A few days ago, while discussing Edward Gilbreath’s article on blacks and the evangelical church at ChristianityToday.com, I suggested that a cure for discrimination is friendship. Mark Traphagen at Connversation also comments on Gilbreath's article and offers another suggestion:
...the thing that it takes...is the willingness to give up a certain amount of control. (emphasis in the original)If we want blacks to begin to feel at home in our white churches, we’ve got to be willing to have blacks in leadership positions. And once that is accomplished, we have to make sure that they really have a voice in determining the “look and feel” of the church. Which means we may end up singing songs we wouldn’t choose ourselves or listening to sermons that aren’t all “tastefully-delivered” neat little logical treatises. That means giving up a little control, and that can be scary. But that is the cost of having a church that looks like all of God’s people.
HT: a comment by Mr. Traphagen at Jollyblogger
