Building Bridges & Burning Ships: Part 8
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” - Galatians 3:28 NIV
In the United States, today’s war seems to fall more along black and white than Jew or Greek. It is interesting to me how people think victimization of a race is new and unique.
When we look throughout history, we can go all the way back in time to the war between the Jews and the Greeks in the Bible. All over the world there are culture clashes and race wars. There are the Hutus and Tutsis in Africa, the apartheid in South Africa, and a war in the Slavic areas that broke out because of people in different countries marrying one another!
Do you know what all of these wars have in common? They were burning ships. Instead of building a bridge and finding common ground to create a better country/serve the Kingdom, they found ways to war against one another.
Here in the United States - we are hell bent to find ways to disagree. There are no more “moderate” conservative or liberal political parties because people want to go to the extreme.
At times, it feels like there are automatic assumptions made against another person when you see them and they are a different shade than you in the U.S.
People seem to open their mouths to burn ships instead of building bridges. A woman named Nancy Pearcey said:
“Christians should speak out on moral issues not because they feel “offended” or because their cherished beliefs are threatened,” but because they have compassion for those who are trapped by destructive ideas.”- Nancy Pearcey
Discriminating against people based on their skin color is a moral issue. We cannot remain silent when it becomes an issue of black people being treated inferior to white people.
I am not speaking to cop shootings, but to everyday life and how we as the church can build a bridge. We need to speak from a place of compassion and embrace those who feel they are being treated inferior. I am in a unique position as a girl from the Appalachian mountains (one of the poorest areas in the United States) raised in a predominantly poor black community in St. Louis.
I was one of a tiny percentage of white people in an inner - city public school in St. Louis. This gave me firsthand experience that poverty does not care what color you are.
As a teenager, we moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin and I left for the mountains in Kentucky to explore my childhood roots as a teenager. Both times I came back to Milwaukee I was blown away by the discrimination and disunity, especially in the church, in this city. One day there was an inner city ministry that gave back to the community who found the executive director stepping down. There was an African - American man who was well respected in the community for raising a beautiful family, being married to one woman, started an inner city bus ministry to children, and also started a prayer ministry in the community. I had prayed to meet him and had the privilege to finally meet together.
When I met him, I told him how he had been on my heart to apply for that ministry. He told me I was the perfect person to represent him and his people because no one in the church, the non - profit, or the city would listen to him because of his skin color. The sad thing, he was right.
When I talked to church leaders, nobody had heard of him even though he had been attending church in the suburbs for years while ministering in the inner city. I was someone they actually thought would be great for the job. It is a position and area I refused to step in, however. For many reasons I made this choice, but one of the greatest being the lack of strong families in the inner city and African - American communities. This man would have been a shining example, but could not step up due to being ignored by the predominantly white church communities that funded the ministry. I am happy to say they were able to hire a more family oriented person to represent their ministry.
This is a sad story where I have learned I will use my uniquely qualified voice to speak to these underserved communities. I have been given a unique role to build a bridge between the white and black, as well as the young and old in the church. When you go about your day and you know you have been given things that someone else does not have access to - build a bridge and help them get those things. The core of this being Jesus. Every one, no matter their background - should know they have access to their Heavenly Father and eternity. Every issue should go beyond color and opinion and back to the Cross.
In conclusion, I want to tell you about an amazing couple.
There was a white couple who God gave a heart for a black community in Tulsa, Oklahoma. They started a church and were faithful to that ministry. Not that many people had heard of them. Then, one day everybody started hearing about this young, black man who was on fire for Jesus and had never been to seminary. He wanted to be a recording artist, but became a preacher. Everyone started to listen to his sermon series “Crazy Faith” and “Relationship Goals”. Nobody still knew who this couple was until a sermon where he stated that this white couple raised up a church and with their leadership - handed it over to him. He has taken it and multiplied what was given to him. That preacher is Michael Todd. He is very well known today and has set an amazing example in modeling authenticity (H.O.T - humble, open, and transparent model), family values, and commitment to growing with his church & serving others.
Moving forward, when you want to speak on a race issue, evaluate whether it is actually building a bridge or burning a ship. Are you the one who is supposed to speak on it or are you simply supposed to love the person in front of you? Speaking of loving those in front of you, stay tuned for next week where we talk about building a bridge in politics!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alycia Marie is a free-spirited wanderer learning to find roots. She currently resides in Milwaukee and serves the community of southeastern Wisconsin. You can typically find her outdoors, as long as it’s warm, hanging out with family/close friends and meeting soon-to-not-be strangers. In her spare time, she writes, drinks chai tea, and builds non-profits, homes, families, and people. Some people like to call it missions. She prefers well-digging.