Well, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said that the most segregated time in the United States is Sunday service. I know that. Other than myself, there are maybe 2 families that are in our churches that are black like I am, there are a few more that are Hispanic, but the definite majority are white. My church is, however, pretty accepting of it all because we know what Galatians 3:28 says "all are one in Christ Jesus". My church is not perfect, though. It will never be perfect. There were pockets of time where I was the only black kid that was in the church. Was it bad at times? Yeah! However, I have just gotten used to that. Here's why.
I grew up in the suburbs, because my parents wanted me in good schools (another effect of segregating). I was basically the only black kid in my peer group in school. Now there were other black kids at my school, but here was the ticker: I was the sellout because I didn't "act black". I was a sellout because I wasn't like the other black people. I didn't wear the fashion, I didn't say the slang, and I wasn't ever a trouble child. I was a docile, nice, little, black boy. That separated me from every other black kid in school. No black kids really wanted to accept me, just like white society didn't accept me much either. That's why I say this: as damaging as it is that black and white segregation is going on, there is still loads of issues with stereotyping. I wasn't the "ghetto hoodlum" kid that all the other black kids were, so they would always say that I wasn't black. To this day, they don't say that I am black because I spoke differently and did not "act black". I did not act "tough" because I'm not a tough guy. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a pretty weak guy. Because of that, I was not a tough guy. That is supposed to be the definition of black.
So I say this: the church has to not only be more integrated, but it also needs to put out a new definition of being black, white, hispanic, Asian, and whatever racial creed a person is. Nobody in church should be a racist, but I know sadly there is plenty of racism that exists. This predominantly happens because nobody can get past the "act black" or "be white" mantra, and just let people be people. People try to fit in by being someone they're not. Church has really been no better, sadly. So many people now don't go to church because they don't want to have to stop wearing hats and Nike shoes to church. This is one point where I say individualism does not hurt. I don't care how people dress (provided they are covered up. No nudist church for me.
) But if we just got past appearance and saw them as a potential witness for Jesus, it would be awesome. I assume we wouldn't then care how they dressed, and the racial problems could get cut down.
So I agree wholeheartedly with you, I just wanted to expand on your points, though. Hope I explained myself well.
