The Darkness of Prejudice

I'm going to tell you a story. This isn't a parable, though it could be, but something that truly happened in a pastor's life. I have to tell you this story, because it seems like the Church has gone to sleep and we all need to wake up.

You see, some time ago the leaders of a certain local church demanded the resignation of their pastor. Not because they caught the pastor in some dirty little secret, nor because he wasn't doing his job. What great sin did he commit? He brought three small black children to an all white Church.

The explosion came without warning. On that morning one of the deacon's wives called the pastor to inform him that he shouldn't bring blacks to "our" church. This lady had some good reasons as to why these children should have been excluded from the Church. She said that the pastor should have "asked the people" what they wanted before bringing them, and that "those kind of people" have never been allowed in the Church before. One of those children stood outside the pastor's house crying to go to church, literally crying. Would you have turned him away? When the pastor quoted the Scripture:

Matthew 18:2-6 "And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,  And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.  Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.  But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea."

He was told "you can twist the Scripture to say anything you want it to say, but these people need to go to their own Church". When he disagreed, she gave him a stern warning that "I can't support you in this". The pastor called another Church member and, before he could finish his question, was told the same thing. "These people" are not welcome in our church.

If the early Church had had this attitude, none but the Jews would be in the Church today. Did you know that? Did you know, white man, there was a time when you were regarded as "those people" and were not accepted in the Church? Listen to this account of a white Gentile, and see how Jesus responded:

Matthew 15:22-28  "And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.  But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.  But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.  And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.  Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour."

You see, there was a time when we were "those people". Jesus initially came for the Jews, not for us. Jews are not light skinned and blue eyed, as many bigots think, but are dark skinned and dark eyed. We think of them as "those people", along with the African-American. Odd, don't you think, because we're really "those people", not them. Paul the Apostle warned the Churches who fell into racial prejudices against the Jews:

Romans 11:17-21 "And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;  Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.  Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.   Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:  For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee."

Israel "because of unbelief they were broken off", not because of color. Jesus looked, not at the color of the Canaanite woman's skin, but at her heart. Her heart was full of belief so, though Jesus was not yet ready to offer His ministry to "those white people", He did so anyway.  Israel was broken off because of unbelief in Jesus, failure to follow His Word, failure to accept Him as Savior. If Israel was broken off because they were asleep when Messiah came, don't you think your Church can suffer the same fate? Don't you think that God won't break you off, too, and cast you into eternal hellfire?

Church membership and self justification just doesn't cut it. It is Jesus' Church. He said, "If you love Me, keep My commandments" (John 14.15). Did the "Leaders" of the Church keep His commandments? Absolutely not. They found fault with the pastor, but never went to him in private (Matthew 18.15), never took a witness to him and justified the charge in the light of Scripture (Matthew 18.16). He was tried, convicted without evidence, without appeal. The charge that they leveled against him was evil:

Proverbs 17:13  "Whoso rewardeth evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house."

Isaiah 5:20  "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!"

Romans 14:12  "So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God."

There will be a payday - and it may even come in this life, for it's been my experience that you reap what you sow. The Church in America is slowly dying while it's growing at astounding rates among "those people" overseas. Why? Because these people are doing what Jesus told them to do!

Is your Church stagnant? Here's a suggestion: follow what Jesus said without equivocation. Pastors, grow a spine and stand up for what Jesus said. The battle that this pastor had to fight was made harder by compromising pastors who decided to "keep the peace" by ignoring Scripture. A number of pastors called the ousted pastor to "get the scoop", but only two gathered around to support him in his time of suffering. Most pastors shunned the ousted man, lest they themselves have to give an account to their flock. The director of missions turned his head. The associate pastor at his church joined in the mob, and shunned the disgraced pastor. The exact words that were told this pastor on the day the church voted him out were:

It saddens me, but we have to let go the best pastor we ever had.

Listen Beloved! The leadership of the local Church - including the deacons and elders - either bless the flock or curse it by how they follow God's truths. Grow a spine, and do what Jesus said. Quit quibbling about stupid things, quit justifying sinful behavior patterns in the flock for the sake of peace, and do your job. If the Church fails, you will be judged ... you will be judged. As God said to all Leaders in His Body:

Ezekiel 3:18-19  "When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul."

I periodically tell this story. I will not tell you who the pastor was, nor where he served. I can tell you that this man has moved on with his life, and now pastors a wonderful church in another state. There is hope after the storm. But he wonders, even now, if he did right in leaving that church with so little fight. He wonders, even now, if his resignation didn't justify - at least in their minds - the prejudice that is so unnatural for a true Christian. He wonders about that associate pastor who later lost his job as well. Sad, but you do sow what you reap. He wonders about the people he still loves, and misses. He wonders how God will judge him on that Great Day, when he parts the veil and enters into eternity.

Think about this story, Beloved, and let God touch your heart. Sin is sin - and the soul that sinneth, it shall die. Part of that pastor's heart died that day. He still feels the hole.

Survey notes heightened challenge of reaching children for Christ By Polly House NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--"Churches that aren't reaching out to children are missing the mark," a church growth and evangelism expert told participants in the National Preschool and Children's Convention, Oct. 16-19 at LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. Thom Rainer, dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and Church Growth at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Ky., listed seven characteristics shared by churches that are reaching children. The shared traits were discovered through a survey conducted by the Billy Graham school focusing on the "Bridger" generation, those born between 1977 and 1994, Rainer said. The survey showed, first of all, that churches reaching children are intentional in targeting young people through evangelistic activities. In a random telephone survey, Rainer said researchers talked to four generations: Builders (born before 1946), Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964), Busters (born from 1965 to 1976) and Bridgers (1977-1994). For survey purposes, only those Bridgers 17 years old and older were questioned. "We asked people, first of all, if we could ask them a question about religion," Rainer recounted. "If they said OK to that, we asked them, 'If you were to die tonight, do you think you would go to heaven?' Then, if they answered yes, we asked, 'Why do you think you would go to heaven?'" Out of the 1,300 people interviewed, Rainer noted alarm at the low percentage of people in each group who responded that they considered themselves Christians based on having accepted Christ as personal Savior. Of the Builder generation, 65 percent were Christians; Boomer generation, 35 percent; Buster generation, 15 percent; and Bridger generation, only 4 percent. "Of these people, 75 percent of them became Christians before the age of 14," Rainer said. "If we really look at the data and are objective, we will look at our preschoolers and children and become intentionally evangelistic," he added. "If you don't have a plan to reach these children, you've blown it." Lois Fisher, a preschool resource person for the State Convention of Baptists in Ohio and a preschool, children and youth worker at Miami Shores Baptist Church in Dayton, said she was surprised at the drop in the percentage of people from one generation to the next who are Christians. "That tells me we've got to start praying more," she said. "I'm afraid our churches have been failing these children and teenagers. We've got to do better. They need us." The six other shared traits included: -- Churches that reach children understand the pervasiveness of the media. "In kids under the age of 12, studies indicate they spend 22 hours a week in front of the television, 10 hours a week listening to the radio, 10 hours a week on the Internet, nine hours a week listening to recorded music like CDs and four hours a week watching movies and rented videos," Rainer said. "This says what we do in our churches cannot be of lousy quality because they won't pay attention," Rainer said. However, he added, "The kids said, 'We don't expect you to be as good as the current media.'" -- Churches that reach children are lovingly uncompromising in their beliefs. "The young people know if the adults are sincere in their beliefs," Rainer said. "They are attracted to churches that believe in absolutes. While they struggle with exclusivism, they still want to be certain. I'm concerned that in our desire to reach this generation, we will compromise." -- Of the churches that are reaching children, 22 percent are using senior adults to reach them. "For many churches now, senior adult ministry means ministry by senior adults, not ministry to senior adults," Rainer said. "So many of these young people are starving for adult attention. Seniors have time to give it," he said. -- Churches that reach children have discovered the power of corporate prayer. "I rarely see a church that is making an impact [on the lives of children] that isn't involved in corporate, deliberate prayer," Rainer said. -- Churches that reach children have discovered the means to strengthen the entire family. Rainer quoted a survey showing the top fear of young people is the concern that something bad will happen to their family. "This tells us," Rainer said, "the health of the family is really on these kids' minds." -- Churches that reach children show unconditional love with boundaries. "The young people said that they want to be a part of something that expects something of them, that has high expectations of them," Rainer said. Rainer, a former pastor, said, "If I had anything I'd do over if I were still a pastor, I would focus on Sunday school more and I would focus on children and preschoolers more."