My experience in “cross-cultural missions” (Part 4)

Before I continue, I want to remind my readers of what I wrote in a previous post introducing my primary topic for February, which is Black History Month:

“Most of what I have to write will be about Blacks and whites. I don’t mean to ignore other races or ethnicities, but the fact is, being Black in America has always been mainly about trying to live, work and relate with whites. So, please don’t take offense if I’m not talking about you; there will be something here, I think, for all to learn. However, there’s a history between Blacks and whites in America that goes back a l-o-n-g way. It is out of my personal experience, within this continuing saga of Black-white relations, that I will be writing.”

So, to repeat: I know there are other races, ethnicities and cultures in this country, but it is my choice to write about the Black/White issue since there is a longer, more extensive and more involved history between these two groups than any others.

Now, to continue…

If Blacks and Whites don’t know each other, don’t trust one another and, on some level, are afraid of each other, how are both sides supposed to come together? The key, as always, is found in God’s word: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). Did you see that? “You are all one in Christ Jesus.” That’s a fact now, whether we realize it or not. “In Christ” people are one. Only “in Christ” can races be reconciled and differing cultures and ethnicities live at peace. Non-Christians can’t solve the “race problem.” They have good intentions, perhaps, but it will never work in the end because the sin nature is too strong—racism will eventually raise its ugly head every time. But Christians should be able to pull this off because believers are one in Christ. Our unity with other true believers is a fact. Christians just need to start living like it’s true.

The tragedy of racism is that, in this country, it has often worn a Christian face. That’s why today you won’t find a lot of Black people at abortion protests. It’s why we don’t get so excited about the Pledge of Allegiance. Where were the White Christian protesters when Blacks needed them in the 1950s and 60s? Some of the White, liberal, Bible-denying “Christians” were there, but the White, Bible-believing “Christians”—many of them—had no problem with Jim Crow and segregation and discrimination. Pledge Allegiance to the flag of a so-called “Christian” nation, “one nation…indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”? Yeah, right.

It could be argued that White American Christianity’s accommodation of racism is why Malcolm Little became Malcolm X. Most likely Martin Luther King, Jr. was a theological liberal. But, what would you expect? He graduated from Crozer Theological Seminary and Boston University—theologically liberal schools. Do you know any Bible-believing seminary in the South of King’s young adult years that would have accepted him?

And here’s one way the tragedy continues: Untold numbers of Christian Blacks attend traditional Black churches where they know the preaching and teaching is sub-standard. They attend knowing ahead of time that they won’t hear anything worthwhile on Sunday. These Christians I’m thinking about then supplement their spiritual diet with Christian TV (T.D. Jakes, Creflo Dollar, Fred Price, Rod Parsley, Paula White, Kenneth Copeland, Benny Hinn, etc.), and the books of TV preachers, in their desperate search for any kind of teaching (even if it’s false teaching) to make up for the woeful lack of teaching at their churches. These Christian Blacks I’m thinking of attend churches where they know all kinds of scandalous sins are being committed by church members (and sometimes by the pastor) with no one ever being held accountable. They come home from church on Sunday only to complain about “what went on at church today.” These believers won’t leave their churches to attend a church with sound doctrine (like those churches represented by my blogging Reformed brothers out there, for instance) because to do so they would probably have to leave the Black Church altogether. And that would mean going to a predominantly White church.

You remember the White church, don’t you? That’s where the people go whom Blacks don’t trust. I’m struggling to find language to describe what a “leap of faith” that can be when you’ve grown up Black in America. There’s a whole lot of bad history that many Whites want to ignore (“Oh, that happened such a long time ago! Can’t we just forget about it?”), but you can’t just do that. First of all, it hasn’t been that long ago. I knew my great-great grandfather, and he was born in 1871—6 years after the Civil War! He was the son of slaves. I’ve known the grandchildren of slaves. As far as human history is concerned, slavery was not a long time ago. Emmit Till was brutally murdered by racists in Mississippi only 8 years before I was born. Medger Evers was murdered by a racist the year I was born (Evers’ murderer wasn’t convicted until 1994!). Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated shortly before I turned 5 years old. This is not ancient history! Stop insisting that Black people get over it! Slavery, Jim Crow and segregation happened, right here in America—“the Land of the free”—and it wasn’t a long time ago!

And, it’s not wise to forget about it. One time, when I was a boy, I touched the iron shortly after Grandma has finished ironing clothes. I wanted to know if it was still hot. It was! You know, I didn’t have to make that mistake twice; one time was enough for me! In fact, I’d be a fool to go do that again. Many Black people have been personally “burnt” by White racism. Some of us have been burnt many times. As a race of people, Blacks had been “burnt” in America for over 300 years, by the time the Civil Rights Act was signed in 1964. You don’t just forget about that! You’d be a fool to forget about it! This is why most church-going Blacks would rather go to a Black church where the teaching is lousy than take a chance on a White church where the teaching is sound. They don’t want to get burnt!

Yet, as Christians, we must deal with God’s word: “You are all one in Christ Jesus.” So, how do we—both Blacks and Whites—as fallen human beings living in a fallen world, demonstrate this unity that God says exists among those who are baptized into Christ Jesus? First, we must unburden ourselves of a lot of baggage. There’s something both races need to do. Christian Blacks must, with God’s help, forgive Whites. If you have to pray about it, pray! Ask God to help you. I’ve been there, and I know God will help you love those who’ve hurt you. You must forgive. As a Christian, you have no other option. However, forgiving does not mean forgetting. To forget is not humanly possible (and, I don’t care how “saved” you are, you’re still human). This is why not only should Christian Blacks forgive Whites, but Christian Whites need to both acknowledge this country’s racist past and admit that racism is still a problem. It’s an insult to Black people to pretend it doesn’t matter. It does matter. Even if your ancestors came to this country after slavery was abolished and had nothing to do with slavery, you still enjoy—as a legacy of our country’s racist past—privileges that go along with being White.

I’m guessing I’ve probably rubbed somebody the wrong way with that last paragraph (if not before!). If so, then I say (if I may be blunt about it) get over your hurt feelings and actually think about what I’ve written. Really think about it! If I can, I will try to explain why I believe Blacks must forgive and Whites must admit. Then (after laying the groundwork for the past three posts on this topic), I want to finally describe some of my positive experiences in “cross-cultural missions”.

(To be continued…)