said, "They're not yours. They can't be." I pressed a little more and asked if I could just look. In a much lower voice, she then said, "They can't be yours...unless you know a lot of black people." When I assured her I did, she let me flip through one of the rolls. Unfortunately, they weren't my pictures.
I guess her comment struck me so much because of her assumption that because I am White, the people I know and interact with must be White as well. It wasn't that I was offended. Instead, the comment made me very aware of the fact that our country is still very segregated--to the point that we don't even assume that different ethnicities would mix and mingle. The lady simply voiced the reality: Most people don't interact with people who are ethnically different than them (we could also extend this to economics or any other difference). From what I can tell, we like to stay in our comfort zone. We like to find people who agree with us and see things our way. We value sameness.
Because we are still so segregated and because we value sameness, it takes a big effort on our part. No one...Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, disabled, able-bodied, etc...can wait around or expect the "other person" to make the move. In order for us to move toward an inclusive society, each of us must make the effort to get to know the "other person's" personality, their struggles, their joys, their fears, their goals, etc. on an intimate level.
It takes time.
It takes effort.
It requires openness.
It is sometimes uncomfortable.
If you don't already have these diverse friendships, I challenge you to genuinely seek them out. If your friends are anything like mine, it's so worth it!
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
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?
In his sermon
">A Knock at Midnight
"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?
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