Most often when I get asked what church I go to, my response is usually met with a positive one. I’ll get a “That’s a great church!” or “I’ve heard of that church, I should go visit one day.” But this one day in particular, when I came home from church one day, my roommate’s mother was sitting outside and she’s ask where I’d been to which I replied excitedly the name of my church. Her reply was “That white church?! We tried going there, it just wasn’t for us. Too many white folk. I just don’t think a white pastor has anything to say to me.”
That actually got me to thinking. Is the color of the Pastor’s skin REALLY a reason not to go to a certain church? What does the fact that he (or any pastor) is white have anything to do with the word that he is delivering? At that time, I hadn’t been at this particular church that long, and had been truly blessed by every service that I had been to. Honestly, I hadn’t even considered the fact that his skin was different than mine would even be a factor. Probably because it isn’t. Having been raised up in a predominantly Caucasian church until I was 10 and going to a predominantly Caucasian school all through school, I grew up learning how to adapt to my surroundings and got pretty comfortable with it. When I go out, I don’t stand next to a Caucasian, or Mexican or Chinese or African-American, I stand next to a person. Just like when I go to church, my Pastor is not a Caucasian, he’s a man preaching God’s word.
I understand that the way people are brought up in different backgrounds, in different area’s and different cultures. That is what makes us unique. But with something as Universal as God’s word, we shouldn’t let something as simple as the color of our skin cover our ears to what the Pastor who is preaching has to say, especially if that word blesses you and brings you back to church like it did for me. I get that in the past several years, the racial tension has increased dramatically with issues and actions between races. I’m not going to have a blind eye towards the things that are going on in the world around me. I just don’t think it’s fair to automatically assume that “I can’t learn anything about the word from this man” because he’s a different color than I am. If your dream career with your dream salary has you training from a person who is a different race than you would you still turn your nose up at the job? I would hope not.
The thought of other people not attending a certain church because of the race of its Pastor is unbelievable to me. Don’t miss your blessing because society has taught you that the difference of skin color dictates the value of a person and what they have to say. For the record, the church I attend has a wide variety of races made of different and beautiful colors of skin. Every weekend we come together to worship the same Heavenly Father and listen to the word that the Pastor has for that week. Not once have ever felt uncomfortable when I walked in the door, in fact, this is the only church that I have ever felt at home in. Shouldn’t that be the only thing that matters? I remember walking into my room and just saying a prayer that the folks who think that way be given a different perspective of things. They didn’t even consider the message that was given. That word could’ve been the very word that changed their life. I’m so glad that I never let a thing like that cover my eyes to a church that has changed my life for the better and brought me through some difficult times in my life. I hope that this post will help those who read it consider the word instead of considering the skin.
Reesie's Pieces of Advice 