Is Your Church Racist?

Is your church racist?

An article in the latest issue of Relevant Magazine has me wondering about whether or not my church is. The article quoted a person saying that the 11:00 hour on Sunday mornings are the most segregated time in America.

Wow!

No one wants to think about their church being racist.

Those are uncomfortable words to utter.

No one would admit that.

Perhaps racist is a too strong of a word (perhaps it's not).

Perhaps you'd feel more comfortable with the question: is your church segregated?

Is your church made up of one predominant color? Do you all look the same? The article said that 90% of churches are racially homogenous.

My church is mostly made up of white, middle class. Every church I've been a member of for the last 30 years has been.

I've always reasoned that it was because the places I've lived were mostly made up of people like me. That there weren't a lot of people who were different. This simply is a cop out and not true.

If it were, then there wouldn't be African American and Hispanic churches in just about every community in every denomination.

This is when our reasoning deepens.

We say things like, "Those groups worship differently than we do." But we all worship the same God.

Or better yet, "I wouldn't feel comfortable worshiping like they do."

They worship one way and we worship another way.

Unfortunately, a vast majority of churches are missing out on what a diverse church provides: relationships.

More than likely you don't go to your church solely for the worship style, but for the relationships.

A diverse church offers opportunities to be in relationships that are more like what we will experience every day for an eternity. Relationships that reflect Christ-like love.

All Christians are saved by the blood of Jesus. Christians should have similar beliefs and morals.

If these two are true, then why are we so segregated?

People worship where they feel comfortable. I wouldn't feel comfortable regularly worshiping in a Hispanic church. So I can't blame a Hispanic for not wanting to worship regularly in my church.

I don't see how the segregated church can be a good thing. It definitely isn't a reflection of what Jesus intended.

But we can't reconcile this problem on this side of eternity without being intentional about it.

More or less I am more curious to as what you thought.

What do you think? Is your church segregated?

You can view the article in its entirety by visiting Relevant Magazine starting on page 59.