I love Jesus. And I love His people.
You may notice, as you browse this blog, I write a lot about church. That is because as a follower of Christ, as a pastor’s son, and as someone who has been a part of church plant ministry for much of the last ten years, I care deeply about the church.
One of the things I care deeply about is a sense of oneness and belonging within the church. Everyone wants to belong. And yet everyone, at least to some degree, will at feel like they don’t belong at some point in their life.
Not belonging isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If you’re just new to the church, you’re not going to feel like you belong yet. But when that sense of not belonging carries on into months that turn into years that turn into decades, shouldn’t we begin asking what the matter is?
Here in America (and perhaps other places as well) there is a group of people who haven’t felt able to belong in many of our churches.
The Minorities Among Us
Another thing you may have noticed, if you’ve been reading this blog the last month, is I have started writing more on the issue of racism. I’ve always avoided writing about racial tensions on the blog, but after Charlottesville, and after several requests to discuss this issue, I decided I needed to enter the conversation.
I don’t think anyone in church, at least not churches I’m familiar with, intends to be racist. They certainly don’t want to be. But I think racism often goes overlooked within the church.
It’s easy to see when acted out by white supremacists. Within the church, it’s much more difficult to identify.
Why? Because most of our churches are made up of majority people groups. They are led by those who have always been a part of “Christian America.” Most of our churches function in ways churches have functioned for years. Even before there was much immigration into the country.
So, the little pockets of racism that goes on (even in wonderful churches), slides in primarily unnoticed.
Except by the minorities. Those who don’t feel they belong.
Are you aware of the racism in your church?
“Now wait a minute,” you may say. “There’s no racism in my church.” And there very well may not be.
But then again, there might be and you don’t realize it.
So, let me ask you, how many different ethnicities are included in your friendships? When you have a free evening and want to hang out with people, do you choose to do so with those primarily of your own race? I’m not saying it’s wrong to hang out with your kin. Some people live in areas where there aren’t many other races. But for most of us, at least in America, that simply isn’t the case. Do our friendships represent varied ethnicities? If not, why?
How about church? On a given Sunday, how many different ethnicities are in your church?
Or membership—how many different ethnicities are members of your church? Or how many are given responsibilities within the church, such as positions of influence?
7 Symptoms of Racism
I fear racism runs rampant in many churches, even those whose said goal is to be an “ethnically diverse” church. Allow me to suggest seven symptoms of racism in church so we can all see whether racism exists in our church or not.
First Symptom: I think, “racism isn’t an issue for us.”
More often than not, the reason people don’t think racism is an issue is not because it really isn’t. It’s just they don’t know what racism is, and therefore aren’t aware of it.
Racism, according to the Oxford Living Dictionary, is “prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior.” It goes on to define it further as “the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.”
Racism is not identifying cultural differences. Racism is a trending attitude that holds one’s own race as superior to others. And racism devastates most when the trending thought holds a specific other race as significantly inferior to one’s own.
As we’ll see in a moment, these prejudices are more common, even in church, then we’d like to think they are.
Second Symptom: I say (or think), “That’s typical for (name an ethnicity).”
I love cultures, and I love analyzing the differences between cultures. But there is a fine line between honest dissecting of a culture and racism. Analyzing culture carries the attitude of a learner. One who is not racist is constantly fascinated by what he can learn about or from another culture.
Racism, however, shows itself not by learner’s fascination, but by conclusive remarks of a group of people.
Have you ever thought people from Asia always act a certain way (and that way leaves them in negative light)? Have you whispered to your friends (or yourself) that Mexicans always do such and such (and it’s negative)?
That’s racism.
You’re not analyzing culture because you’re not learning from them. You’re concluding something about them.
Furthermore, saying “I don’t mean to be racist” typically reveals I am more than I’m aware of.
Third Symptom: I haven’t paused to consider the “Black (or native American or Latino) history” of America, let alone taken time to learn it.
In fact, this symptom plays itself out further when I see them as infringing on my territory. I don’t think twice about how Caucasians are foreigners in this land. Anyone with another skin color is intruding.
There’s a lot of history that gets conveniently overlooked when studied only through the eyes of white people. I am sure no one reading this intends to be racist. But racism can exist without our realizing it unless we rigorously work against it because we’ve been privileged. Economically and socially, we’ve had things go well for us.
And not just because we’re white, but because we’re Christian.
For most of our history, until now, being a Christian gave one a place of significance and security in society. So, things like racism slide under the radar because we haven’t been on the receiving end of negative prejudice. Taking time to learn the history of America from the perspective of our native or African brothers and sisters will help us better understand the complexities of racism and how we can deal with it.
Fourth Symptom: Whenever I discuss anything cultural with someone of another ethnicity, they get frustrated or completely quiet.
I suppose this is common sense. If someone gets upset at me while we’re talking, or if they quiet down and lose all interest in conversing, I should start asking myself some really tough questions.
Did they feel heard? Was I overlooking their pain? Was I trying to fix them? Was I only talking about myself?
Usually, it simply boils down to the person not feeling heard. And often, feeling heard means I take what they say, with no additions of my own, and ponder it, asking questions that probe for further clarity of what they’re saying. And I ask my questions in a tone that does not belittle, but speaks of a desire to learn.
If people of other ethnicities respond in silence or frustration when we talk with them about racism, we aren’t learning from them. We’re likely trying to convince them of how we see the world. And, chances are, we’re seeing things through (at least slightly) prejudice glasses.
Fifth Symptom: I can’t figure out why people don’t just “get it together.”
Why doesn’t the black homeless kid just go get a job? Why do the Mexican men just loaf around on our street? Whatever it is, when that sense of “get it together” rises up, I should beware. That could be racism raising its head.
The reality is, every race has their people who can’t “get it together” in society. And those people need gentle help, not condemnation. Even if they need some stiff instruction, we can do it lovingly, without making derogatory conclusions about them and their people.
Sixth Symptom: We don’t have leaders in our church who are of other ethnicities.
Could I trust a pastor who is black as much as one who is white? Could I learn from my Hispanic leaders with the same openness I do my Caucasian ones?
Now, I realize some may be reading this from areas of the world where there is only one ethnicity to choose your leaders from. This is obviously irrelevant for you. But most of our churches could be fuller of other ethnicities. Therefore, we at least have the potential for having more ethnically diverse leadership teams.
Perhaps the problem is we have a hard discipling people, period. Some of us, no matter what race the young leader is, have a hard time handing over reins because we want to control the outcome. And having had a little bit of leadership experience, myself, I understand this. A leader feels (and is) responsible for what happens. There’s a lot weighing on his shoulders. But I think we could do better, myself included, at empowering others instead of simply controlling them.
What I’ve noticed is that when it involves different races, the fear of what might happen if we let them lead gets amplified.
If there aren’t many people coming in to our church, and if we don’t ever have leaders of other ethnicities, one question to explore is whether racism is prevalent.
Seventh Symptom: Those in my church of other ethnicities than myself don’t ever talk about racism with me.
If I do attend an ethnically diverse church, but the people of minority ethnicities never talk about racism, it’s likely because they feel it in the church and are too afraid of what might happen if they addressed it.
Racism is a hot issue today, and I acknowledge that most of the world has chosen an ugly response to the issue. White Supremacists continue in their racist ways. Black Lives Matter responds with violence and hatred for White Supremacists, and often show they have as equally racist attitudes.
That’s why we, the body of Christ, must learn to be aware of racism and humbly seek racial reconciliation.
There are some areas of the US where it feels racism has swung the other way, and whites are degraded. Not African Americans, or Hispanics, or Native Americans. But we should expect that. We violated them. Forgiveness takes time, especially when people are violated as horrifically as they were here in America. We need to be gentle and go the extra mile as we seek restoration.
If you identify with any of these seven symptoms, I’d like to recommend two other blog posts that may help point you in the direction of healthy racial reconciliation. One is by friend and author, Dorcas Smucker, entitled Mennonites, Minorities, and Conversations at Costco. The second is by yours truly called, Racism Is Not a Social Issue: racial tensions from my black brother’s point of view.
