God Before Race

I grew up in Atlanta during the Civil Rights Movement. As a child, after Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated, I watched his funeral procession through the streets of downtown. And I remember the race riots that erupted all over the country as a result of his assassination.

Years later, I marched on the National Mall in support of King’s birthday becoming a national holiday. I was militant. My entire life from infancy to young adulthood was steeped in blackness. I attended all-black schools, lived in all-black neighborhoods and espoused all-black causes.

Many Americans, black and white, have a viewpoint just like I did. But after receiving a renewed heart as a born-again Christian, my attitude began to change.  The hearts and minds of Americans have to be renewed in the area of race, just like my heart and mind were, if we are to achieve racial harmony in this country.

God called me to view my role in this world as a Christian first, not as a black person first. I still had a driving passion for the causes of my people. But it became apparent to me that my hunger and enthusiasm for God needed to precede my enthusiasm for my race. And that’s exactly what happened!

The cause of Christ became the controlling force in my life, instead of the causes promoting blackness – without any realization on my part, because it happened over time.

As Christians, our minds are not renewed overnight. We still bring garbage from our former lives to the other side of the cross. God had to deal with me; it was a process. When I got filled with the Spirit, I began to hunger for God. I gained an appreciation for other preachers and other musical artists outside my culture. My spiritual hunger and thirst for God was so great, it took me past my ethnic comfort zone so that I was willing to learn from other people outside my culture.

If you have yielded totally to God, you shouldn’t put up a wall when God wants to bring His truth to you through a culture or race that’s not your own.

Too often, though, that’s what happens within the Body of Christ. I call it the “get it syndrome.”

When I talk to black people, they say, “White folks don’t get it. Nor do they want to get it. They don’t know our history. They don’t know our culture. They don’t understand how the impact of slavery and the cruel, involuntary separation of our families have destroyed our ancestry. They don’t understand the effect that Jim Crow laws had on our social, political and financial well-being.”

When I talk to white people, they say, “I get it. Now, black folks need to get over it! Racism no longer exists. We elected a black man and put him in the highest position in the country! You had a black president in the White House! You no longer need any special treatment or consideration. Besides, we didn’t do anything to you. It was our forefathers who made all of the mistakes, not us. So, get over it!”

Consequently, an invisible gulf exists between the races.  This gulf represents misunderstandings by both parties. In order to bridge that gulf, members of both races must listen with spiritual ears to truly empathize with each other.

Many social and political advances have been made since I was a child, but one thing remains the same: the country I live in now is as racially charged as the country I grew up in. Despite the social improvements and legal advances, a greater change must take place in the hearts of Americans, black and white.

Just like I was, many Americans are at a crossroads today where their race collides with their faith. They want to really know how to walk as a Christian while not losing their racial identity. I discovered the answer to that question when I realized that God was calling me to view myself as a Christian first, not as a black person first.