And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings. – Acts 17:26
Why No Kumbaya, My Lord?
One would think churches are places where people make an extra effort to erase the lines of racial division, to serve as examples of unity in Christ to an unbelieving world. After all, we are brothers and sisters in Christ, members of the same family, heirs of God, co-heirs with Christ.
But Christians are fallen (although forgiven) humans, and sinners all, and we still carry impure preferences and prejudices. Generally speaking, blacks prefer to be around blacks, whites prefer to be around whites, and [insert group here] prefer to be around [insert group here]. The “can’t we all just get along” refrain is noble and well-intentioned. We can try, but differences will always be obvious. These differences don’t have to divide, but too often they do.
According to a CNN article titled, “Why many Americans prefer their Sundays segregated,” interracial churches (at least 20 percent of members belong to a racial minority group) are rare. Nothing new there. Most people prefer being around their “own kind.”
Why? Because it’s just easier. And less stressful. And easier. No matter what we say publicly, we have an affinity for people who look like us.
The article mentions racially tinged issues that pop up in interracial churches. For example, in some churches there’s tension over length of service, style of preaching and music, and even how to address the preacher. Former minister and author Curtiss Paul DeYoung, who is white, says he led a racially mixed church that became “all-black” and left because of the tension.
(I expressed my preference for white churches, which is based in part on preaching/teaching style. See Truth and Consequences.)
Whites overly concerned about being called racists have to walk a fine line these days. Every little comment or even a single glance can be interpreted as evidence of virulent hatred lurking below the surface. Silly, yes, but true. Anyway, the article’s long, but a good read. Check it out.
Why Did God Make Different Races?
By the time I got to the end of the article, I thought, “Ay-ya-yay! No wonder interracial churches are rare. Who wants to deal with all that on Sunday mornings?” After tolerating racial or other kinds of tension during the week, who looks forward to facing it at church, a place of sanctuary?
Then I asked (the air) a serious question: Why did God make different races (or ethnicities, if you prefer – let’s not get bogged down with that)? Yes, we are members of the overarching human race, but groups within this race have obvious and apparent differences. Man is made in God’s image, but why did make his creatures with physiological differences?
Explanations abound. God made diverse skin colors, hair textures, facial structures and features, etc., to display his handiwork, so he can be glorified. Perhaps he made us with such obvious differences so we can learn to see past them and gaze upon our similarities.
And what, if anything, does God’s displeasure of the Tower of Babel have to do with it? Noah’s descendants built a tower to glorify themselves, and God confused their language and “scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth.” Did this scattering abroad facilitate the development of distinct ethnic groups? Was that God’s secondary purpose?
Race, race, race. Until Christ returns, we must deal with it. We can run, but we can’t hide. I wish we could. I wish I could. I blog and write about it, because I believe I have something unique to say; that uniqueness is tangled up in the color of my skin. My sister says I shouldn’t run or hide or apologize for blogging about it so often. Commenting on a post where I criticized J.C. Watts for creating a black news network:
“[Race] is a beautiful thing God has created. It is this fallen world that has made it a problem. If we all come from God’s perspective, it’s a beautiful thing. I love to be at events where there are like-minded people in all kinds of different colors, shapes and sizes. Look for the good and beauty in what God has created. Don’t throw it away because mankind has corrupted it.”
When I see God, perhaps I’ll ask why he made different races, but I suspect such trivialities won’t occur to me then, anyway. 
Why do you think God made different races/ethnicities?
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God has a sense of humor. A black person may relate better to blacks (and visa versa for whites), but as far as DNA goes, one black may not be able to get life-saving blood from a fellow black person. A white person with compatible blood is his true blood brother in this instance. Ain’t that the damn’dest thing! I wrote about this here: http://www.fromthepen.com/issue77.html
Buck
It is quite stressful to be white these days. Not that I’m saying it’s a cake walk for other races, but it seems putting down whites is more ‘acceptable’. As a white Christian, I feel as though I am constantly walking on egg shells. Have you seen the blog, ‘What White People Like’? If one were to have a blog about what black people like, that person would be branded a racist and condemned forever as a hateful person. When others do it to white people, it’s ‘funny’.
I would like to live in a society where every word and gesture wasn’t censored or taken the wrong way or thought to have a double meaning.
I’d like to live where people do not hyphenate their nationality, but consider themselves to simply be an American and were proud of it.
As part of the leadership at an interracial church, I know this stuff first hand. It’s very interesting what people get mad about. We actually had a black member and a white member leave around the same time because we were not doing enough or doing too much, respectively. Oddly enough, things have been more peaceful since both left. Ha!
But as to the question, I think it was all part of the plan to begin with. In the grand scheme of things, I take it that way because it IS, and God would not allow it if it were not his will to do so. In the slightly smaller view, I think it follows the same model as what Paul wrote about the Body of Christ having many parts. Diversity of thought, ability, and construction (for lack of a better word) taken together makes the Body that much more powerful and dynamic.
Further, I think it is the nature of Christianity that it can be a unifying force that can overcome every construct, visible and invisible, natural and man-made, that separates individuals. The unity of marriage has been used most often as a picture of unity in Christ. But the picture of unity of when they were first called Christian is just as valid and true.
Whenever someone asks me whether it is worth all the drama to try and express that unity in church now, I remind them about Revelation. John saw a great multitude of people from every people group from every part of the world singing praises to God together around the Throne. I figure, if we’re going to be doing that in Eternity, we might as well get in some practice today.
On Monday, I took my grandkids to a county waterpark in the D.C. area. I was amazed at the polyglot mixture of people. My race and ethnicity perceptions were so strained that I finally gave up trying.
One decidedly white girl in a Confederate battle flag swimsuit was locked arm and arm with a very black girl. Best buddies. About 12. I really didn’t know what prejudices to call upon.
Maybe, just maybe, God has a plan.
MELLISSA: As a white Christian, I feel as though I am constantly walking on egg shells. Have you seen the blog, ‘What White People Like’? If one were to have a blog about what black people like, that person would be branded a racist and condemned forever as a hateful person. When others do it to white people, it’s ‘funny’.
This may be true Melissa, but it was a VERY short time ago when non-whites could not say anything at all, whether humorous, constructive or otherwise against whites without swift and violent reprisal. So if it seems to you that minorities may be able to get away with a few more comedic lines than whites I personally can’t sympathize too much.
MELISSA:I would like to live in a society where every word and gesture wasn’t censored or taken the wrong way or thought to have a double meaning. I’d like to live where people do not hyphenate their nationality, but consider themselves to simply be an American and were proud of it.
So would I.
That blog she’s talking about was done by white folks for white folks.
There is also another one that was done by black folks for black folks or the same sort.
Regardless, if you’re a so-called Christian, you shouldn’t be concerned about what anyone ELSE does or says that’s unseemly. Just make sure you’re not named amongst them.
Look at nature! God built in a mechanism for an unending variety of every species - plant and animal. Why should people be any different?
And remember, He looked at his creation and said it was good. I agree, it’s beautiful.
Our sin nature is responsible for our never ending schism on race, at least in the U.S. Other places may battle with other divisions, but they are always there. I like to say if there were only three people on earth, at least one of them would be made an outcast.
BTW, that blog Melissa is talking about is a SATIRE. They’re poking fun at a certain elitist segment of the population, not “ordinary” white people.
I think that every sin is a fallen virtue, and that anything created is created good. So I have to think that God created races for a good reason, and sin has corrupted that reason.
Perhaps having different types of skin is a way for God to express the fact that there is no one “right” way to look and no one “right” group to belong to. As far as I know (I am not a doctor), there isn’t much different between races other than physical appearance. We all are of one blood underneath it all.
People self-segregate. It is how humans, and most other animals operate. Even in the Universities that praise and preach multiculturalism and diversity, you see the students separate themselves along racial lines. We can’t help it. Everyone seeks their own comfort zone, even when they are trying to overcome their humanity.
Q: Why did God make different races?
A: For the same reason He made different breeds of every other species in the animal kingdom: Diversity! What if there were only collies in the dog family, only one type of bird, horse, cat, butterfly? How dull would that be?
Regardless, if you’re a so-called Christian, you shouldn’t be concerned about what anyone ELSE does or says that’s unseemly. Just make sure you’re not named amongst them.
That’s kinda funny given how much digital ink you’ve spent excoriating others’ “unseemly” behavior.
Melissa, there is a blog entitled Stuff Educated Black People Like. And I know it’s hard to be white, but better days are coming.
You’re outta context Gabe.
I don’t say, “if other people can do “X”, why can’t I?”, which seems to be what she was lamenting, Gabe.
As such, I’m not ever gonna be named amongst the lawless either, and I back up what I say with the Word.
It’s like when white people say, “THEY call themselves the “N” word, so why can’t I?”
The answer is “because you CAN’T and SHOULDN’T”, and if you’re a so-called Christian, you shouldn’t even WANT to, Gabe.
At some point, TBD, you’re going to have to deal with that beam in your eye.
Race is a social construct….I think God allowed different ethnicities to evolve by chance.
Church should be about fellowship and learning how to be a Christian, not about race. I grew up Baptist in the South and Baptist are notorious for keeping racism brewing in the church house. If you are black and go into a white church, people will look at you strange and if you are white and go into a black church, people will look at you strange. It was ignornant. I’ve been to Catholic churches and they seem to be more concerned about fellowship in the name of the Lord, then the color of your skin. Christians who are worried about the racial makeup of their church, are not real christians.
In what way?
What part of what I said was false, according to the Word, Gabe?
You sure you want to do this?
As a Catholic, I agree with Roye that Catholic churches are welcoming to people of all races. On the flip side of the coin, the music can be dreary, though it is not at all clear that one should go to church to be entertained.
To me, affinity with others has far more to do with the mind and values. And, while multiculturalism offers a certain vibrance, it is also true that crossing cultures requires effort that can be draining. Often, conversational nuances are lost and there are hurdles of preconceived notions to be overcome.
Biblically and genetically, I see skin color as being a natural outgrowth of clannishness, the division of people into smaller groups based upon family relationships. That darker people were more successful in southern areas where they could still get enough vitamin D, and that lighter people were more successful in northern areas where they wouldn’t burn and suffer as much skin cancer is just common sense. So, why are we fragmented into tribal/clannish groups? LaShawn points out that it was done at Babel. It is true that the tower was a monument to ourselves, but it is also true that the judgement was directed toward limiting the damage we could do to ourselves by dividing us. It was the original separation of powers, if you like.
Now, in Pentecost, we see God beginning to undo this division (although he had talked about it all through the Old Testament). “We are One in the Spirit”, after all. But it is only “in the Spirit” that our unity is a good thing. The Chinese propaganda at the Olympics is a good reminder of what unity without the Spirit looks like.
So, to summarize, God created the races to protect us, to judge us, and to reveal His glory in the reunification that we experience in Him.
I think God made the races for their benefit. The melanin in the skin of blacks provided protection from the equatorial sun that people in northern latitudes don’t need. Other groups in equatorial/tropical regions have darker skin than similar northern groups.
Our ability to separate ourselves along us-them lines is innate in the post-Eden world. Take the Scots. Same race/ethnic group, but their clans have been fighting (well, not lately) for centuries. Look at the Tamils and Sinhalese, the Hutus and Tutsis, the Hatfields and McCoys.
No, we don’t need race to make us hate. Race had a different purpose altogether.
Hi La Shawn… My best friend at Boy’s State… Wyoming 1955 was a black kid from Sheridan. When we played football [or was it basketball?] vs. Sheridan [at Sheridan] he was dancing at the sock hoop with a white gal. All my teammates were talking about that but I did not know why. I do not recall thinking about that little scene in the last 53 years until this article. Very strange… as my mind fades into the ether, recollections from the past are popping up in detail. And I dunno about all this God stuff but absolutely the best looking, sexiest woman lifetime was Sheryl N. BTW, I’d vote for Obama in a nano-second if his views weren’t so goofy.
I think that God planned it that way to provide a challenge that we must overcome. The challenge is within ourselves to participate with the power of the Spirit to overcome the sin that seeks to overcome us. Being in a small town, the challenges for me are often academic, but I still must grapple with my own thoughts and responses.
My heart resonates with Rodney’s simple plea “Why can’t we all just get along.” because it really should be that simple. We complicate it. Is there a problem with self-identification and self-segregation? There shouldn’t be, but we should guard against comfort for our excuse. I think that the Lord calls us to the congregation that we are to dwell in, and it’s sin if we are not seeking that. That might be a “black church” or a “white church”, or some other. Just as it’s not right for “you” to self-segregate based on comfort, it’s not right for “me” to make an assumption that you are not listening to the Spirit. (…and confirmed by the word…) The right response is to sit down and share lives. Then, I might gain the trust and authority necessary to speak something important into your life. It’s all a matter of relationship and process. That is where you will find the workings and the expression of the Lord in your life.
Roye in his comment says that “Christians who are worried about the racial makeup of their church, are not real christians.”. As a church leader, I don’t agree. While I’m not worried, I do need to evaluate that on the basis of asking the RIGHT questions: Are we welcoming? Do we try to make everyone at home and at ease? Do we try to become a part of people’s lives? Do we care enough to get over our differences?
I think that DC Talk said a mouth-full when their lyrics included “These diverse tones do more than cover our bones as a part of our humanity.”
TBD, you completely misunderstood what Melissa was saying. She wasn’t lamenting not being able to lampoon blacks, but wondering aloud why it isn’t wrong all the time to make fun of people based on their race. Re-examining your example, it becomes “Why does ANYBODY use the N-word?”
For the main thrust of her point, just read the first few lines of her post. She doesn’t want to have to walk on eggshells and she doesn’t want to be treated differently because of her race. This is not exactly an illegitimate desire. It is Christian to treat others as you would want to be treated. And it is human to want others to follow the same rule.
The portion of your post that I quoted has a meaning that doesn’t change because of context. The double-standard is clear at this point.
The greater point I was making about your “beam,” TBD, is summed up in your unending criticism of just about everyone who claims Christianity. In your many pronouncements about “so-called Christians,” you make the implication that those that do not conform to your idea of proper Christian behavior are not Christians at all. This is the judgement that we are told not to make if we do not wish to also be judged. It is condemnation for failing to meet some tenet of the Law. But Paul spent pages and pages explaining to the early church that the Law does not bring righteousness, nor salvation. We are saved by grace through faith in his Son, and like Abram, our faith is counted to us as righteousness.
Paul also explained that the freedom afforded us by Christ’s sacrifice does not make us free from obediance to the Holy Spirit. I agree that members of the Body of Christ are called to “police” each other’s behavior - iron sharpening iron, as it were. But we are warned to do so out of love and in love. That is to say, we correct each other out of the love we are to have for one another, that we can help each other live our lives in total submission to the Spirit. And out of our love for the Church, we seek to have all those who wear the name “Christian” be adequate ambassadors for Christ amongst the unsaved, that they may be drawn to Him. Correcting each other IN love involves HOW we go about addressing each other’s personal failings. When these elements are missing, people are bound to be hurt, offended and put off. This is where the ugly stereotype of the “judgmental Bible-thumper” comes from.
Equally as important to love, is humility. When we claim (or even APPEAR to claim) the moral high ground in and of ourselves, we are unable to strike the proper tone when trying to help each other, even if it is done in love. We first must understand that all have sinned and fall (and CONTINUE to fall, as the Greek use of tense suggests) short of God’s glory. Even if, on a scale of 1 to 10, one man is a 9 and another is a 1, both numbers are insignificant when compared to the infinity that is God’s righteousness. So while it is proper for the 9 to counsel the 1 where he is failing, he must do so recognizing that, in the grand scheme of things, he is still not much better.
Based on the sum of your postings, I can’t say I see neither the love nor the humility in any of your criticisms. I say that, however, knowing full well that I struggle with humility, and my tendency to turn the sarcastic phrase is often viewed as insulting. But I think the Word convicts all equally.
So help me understand Gabe..
You’re talking about the double standard whereby non-whites are given a pass to lampoon white folks, while white folks have to walk on eggshells?
If non-whites are not trying to promote justice, then they are wrong. If their ultimate goal, is not to promote justice, then they are wrong.
No one that I know personally, or who is part of my circle can be named amongst those who aren’t about producing justice or doing Yahweh’s will, and if they are NOT one of Yahweh’s people, they at least try to treat people with godly respect and dignity.
And to answer LaShawn’s question, Father Yahweh is eternal and is the one who invokes all, and everything he created, he did so intentionally and it’s all unique. And such is the way of mankind.
Gabe,
You think about everything you wrote to me, the next time one of your fellow Christian bloggers say something ugly about a minority, okay?
What you probably don’t know is that I come at ya’ll the way I for a very SPECIFIC reason. It’s not that I don’t love you Gabe, because I love EVERY SINGLE person who participates on this blog.
You tell me to remove the log out of my eye, huh? At least I don’t turn my head when people throw stones at their neighbors.
I guess I’m WRONG for saying that, huh?
So, I must ask this to all of you before I roll out for the evening…
Do you love your neighbor? What does that LOOK like to you, in the light of Scripture?
As one who believes that Yeshua is coming for “pure spotless bride”, the issues of our heart are brought to light with race, gender, justice and so on. Those who come into unity of His Holy Spirit through forgiveness, love and humility become that bride.
Oh Lashawn. I guess this explains why I have no sanctuary. You see, as a person who is mixed race and identifies with all my components (and therefore none, in a “pick one” society) I’ve known this for years, probably since I was a kid, but I didn’t admit it to myself until I was old enough to have the language for it. I have never felt comfortable in church, and this was a gigantic part of the reason why. I feel this separation in so many places, I guess I figure why voluntarily go to a place where people do this sort of self segregating most of all? It’s even affected my walk with God. I guess I figure if the people “closest” to God indulges in this kind of race-based behavior, what that makes me. Am I created lesser because I can’t really relate to this? I know it’s totally irrational, but that’s how I feel.
I don’t really go to church anymore. I go if my mom makes me. I feel furthest from God there. I feel closest to God in the oddest places. I can feel close to God in a bar or a subway station where I may see human kindness. I can feel close to God if I am at home and see my small family. I can feel close to God just feeling love for a friend. But church? I haven’t felt close to God there in years. Maybe it’s time I stop wondering why I feel so odd about that.
Sorry if this didn’t answer your question directly, or at all. I guess I just went off on a tangent!
Very good post!
“God made man in his own image”. What an unfortunate translation. “Image” has nothing to do with physical appearance. It means a reasoning being with free will.
“Racial prejudice”. Another pernicious concept. It is tribal prejudice. Tribalism has always been the scourge of mankind. The golden rule speaks of your neighbor. Yes, it means the people next door but more importantly it means the people who look different or speak differently.
The Kingdom of God is not a magical place. It is a long hard journey for mankind. We’ve gotten closer to it than other societies. Long way to go, but at least it seems we’re on the right road.
You think about everything you wrote to me, the next time one of your fellow Christian bloggers say something ugly about a minority, okay?
I don’t frequent blogs or tolerate comments that are derogatory towards anyone. I have been made uncomfortable by some ugly truths, but sometimes the truth is ugly. When I have encountered off-putting comments, however, I’ve first tried to understand what the person was saying before jumping all over them. Sometimes I’ve found common ground, and other times I’ve found closed minds. But I never presume to KNOW someone is the latter before trying to get to the former.
On the few occasions I’ve encountered a Christian using course language or ugly assumptions, I’ve tried to correct them in as moderate a tone as I could muster. Going into a foamy-mouthed diatribe that calls into question their salvation benefits no one. It casts me as an angry reactionary, causes them to become defensive and thus compelled to defend even the indefensible, and the whole affair makes ALL those who call themselves Christians appear nothing like the examples of Christ’s love we should be.
What you probably don’t know is that I come at ya’ll the way I for a very SPECIFIC reason. It’s not that I don’t love you Gabe, because I love EVERY SINGLE person who participates on this blog.
You have not shared that reason, nor would I likely find it acceptable. Whatever love you may have for your fellow commenters, you have not been very loving in the way you have addressed a good number of us. Love is sacrificial. It places others ahead of oneself. I have not seen any of that from you.
You tell me to remove the log out of my eye, huh? At least I don’t turn my head when people throw stones at their neighbors.
As far as I have seen, you’re the only one throwing stones here. Perhaps you have this group mixed up with another, but it is patently unfair to use whatever you have experienced elsewhere to castigate the rest of us. If you have an example of this stone-throwing, please give it.
If that example is something you alone seem to have taken as derogatory, perhaps you should reconsider your interpretation of it.
I guess I’m WRONG for saying that, huh?
Until I know what the heck you’re talking about, yes.
So, I must ask this to all of you before I roll out for the evening…
Do you love your neighbor? What does that LOOK like to you, in the light of Scripture?
I certainly do love my neighbors, as best I can. Sometimes I find their tendancies annoying. Sometimes I wish they would “grow up.” Sometimes I wish I could get away from a good number of them. But I think the same of my wife and daughter. And my love for them is undeniable.
The greatest thing I’ve ever done for my neighbor is shared the gospel. I’ve fed, clothed and housed my neighbors. I’ve counselled them, consoled them and encouraged them. I sure hope that looked like love.
But loving my neighbor is easy. So I’ll ask you in return, do you love your ‘enemy’?
Gabe–
thebigdoddy is too full of hatred, for those of other races and for himself, to be willing to listen to reason. He doesn’t want to be criticized, but at the same time demands that all white Christians prove their faith to him. He doesn’t even see his own hypocrisy. It’s disturbing to see someone distance himself from the Lord in such a fashion, but I don’t think he’s ready to hear the truth at this point. I pray that he will in time. I know he’ll respond with some vile racial accusation to this post. And yes, when a white person says something ugly about a minority, I do think of thebigdoddy, and how this person is so much like him. To excuse ugliness because there is other ugliness out there is about the ugliest thing there is.
Roy Lofquist–
the Kingdom of God is not some human-built society that we must make a long hard journey to reach. It comes from above, not below. If we try to create the Kingdom of God as a human society, without God, we are guaranteed to fail.
I agree with GusB–how dull it would be if we were all the same! Unfortunately, we fallen humans would rather make silly generalizations based on people’s appearance than get our lazy brains in gear and relate to people as they are. The outside never mattered to me. I don’t know why it should to anyone else.
On a lighter note: my high school science teacher was discussing the evolution theory, and one boy in the class suggested that white people were descended from albino apes.:)
By the way, it’s more than just a skin color difference. There are other physiological diffferences. Probably half the population of India and Pakistan is darker than me, but the texture of their hair, shape of their head, facial feaures (nose, mouth) shape of the hips and buttocks, are all unique. In humans, we call it race, in other species, we call it breeds.
We never attempted to say a doberman was “superior” to a lab because of their physical differences, we embraced their diversity, and now that we are supposedly more enlightened than our 17th, 18th and 19th century ancestors, we see the foolishness of attempting to assign a pecking order according to human breeds, embracing the diversity instead.
Maybe that was God’s intent, and it took a while for the racists to die off.
Gabe says:
“The greatest thing I’ve ever done for my neighbor is shared the gospel. I’ve fed, clothed and housed my neighbors. I’ve counselled them, consoled them and encouraged them. I sure hope that looked like love.”
TBD:
And I have done likewise.
Gabe:
“But loving my neighbor is easy. So I’ll ask you in return, do you love your ‘enemy’?”
TBD:
I have but one enemy and that is haSatan, and Father Yahweh rebukes him. I love what Father Yahweh loves and hate what he hates.
Do YOU love your enemies? If that man in Florida had actually killed Senator Obama, would you all be relieved that the anti-Christ (as conservative Christians call him) has been terminated?
Trish, get a grip.
This blog is not QUIET COMPANY. People are watching. I watched you call Senator Obama a “trifling creature” and you talked about his wife like a dog too, so you can’t tell me ANYTHING about hatred - EVER. You were OUTTA LINE for saying that about these people. And when you said it, NO ONE said anything. So don’t ya’ll ever talk to me about hypocrisy.
You say:
“And yes, when a white person says something ugly about a minority, I do think of thebigdoddy, and how this person is so much like him.”
LOL.. this is priceless.. simply priceless. That “white person” you’re referring to is YOU, and about 7 other ones that post on this blog. You don’t get it yet, do you?
I didn’t come in here making things up.
thebigdoddy is too full of hatred, for those of other races and for himself, to be willing to listen to reason.
Trish, I don’t think it’s fair to characterize TBD as being “full of hate” and certainly not constructive to say. There’s no reason for this to be a contest of who is or isn’t one thing or another.
Also Gabe, I’m not going to ever presume that you wink at sin, so please don’t assume that I jump on every funky thing I’ve read in here or other blogs.
If I felt the inclination to call out every foul thing written, that would be lawless of me, and since there ARE people who do watch and monitor me and the places I am sent.
I am accountable to things which you are likely not.
Now Gabe, in all seriousness, PLEASE…I ask you to reconsider this statement of yours:
“I don’t frequent blogs or tolerate comments that are derogatory towards anyone.”
I KNOW I have, because I’m ON it now. So either I’m delusional or you’re in denial or something else. I don’t believe it’s denial or delusion.
And that something “else” is really what concerns me as a Servant of Yahweh, and it’s that it’s obvious that this world is such that our consciences are seared. Why is that, brother Gabe? I’m being serious.
How has our conscience become so seared to where we put our ethnic and partisan and national identity before our Spiritual identity?
When I said that I do what I do for a specific reason, you said you would not likely find it acceptable. Well, welcome to the club of being exposed to things you consider unacceptable. Why is it that your “ugly truth” is more legitimate than mine, Gabe? It’s understandable that you would consider me the angry “foamy-mouthed” non-white male telling white folks off, which is why I’m sure it’s unacceptable.
You see if I told you that I was completely surprised that you were part of an interracial fellowship, you might view that is just one more thing about TBD that is bizarre. Why would I think that? Have you ever asked yourself WHY? I’d like to hope that, outside of the natural tendency to see me as the typical “angry black man”, you’d wonder why.
I didn’t give any reasons for what I’ve presented outside of the many scriptures and illustrations I’ve shared, even if you might not agree with the context of the verses I posted. You can’t say that anything I’ve written to you, has not been followed up with something from the Oracles of Yahweh.
I can understand your concern, but do you understand mine, Gabe?
I’m sorry Gabe, I know I was babbling, but I’ll be transparent enough to tell you that I DO have a problem. Here it is as stated before:
“How has our conscience become so seared to where we put our ethnic and partisan and national identity before our Spiritual identity?”
This has nothing to do really with you or anyone on this blog personally, but I see this a lot. And it bothers me.
I have but one enemy and that is haSatan, and Father Yahweh rebukes him. I love what Father Yahweh loves and hate what he hates.
That’s cute to say, but given the fact that Jesus made a point of demanding that we love our enemies (not referring to Satan at all), it doesn’t jive with reality. Our enemy can either be someone that wants to kill us, someone who wants to destroy our reputation or even just someone with whom we have significant differences in the way we think and communicate.
The question was specifically about those that you feel are doing wrong, or have wronged you specifically - basically those Christ was speaking of in the paraphrased quote. I can certainly admit that wrapping my head around the concept and putting it into practice is a difficult thing. And there are plenty of times I have not been successful. But I ask not to indict you for failing (since we all fail at times), but to challenge you to do better.
Do YOU love your enemies? If that man in Florida had actually killed Senator Obama, would you all be relieved that the anti-Christ (as conservative Christians call him) has been terminated?
First, I have to say how disappointed I am that you would suggest, by asking this silly question, that any Christian would wish for Obama’s death, or basically give some level of approval to his murder.
This speaks directly to what I’ve been trying to say. This is not an attempt to communicate with those whom you may disagree. This is impugning their character and their Christian morality through implication. It is hurtful and divisive and will tend to only garner angry and defensive replies.
Second, it would appear we’ve actually touched on one of your hot buttons with this Obama as anti-Christ issue. You seem to be working under false impressions. I know of no conservative Christian who SERIOUSLY thinks Obama is the proverbial Anti-Christ. However, I’ve seen the moniker applied to him as a way to mock the messianic image he has built around himself. I have also seen him called Messiah, Obamanation that brings Desolation, and The Chosen One - all of them appearing to be used in jest in regards to the hype surrounding him.
Is it personally insulting to Obama to say these things? Not really. It isn’t Obama’s person that is being mocked here, but his image. It’s sarcastic. It’s cutting. But it’s certainly no more caustic than when Christ called the Pharisees hypocrites (especially considering the word, at the time was closely associated with Greek play actors who, though they were all male theater troupes, would physically act out sex scenes when written into the play). Jesus was pointing out a truth in regards to the Pharisee’s public image vs. reality and using fairly course language (for the time) to do so. Sometimes truth is ugly.
Now, if you disagree with the comparison, or the usage of Biblical language, or perhaps the fact that, being something of an inside joke, it could cause damage to the image of Christians with non-believers, I can see your point. However, you don’t raise these issues. You simply brand everyone as a “so-called Christian” for either saying it or not reacting to it the same way as you. That’s not right. If you want to have a conversation about it, please do. But don’t presume to pronounce judgment on a large group of people you don’t know.
You see if I told you that I was completely surprised that you were part of an interracial fellowship, you might view that is just one more thing about TBD that is bizarre. Why would I think that? Have you ever asked yourself WHY? I’d like to hope that, outside of the natural tendency to see me as the typical “angry black man”, you’d wonder why.
If I told you that I’m a black man that grew up in the ghetto, would you see how out of line your assumptions tend to be?
I DO see you as an angry black man because I’ve BEEN one, I have family that are and I deal with young versions at my church all the time.
Your quickness to make ill-advised judgments about people - what they think, what they feel, what they mean when they say things, WHO THEY ARE - was something a great number of us discovered within a few posts worth of interaction with you. I hope this incident serves as an illustration of something you need to work on within yourself.
I’m talking about violence or malice, Gabe, not ideological differences when I’m talking about “enemies”.
And Y’Shua wasn’t talking about those types of ideological contentions anyhow, except for the possible “bewitching” done to people by the Pharisees. And CONSIDERING someone your ENEMY, is what Y’Shua was talking about. He knew the Halacha on this and is speaking about that, sir.
YOU may think I’m your enemy, but that may not be true. Messiah would consider that something else entirely, and this is where the disconnect can occur.
As far as the question about Obama’s death, I stand by my question. If it doesn’t apply to YOU, then good. I can find 13 people who give an appearance of being more devout than you who would toss a coin on it, sir.
Now you say:
“Second, it would appear we’ve actually touched on one of your hot buttons with this Obama as anti-Christ issue. You seem to be working under false impressions.”
No sir, I work under what I SEE and HEAR. Nothing false about it.
” know of no conservative Christian who SERIOUSLY thinks Obama is the proverbial Anti-Christ. However, I’ve seen the moniker applied to him as a way to mock the messianic image he has built around himself. I have also seen him called Messiah, Obamanation that brings Desolation, and The Chosen One - all of them appearing to be used in jest in regards to the hype surrounding him.”
And they are WRONG for engaging in that foolishness, and not ALL of it is jest.
“Is it personally insulting to Obama to say these things? Not really. It isn’t Obama’s person that is being mocked here, but his image. It’s sarcastic. It’s cutting. But it’s certainly no more caustic than when Christ called the Pharisees hypocrites (especially considering the word, at the time was closely associated with Greek play actors who, though they were all male theater troupes, would physically act out sex scenes when written into the play). Jesus was pointing out a truth in regards to the Pharisee’s public image vs. reality and using fairly course language (for the time) to do so. Sometimes truth is ugly.”
So YOU all can do it to Obama, but no one can question the veracity of certain behaviors as possibly being in the flesh? And if it’s about someones TONE or APPROACH, then you don’t need to look any farther than this blog, sir. C’mon. Why are you making excuses for people of your persuasion, but no one else can get a break? That’s not fair, sir.
You all can be “politically incorrect” and “keep it real”, but when someone has a concern about it they are being ‘thin skinned’, and having a ‘victim mentality’, when the “ugly truth” is being presented? Are you winking at that, sir?
“Now, if you disagree with the comparison, or the usage of Biblical language, or perhaps the fact that, being something of an inside joke, it could cause damage to the image of Christians with non-believers, I can see your point. However, you don’t raise these issues.”
That is EXACTLY what I’ve been saying. But this is a cultural issue, whether you like it or not, and you will NEVER hear it, because YOU want ME to make things palatable to you, but you give yourself a pass to do the exact opposite to others. You take liberties that you will not share.
You are in a position to do that because you know that you have the privilege of bearing that type of witness and be validated for it, whereas the consequences for me is exponentially worse.
You know what, I’m starting to take this “people here run down minorities without any sort of contrition” personally. And it’s boring. Find something else to discuss, or take a break from commenting here. - Admin
I think I’m done discussing things with you.
I have always been impressed with the gracious level of discourse on Lashawn’s site and am baffled by the accusation that this site is rife with hatred and prone to demean blacks.
I have long thought that what appears to some to be a preoccupation with pathologies in the black community is more accurately defined as a preoccupation with LIBERAL SOLUTIONS to problems in the black community. I think that because there is such a focus on race among liberal problem solvers, there is a defacto absorption with race.
After all, if one demands that others sacrifice their paychecks to solve problems, it puts a lens on the problems that are alleged and the efficacy of the solutions.
In other words, among conservatives, it isn’t the case that there is a focus on black problems. Rather, it is the case that conservatives are continually responding to liberal race-based solutions.
The dialogue has never been about slamming the down and out - most of those probably are not reading Lashawn Barber - but about responding to policies that are viewed as ineffective, damaging, and dangerous.
Most of us get that.
And, for what it is worth, most of us do not feel that it is our job to police every comment that comes down the pike.
So, here’s to Lashawn and the gracious substantive conduit for discussion that she has provided.
Hey, I thought conservatives were against censorship and political correctness?
I’m a disciple who just happens to share some conservative ideals, so why I can’t I ‘keep it real’ and share the ‘ugly truth’ about the mistaken identity crisis in the Body whereby too many of its members are too closely yoked with heathens when it comes to politics, and as such, start to act like them? THAT’S what I’ve been saying. Why would you say and do and mimic them? They don’t know Him. We hope they do one day, but right now, they don’t.
Father Yahweh’s creation is unique to Him, and the different hues of men are His design, so we can and do OBSERVE the uniqueness of that creation, but never forget that His plan is for us to identify with Him in SPITE of that uniqueness. So why don’t we?
“How has our conscience become so seared to where we put our ethnic and partisan and national identity before our Spiritual identity?”
JB,
You may be baffled because of that which you may identify.
Neither the liberal OR the conservative one is Yahweh’s solution to the pathologies associated with ANY group.
And of course, though she may have taken it personally, I never said it was LaShawn who was fake and phoney, and I not gonna tell lies about my sister either.
Moreover, STOP talking about non-white people and their problems as if they want YOUR money, not to mention “demand that others sacrifice their paychecks”.
There is that “they want a handout” attitude again. But you’re going to say I’m “reading into” it, aren’t you? Then why did you say it and why WOULD you say it?
Money is the root of all kinds of evil, and so if it’s about MONEY, then liberals and conservatives are EQUALLY engaging in the sin of covetousness. Money doesn’t SAVE and it doesn’t KEEP because Father Yahweh owns ALL of it.
I’m talking about SPIRITUAL problems, not money. Why don’t you all get that? This is why I asked this question:
“How has our conscience become so seared to where we put our ethnic and partisan and national identity before our Spiritual identity?”
I never said it was about policing either, but if you’re gonna stuff slide, then let it slide, so we’re going to disagree about the dialog here.
Sheesh, I expect unsaved liberals to make excuses and rationalize dogging out their neighbors, but I’m bummed with ya’ll…
jb,
You have, as usual, diplomatically, tactfully, and graciously nailed it.
Helio,
You have just made my day!
Truthfully, I have long been struck by the perceptual dissonance I encounter in our society. I can only note that I find refuge in knowing that there are those, such as yourself, who think clearly, use words beautifully, have a gracious heart, and an unrelenting mind.
COGNITIVE Dissonance indeed.
Saying that blacks are demanding that people sacrifice their paychecks to get their problems solved is diplomatic and gracious, huh?
I suspect God made different races for the same reason He decided that a male and a female would be required to bring a baby into the world… because this whole world and everything in it is a school to make us grow up into the likeness of Christ, and learning to love people who are different from us is such good practice.
Just curious…
Did ANY of the rest of you read my #46 comment and come away with the following malignancy? [Moreover, STOP talking about non-white people and their problems as if they want YOUR money, not to mention “demand that others sacrifice their paychecks”. response by TBD]
In my mind, I was speaking about liberal solutions that demand people’s paychecks for ineffective solutions, but perhaps I am in a parallel universe and words don’t really mean what they mean.
I’ve already reported my findings so the rest is really just academic.
Of COURSE no one else is going to come away with what I came away with, JB.
It shows that people can share a secular ideology that is conservative and be completely at odds on Spiritual matters.
Hi all,
I hope I’m not out of place with my comments, but this is what was inspired in me to say.
The people in the church I used to attend were all colors and ethnicities. Of course, we were located in a major city, but … there were tons of churches segregated by culture and ethnicity there, also. At this church, Christ was our focus, not our “color” or our “culture.” Isn’t this the message, that there is no longer Jew or Greek, but we are One, Christ is all and in all? Isn’t this the reality in the Spirit? If it is not, it is our fault. If it is not, why claim you are a Christian? Christ said “you will do greater things than I …” He said if we truly believe, we could say to a mountain “move” and it would move.
We are holding on to culture, holding on to our “world” (love not the world), to being “loud” or “quiet” or the type of music we like, the type of clothes we wear, etc etc … all outward things. It is not a testimony of Jesus to have a Black Christian church and a White Christian church side by side in the same city, waving to each other over the fence. I’m sorry I cannot see it, there’s something wrong with that. This kind of testimony is not pure, according to what I experienced. Sure, we are comfortable with those who are like us. But it is not good to be around only those with whom you are comfortable; you cannot grow. We need to be willing to drop our culture, and our likes and dislikes, to be one in spirit. It is a sacrifice we willingly make. We are free in Christ. But Christians also need to be one people, and to sacrifice for that oneness. If we all thought like this, had this kind of heart, there would be no divisions; the testimony would be strong.
That being said, I no longer consider myself a Christian, but I still believe that if we look at each other’s spirit, the outward shell will be just that … a shell. It changes and decays. But there is a Treasure in these earthen vessels.
I do not believe “God” created the different races … I believe we evolved. In fact, it is very obvious if you just observe how different groups of people look and where they are located and from where they migrated starting 60,000 years ago. Read Spencer Wells’ book, The Journey of Man. We evolved to adapt to our environment. Different groups evolved differently, according to their needs and the pressure of the environment. That’s all. The concept of “race” is more cultural than biological.
Hey Olive,
When you say you’re “no longer” a Christian, what do you mean?
I say that because there are growing remnants of people who don’t use “Christian” to describe themselves, but are devout disciples and worshipers and share some fundamental Bible tenets.
Nonetheless, if “race” is a cultural construct, and you state that we can “look at each other’s spirit”, then is it safe to assume that you believe we have a spiritual identity?
If this is so, then perhaps maybe you might have some thoughts on the question I’ve asked within this topic?
“How has our conscience become so seared to where we put our ethnic and partisan and national identity before our Spiritual identity?”
In my view, the EVIDENCE of this is in how [SAVED] people behave towards each other, and treat people of different ethnicities, partisan ideologies, and nationalities, that have not been explained within our spiritual mandate.
Every problem with mankind, is a spiritual problem, is it not? Or am I oversimplifying, sister Olive?
I would consider your comments out of place. If you do not believe in the God who created the world (which I presume by your use of quotation marks around His name), than there is no authority behind your paraphrased use of Scripture.
Your sentiments are nice, and I appreciate them. But if you have decided to turn away from the God of the Bible, attempting to appeal to His Word is an empty and cynical gesture.
Hi Gabe,
I do not consider the bible “the Word of God” but that of men. Many parts of the bible reveal truths about mankind’s situation, and I am a part of mankind. I do not use these words in an empty and cynical manner. They reveal the heart of man, touching my heart. “Love your neighbor as Yourself,” etc. It is not empty to appeal to this, no matter what belief-system you embrace.
I have come to the conclusion that … if there is a … G_d … then no human being really knows him. It has not, and I believe it cannot be proven to me. Or anyone, really, if they are honest. It took me time to figure this out … 30 years to be exact.
When I was a Christian, I never wondered why the “Creator” created different races. It seemed silly to ask this. Why all the varieties of flowers, birds, animals, land, etc.? So why not people. I know this is a Christian website, but it is also a website of seeking people … what I consider seeking people. If the Administrator says that believing in God is a prerequisite to posting, then of course, I will stop. I am not here to antagonize or put down. I read this blog alot, and appreciate the spirit of it, the desire to get to the truth, and I find some of the comments interesting. I am just sharing what I have.
Olive
“Every problem with mankind, is a spiritual problem, is it not? Or am I oversimplifying, sister Olive?”
Yes, BigDoddy, I believe every problem with mankind is basically a spiritual problem.
“How has our conscience become so seared to where we put our ethnic and partisan and national identity before our Spiritual identity?”
I will elaborate later. It is a great question, and on one hand, the answer is simple, but perhaps one that the Christian readers of this board may not approve of. But it is all part of what I have been discovering, whether I be misled or not. Right now I need to get to work, so will write more later.
Olive
Good looking out Gabe…your response helped clarify my first question to Olive.
It’s cool Olive, you obviously come in peace, but I’d still like to know why you’re not a Christian anymore.
If that’s too much of a personal question, then I apologize.
The Oracles of Yahweh are certainly for ALL of mankind, and because of the principles of sowing and reaping, one could benefit from them, but there is a larger issue here and that is what’s gonna happen when we die.
Y’Shua is the name of the Savior of the World and he is literally “Yahweh’s salvation”..so you can’t get to the Father without going through the Son.
I’m sure you probably already know this, and as such it appears that you’ve decided that it’s not for you anymore. Why?
Okay then holla back later Olive. Seeya.
I know a fair number of people who have taken Olive’s path. Their skepticism is as old as Christianity and has a rich and important history.
It would not be my choice to pry into Olive’s reasons for seeking a wider understanding of man and religion.
It is tiresome to have bits of scripture shot at you like a silver bullet. It is annoying to have to endure arguments over what letters to string together to “correctly” say His name. Much of the discourse between practitioners of the faith does boil down to a version of how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.
When I am in Rome, I always go by San Pietro in Vincoli near the Forum to view Michelangelo Buonarroti’s “Moses with horns.” It reminds me that one of God’s most talented children created a glorious sculpture in an act of spiritual praise and included horns because St. Jerome made a totally understandable error in the Vulgate translation.
Christianity is loaded with ambiguities. Some Christians are in disagreement with orthodox understandings, but still maintain their Christian identification. They may be called heterodox Christians and they are valued for their constructive skepticism. Largely, fundamentalists try to wall off heterodoxy.
When someone keeps the “spirit” of Christianity, but moves “beyond” Christianity, I feel that it is Christianity that has failed.
On the other hand, there is no cause rewrite orthodoxy in order to make the wandering pilgrim happy and fat.
I wish Olive well in her search. I just hope she doesn’t end up all “karma” ridden in “Beingness” at the feet of an Indian mystic.
“It is tiresome to have bits of scripture shot at you like a silver bullet. It is annoying to have to endure arguments over what letters to string together to “correctly” say His name”
Sorry that you have endured those things in your journey, sir. The good news is that you haven’t endure those things at MY hands, so why did you bring it up on the heels of my response?
Scripture has it’s place, and referencing certain tid-bits can bring clarity. You’re a teacher, and so I know you know this.
The sentiment about the sacred name was for Her and not you, Heliotrope. I’m not trying to convert her into any sort of orthodoxy that you may find “tiresome”.
And only ONCE have I even been INVOLVED in a discussion ABOUT the sacred names on this blog. I merely use them in my writing and keep it moving.
The point I was making was about her salvation (well, at least her current state, given her admission) using the illustration of the sacred names, and I did it in the context of her sentiments about “God” and her acknowledging that problems with mankind are spiritual problems.
She decided to go another path, but we SHOULD (at least I do) want her to return to the Messiah, through which she can reunited with the one true “God” she mentioned in her earlier response.
I want her back in the fold as soon as possible.
TBG,
You are completely mistaken that what I wrote was in reference to your remarks. I have, for the most part, by-passed your remarks because they cause more confusion than clarity in my mind.
I am not disposed to go about in conversion overdrive. I made that as a conscious choice in my life. I deal with many people who range from non-Christian all the way to anti-Christian. I have found ways to meet them on common ground. That is necessary for me to proceed in a Christian way.
I do not know why Olive has chosen her path and I will not pry into her choices.
Olive may very well have been driven away by zealots in overdrive. If you do not know what that means, then imagine this:
You, THEBIGDODDY, are called to bring the Russian Orthodox communion, the Greek Orthodox communion, the Roman Catholic Church, the Coptic communion, the Mormons, the Christian Scientists, the Seventh Day Adventists, the Unitarians, the Anglicans, the Episcopalians, the various conventions of Baptists, the Lutherans, the Congregationalists, the Methodists, the Quakers, the Amish, and on and on …… to bring all these together and work out an unambiguous and unified orthodoxy.
If enough sparks don’t fly to send the average Olive looking elsewhere, I will eat my hat.
We deceive ourselves if we believe our own behaviors in the name of God don’t sometimes drive people to seek peace and sanctuary elsewhere.
THEBIGDODDY, you in particular have come onto this site throwing thunderbolts like you have an endless supply. I have largely ignored this, because for the most part, I can not parse your meaning.
Have your say, but please do not imagine that I am addressing you. If you are an exemplar of what I mention, I take no responsibility for it. If and when I address you, I will do so directly, using your moniker.
It is not my mission to offend or be snide. I really understand Olive’s words. I am not at war with her. I mean it when I say that Christianity, as she has encountered it, has let her down.
Yeah okay to all the other stuff you said, because you specifically said something about “letters to string together correctly to say His name” right after my post. Who else uses the sacred names in here BUT me.
But nonetheless, I 100% agree that something or someone, somewhere, has let our sister down, and that hurts. At one point she choose to walk with him and now she doesn’t. I wish it were not so.
And me throwing thunderbolt are a direct response to the unchecked political and ethnic prejudices that you and 4 other respondents eloquently relay, yet deny like abusers do with victims with “crazymaking” tactics.
If it weren’t obvious to me, then I would never had a cause to even reach into my Quiver for anything but an olive branch. I didn’t START out like that, and I was very gracious seeing as I watched and read my sister for a year before I ever responded here. The “making a brother out to be a troublemaker” is typical, but it doesn’t apply to me. I’m about promoting justice, not about promoting a partisan agenda whereby one can secretly hide your prejudices. That will NEVER be me.
But in all fairness, there are some very cool folks on this blog and they are not snide and funky acting either, and I dig that, as they dig the cool things I’ve have actually written, while you’re still stuck on my style.
TBD: “Who else uses the sacred names in here BUT me.”
My experience and observations are not limited to LaShawn’s site.
Believe me when I say I will address any problems I have with you alone to you alone.
Many Christians fight over nomenclature. I find it a great waste of Christian energy and even verging on the sin of vanity.
God had nothing to do with it. Races evolved like all forms of life. I find it incredible that any rational person doesn’t accept the fact (not theory) of evolution
Hi BigDoddy,
I don’t want to get too much into what I have been experiencing over the past three years regarding Christianity, it would be very long and I think I should stick to the topic of this blogpost, which I feel your question about our conscience is pertinent. Suffice it to say that … no one or no thing hurt me or turned me off … no one threw verses at me and I don’t feel Christianity “let me down.” And I will not be sitting at the feet of Dattatreya Siva Baba any time too soon.
I have been doing alot of reading, of history, psychology and science, and thinking and soul-searching over the past 3 years and have come to some conclusions that surprised even myself.
“How has our conscience become so seared to where we put our ethnic and partisan and national identity before our Spiritual identity?”
I don’t think I would say a person’s conscience is “seared” when they put their ethnic and national and partisan identity before their Spiritual identity. I just don’t think they have grown up yet.
They are living by their Outward identity and not their Inward. To me, they are living by the “world” … and Jesus said “love not the world.”
The world gives you an outward identity, and we embrace it because we have not learned to be Whole, mature people yet. So our searching Ego fills in the gaps by looking for an “identity.” We identify with our nationality, our ethnicity, our culture, our political party, the clothes we wear, the food we eat, our hairstyles, the piercings and tatoos we have, the music we like, our belief-system and the way we worship, the TV shows we watch. Instead of using them, they use us. And these things seem to define our very Being, and we cannot let them go because we feel we would die, we would be giving up a “part of us.” “Whoever lays down their life [...] will find it; he who holds onto it shall lose it.” I was told the word “life” here in the Aramaic can be translated “psuche” or “soul” life or life in the soul.
Jesus seems at every juncture to say … YOU have a fountain of living water within yourself, YOU have the treasure in the earthen vessel, YOU will do greater things than this. There is no need to look outward or upward.
He talks to the woman at the well and says there will be a time when men won’t worship at this place or at that place, but in Spirit and in Truth. He gives the example of the man beaten by robbers, a priest walks by, a Levite walks by, and the despised Samaritan helps him. Race, class, culture, religion. Jesus speaks of spirit, of attitude, of heart.
We have to be born in some context … in some country, to some parents, speaking some language, with a certain way of doing things. And there are some very good, very useful aspects of culture. I love learning new ways of doing things. But the point is, don’t hold onto it as an Identity; grow beyond it. Everything grows, and changes. Learn to read beyond the buzz-words. This, to me, is spirit.
So to tie this into LaShawn’s question of why “God” created the races, I don’t believe God created races. The physical features of mankind evolved and adapted for survival purposes, and survival was of the fittest. There is no more Neanderthal. Homo sapiens (we) wiped them out (whether by violence or disease, one of many genocides). And because we are of nature and are animals (albeit extremely evolved animals), we try to wipe out each other all the time, fighting for power and resources and dominance. Jesus was a human being that grew beyond his culture and saw the truth about what it was: an ephemeral, changing thing. His concept of Love was also evolved. He was a seeker of truth, and cared about what was going on inside of people.
So I guess with all the horror and heartbreak that so-called “race” has brought us, it can be used to our advantage. We know in nature that the strongest genes survive. A mutt is the best dog. And it seems that the strongest “memes” will survive. The spirit of the words of Jesus (and others like him) have survived over 2000 years and more. Hopefully people of Conscience will keep them alive many millenia to come, the Light won’t go out, and the Kingdom of Heaven that Jesus said was within us may one day be physically manifested in the societies we create here on earth.
I guess that’s my two-cents at the moment, for what it’s worth.
Olive
I find it incredible that any rational person doesn’t accept the fact (not theory) of evolution
Comment by taisho
I find it incredible that any rational person accepts a theory that says human beings ultimate progenitor is pond scum.
There is a fairy tale that says a frog turns into a prince from the kiss of a princess. Science tells the same fairy tale, just replace the “kiss of a princess” with “billions of years of random mutations”.
White cars are better in the desert because they color reflects light. Black cars are warmer to
some extent in winter because the color absorbs
light.
The joke is that white skin burns in the desert sun
so we are designed to be either too hot or
sunburned?
Lucy,
Please don’t give up on finding the place where you can worship in community, in power, and in peace. I know that I know that I know that the Lord has a place for you. A place where you will be welcome, and will feel at home in the love that will lift you up, comfort you, and hold you accountable.
It may feel comfortable to meet the Lord where you can find him in solitude, but the bible tells us that we were created for community. Many times the bible tells us “as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another”. Hebrews tells us to “… not forsake(ing) the assembly”. Time after time it is proven in the pages of The Word that the Lord intends you to live in community. That is a blessing and a promise that you will sorely miss if you allow the enemy to lie to you and tell you that you can meet God on your own terms.
Don’t settle. The Lord has better for you. Seek and you will find. Ask and it will be given you. Knock and the door will be opened to you.
Chris Rock has a point: White people like black people the same way they like black pepper…just a dash.
And Larry Elder has a point too: black people tend to be more bigoted than white people.
It’d be unsporting to turn around and blame God for the resulting mess.
That’s your opinion.. because both Chris Rock and Larry Elder are wrong.
Chris Rock, on one hand, is trying to get a laugh, and on the other hand, Larry Elder is neither a friend, nor can he relate to non-whites.
Yup, apparently Christians are no different than the rest of the world when it comes to race. Sometimes, the world is better at it. What irritates me the most is when people use the bible to justify this. Lately, a white person initiated a regular correspondence with me (I’m black). He believes that God wants races to be segregated and even uses scripture to “prove” his case. No wonder many minorities are beginning to reject Christianity.
Just to clarify, I don’t believe a rejection of Christianity is in order. I’m just highlighting one of the reasons why such rejections exist.
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