One-Liners to Remember 2 (of 5)

does the quote refer to ethnicity or faith…i always wondered.

one of my best friends is the only black man on a white church staff…always has been. he was president of the utah sbc, and i’m not sure how he does it. not because of skin but because of thought. he thinks big…they think…well, “right” or is it old-n-white for lack of a better term.

i know ethnicity plays a role…always will…but ultimately and more dangerously, i think people want those who act and think like they do. that’s what scares them into homogeneous groups.

i think about my own life, its the cats that bug me because they’re weird or just act strange that make me want to ignore them…that’s not good. people with stupid theology…why bother.

i think the girls with their butt-cracks showing will hang together and the shaved-head guys will and the people of color will as well…it feels safe but it is when we’re afraid to be diverse in thought that the theology gene pool gets to thin, and the church dies.

all you normals seem alike to me.

I agree with Aaron! I grew up in South Texas around many illegal immigrants, blacks, and very few whites. We had racial riots in the halls of my High School– Blacks and Mexicans against the Whites. Me, being friends with all of them went to the leader of the opposing group once and said “okay guys let’s stop this now—it’s not worth it, let’s work together & come to a solution for peace”. It actually worked. We all worked together for the remainder of the year because I wasn’t afraid to voice my opinion. Why can’t peace be the answer for everything? I LOVE hanging out with other races… I love “loving” all! Now living here in Oklahoma I absolutely love hanging out with my two favorite people, my best friends, who are indeed of opposite color than myself. It sucks that people stare at us when we are out together. I never really noticed it until they brought it to my attention. This world looks at what’s not “normal” to them and can’t understand why? I am not “normal” and the crazy thing is… I LOVE IT! This Saturday I’m going to attend an all Black Church in a not so good part of town– the sad thing is… they will all stare– but then, after a few minutes, they will see & understand that– WE ARE JUST THE SAME!!

You know, Scott, the other day, I showed one of my buddies your blog, and he said to me (with a hint of surprise), “Oh, your pastor’s black?” To which I responded, “Uhh, yeah, man.” His response: “Oh. . . that’s cool.”

So I started thinking in my head: That’s COOL?! Would his response have been, “Oh, that’s cool,” if my pastor was white?! He wouldn’t have even mentioned it if my pastor was white! But the mental image struck him as odd that there is a black pastor at a church that doesn’t have a choir behind him interjecting ‘hallelujah’ in short bursts of song during the sermon.

The problem with racial diversity in the church is that we have to even discuss racial diversity in the church in the first place! It is a mirror reflection of the segregation that still exists in our society when we have to host think tanks to decide how we as a church can effectively diversify!

We should remove the focus of discussion from church DIVERSITY to church UNITY. We should stop looking for examples of EXCLUSION and focus on INCLUSION.

Yes, the church demands diversity; but not under the pretenses that it is now discussed. The church, like the body, is made of many parts (see I Corinthians 12). The diversity of these parts lies in how they serve the body. We become diverse when we focus on how to be a functional church, instead of on how to be a colorful church!

What did Jesus say about diversity? I know one thing is that he said all need to hear about the gospel – from all ends of the earth. I don’t think he ever said anything about needing a multitude of styles and people within a church building. That’s the beauty of different churches – it attracts different people. A rock & roll church, might not attract a traditional hymnal or gospel type of person – THAT’S OK! And a church that has all of these types of styles might not attract anyone because they never know what to expect – but it might! We are blessed with choices in the United States.