THE CHURCH IN BLACK AND WHITE

As I get older I am more appreciative of the blessing of time and experience on the impact of my ministry. When I was very young I had so many hard and fast ideals and beliefs about how the church should be run. Full of zeal, hope and promise I launched into ministry ready to be the "Mand of God , the LORD was looking for in these last and evil days". Boy, was I young. In that period of time in my life my youth and inexperience helped me; I didn't know enough to be afraid or intimidated. All I had was faith and my wife by my side. We were young people. Young parents, young ministers and full of resilience and energy. We were very busy with our local church responsibilities, denominational obligations, not to mention formulating a marriage and rearing three children all within two years of each other by birth order!

In the early days I wanted to be a great preacher. I was greatly influenced by the men I had heard of who had organized my denomination. I listened to the stories of people who had heard them and they became phantom role models for me. I wanted to impact people the way they had with the Word of GOD. Later on, my desire was to build the largest multi-racial church in New England. As my understanding of the Body of Christ expanded so did my desire to grow a church that was more reflective of the city in which I lived. I always wanted to see all people worshipping GOD together under one label; "The Church of the Living GOD". I had made several deliberate attempts to establish dialogue with white pastors to begin person to person fellowship but it never materialized into what I envisioned. Once, I heard a white pastor tell his daughter to tell me he wasn't home while I waited for him on the phone. After that I gave up trying but I kept the dream. Later, I came to understand that some things cannot be orchestrated; they must be sovereign acts of God. This was clearly illustrated to me when my wife Lynette, met another pastor's wife when our church's women's group shared a retreat site with their group. Gretchen and Lynette developed a very fast friendship and decided their husbands should also be friends. Well, I certainly didn't see the need to add any new people to my already crowded and complicated life, so I resisted. As I later came to understand so did Gretchen's husband, Norman. Eventually both Norman and I agreed to meet. At the meeting we cautiously quizzed each other and carefully made a plan to move ahead with having a joint service in their Congregationalist church in Westboro, MA. Oh, by the way, Norman and Gretchen were white. We came to them, they came to us. They took from us, we took from them. We love them and they love us. We stay in touch primarily through the mail since they have relocated to another part of the country. What happened between Norm, Lynette, Jimmy and Gretchen was the LORD's design. It bore fruit in both churches and established a life long, valuable connection to people in ministry. What the Holy Spirit does through His people is not limited to race or ethnic considerations. Peter, the apostle was filled with the Holy Sprit on the day pf Pentecost, preachedthe inaugural message of the newly formed church and used the Kingdom's Keys given to him by Christ Jesus. Despite all of the LORD's work in his life it took a supernatural vision from God to rid his heart of his cultural bias so he could welcome the gentiles into the church. (Acts 10th chapter).

I believe that there are many missed opportunities to experience the diversity of the church simply because we are closed to the possibility. I mean, what did a white Congregationalist church in Westboro have in common with a black Wesleyan Holiness church in Roxbury? JESUS! The four of us took our common ground and built on it. The fellowship between the two churches was absolutely beautiful. They were opened to the move and presence of the Holy Spirit in a new way and we were blessed by the inclusion of prayer traditions and worship we had not experienced.

I understand that there are many reasons why the church is so divided by race. I don't want to delineate them here. I will say that I believe the presence of Christ in the church must be deeply grieved by the divisions we make among ourselves based on such superficial differences. I can't speak with authority for what divides us from the other side but I certainly can make clear observations about the church in black communities. We often choose our cultural distinctives over the will of GOD when we are presented opportunities to worship with whites. Far too many of us judge the content of the package by the wrapping; the same accusation we levy at others. I believe some of us would refuse to hear Christ Jesus and the apostles if they didn't preach and teach to us using our cultural distinctives. "Aww man, Jesus can't preach! He ain't got no oil, He didn't whoop!" I can hear another reply: "Well yeah, He was a little dry."

In my twenty-three years in the pastorate I have heard black Christians say some of the most hateful things about whites, Jews, Hispanics, gays, lesbians, immigrants and "different"people. Many of these comments have come from people in leadership. Yes, Black Folk have some good reasons to be angry in this country based on history and some vestiges of Jim Crow still hanging on. I get that. That anger becomes toxic and sinful when it limits the grace of GOD in our lives. It is sinful when one side cuts themselves off from the other side because of fear, misunderstanding, prejudice and hate.

After many years in ministry I no longer want to be a great preacher nor do I need to have the biggest multi-racial church in New England. Today, I just want to be a man of GOD. I want to be faithful in my vocation. Now I recognize that GOD is sovereign. Nothing happens by accident. The integration of the church of Jesus Christ is something that GOD wants more than I. He is at work in the church. Those sensitive to the Holy Spirit and who understand how the cross makes all believers one will conform their actions based on truth and not comfort zones.

I have made a conscious decision not to be associated with any religious organization, para church ministry or ministerial fellowship that limits its membership by race ethnicity or denomination. We must lead by example not merely follow cultural norms. That understanding should guide what we call ourselves and how we define ourselves.

I continue to pray for the church to be free of prejudice on both sides of the color line. I try to keep my heart clear of residual pain from my experiences with ignorant and bigoted whites; some of which are Christians. Maybe we'll never really get it together until John's revelation of Jesus Christ comes to pass. Revelation 7:9-12: After these things I looked and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues (languages) standing before the throne and before the Lamb clothed with white robes and palm branches i their hands and crying out with a loud voice saying: "Salvation belongs to our GOD who sits on the throne and to the Lamb."