More on Conservaitve Racism

I was reminded of something I wrote last year for my old blog on this issue, and I figured I wolud share it again

There is a sin problem in Evangelical Christianity that very few people want to deal with. (Warning: I am going to offend some people with what God wants me to say, but please just listen and take it to heart). The sin problem is racism, specifically white prejudice against our brothers and sisters in the black churches. The sin of racism is one that many people do not want to deal with, but it something that we as white Christians need to repent for.
The kind of racism that I am talking about is not overt. This kind of racism is not obvious. What I am talking about are little things. I am going to give examples of what I mean through what I and a few of my black brothers and sisters have experienced. When I joined the Gospel choir at my university, my brothers and sisters in the choir accepted me right away- and they really showed me a lot of love. Our Choir has sung at churches all over Connecticut this year- New Haven, Bridgeport, Hartford, and East Hartford, Bloomfield. We’ve also sung at churches in Jersey City, New Jersey, as well as in Augusta and Savannah, Georgia, Boston Massachusetts, and Raleigh North Carolina. All of the churches we have sung at are predominately black congregations, and I have soloed at several of these places. When the services are over many of the churches have food prepared for the choir and the congregation, and every time people from the congregation have come up to me after the service and have told me how glad they were that I had come and how much they were blessed by my singing. I’ve also been to a few funerals for the parents of some of my black friends, and every time I’ve walked in, the people have made me feel welcome. I’m going to repeat that statement- EVERY TIME I have attended a service at a predominately black church, the people there have gone out of their way to make me feel welcome.
I’m going to contrast my experiences as a white person with that of two black friends of mine from the Gospel Choir. Both of them at different times went to the weekly meeting of one of the White Evangelical Christian organizations on campus, and both told me and others the same thing- they were not made to feel welcome. One of them is a dear brother who I know loves Jesus- and he can get along with anybody, and if he didn’t feel welcome, I know that something is seriously wrong. The other is a sister in Christ, who told me that she felt that she wasn’t welcome at all. (Update: That has since changed on my campus-God has done a lot in the past two years to break down the wall of predjudice in the Christian Community between white students and black students. While we are far from perfect, God is doing an amazing work here- All glory to His Name!) If this is happening in the White Evangelical Christian organizations, I guarantee it’s also happening in the White Evangelical Churches. There is a reason why some of my black sisters have told me that they think all White Evangelical Conservative Christians are racists. We as white folks need to repent for the prejudice that so many of us have towards our brother and sisters in the black community. I believe it was Dr Martin Luther King who said that 11 am on Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in American life. He spoke those words 40 years ago, yet it is still so true today. When God sends true revival to this nation, He is going to destroy the prejudice that has been hindering His people
Pray with me right now
Father God, We come before You this day, and we repent. We repent of our pride, our racism, our prejudice. We repent for the lack of love that we have shown our brothers and sisters in the black community. We humbly ask that You would forgive and that You would wash all our sins away by the precious blood that Your Son, Jesus Christ shed on the cross. Take our pride, and replace it with humility. Take our racist attitudes and our prejudice and replace them with Your Love. We need Your mercy to flow down from Your throne this day. Send Your revival to this nation, because we need it so much. Help the young men to men of God, and the young women to be women of excellence, and help us all to serve You more every day,
We Pray all in the mighty matchless name of Jesus Christ, out Lord and Savior
Amen