Racism In The American Church: Enough!

So, this morning I woke up to the tragic news that policemen were gunned down in Dallas, Texas, during a peaceful demonstration, led as a result of African Americans being unjustly shot by police officers in Baton Rouge, LA and Minneapolis, MN.  A morning news commentator raised concern that our nation was on the verge of major riots similar to those in 1968 after the gunning down of Dr. Martin Luther King. A very dear friend of mine and prominent African American Bishop recently shared with me that he was concerned that by the end of Summer, 2016 our nation was going to see an eruption of violence similar to those in the aftermath of Dr. King's assassination.  It is these predictive elements that should lead all of us in The Body of Christ to prayer, address any racism in our own hearts, and call us; to begin having a sacred conversation on race all across America - church by church, city by city.  

In July of 1992, After returning from ministering at Hillsong in Australia, I found myself landing at LAX during the Rodney King beating aftermath.  East LA was in flames.  Every flight was canceled and I was stuck in the airport staring at the TV screens watching the violence break out in the streets. Smoke had so overwhelmed the east part of LA, that the airport had to be shut down. As I stood there, I quietly asked the Holy Spirit why I was stuck there and could not get a flight out to go home after 14 hours of traveling back from Sydney.  The Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, "Do you see this?" (referring to the news on the TV screens) I said, "Yes, Lord."  He continued and said, "This is what the cities of America are going to look like if you don't go home and shut down that ‘Principality’ over that city I have sent you to”. Everything I saw that day brought back the images of the 1968 riots, cities burning and police brutality that I had witnessed as a child growing up in the Philadelphia, PA area.  Overwhelmed and realizing that God had sent me to Annapolis, Maryland (with its history of being a slave port), I realized that my assignment from God was not just to win people to Christ or to build a great church.  I am a White pastor and I was sent to Annapolis to do the work of prayer, intercession, healing and racial reconciliation for America's sake.  I have worked for this, in my context, for the last 25 years in the face of ridicule, church opposition, and blatant racism in the American Church.  On the one hand, I know that I have been engaged in the work of reconciliation while at the same time feeling like I've made little to no progress with the (“White Privileged”) Body of Christ, living in denial. African American and Native American Church leaders have spent years trying to redress the "racism" that runs not only in our nation but in the American Church.  This morning as I witnessed again, the violence that is occurring every day on our streets, I have an overwhelming sense of failure.  What is it going to take for the American Church to wake up and address its own racism and get engaged in their communities to lead the way for "Racial Reconciliation?"  

Before President Barack Obama ran for the presidency, God showed me that he would become the President of the United States. When God showed me "why" he was putting President Obama in the White House, he said to me, "I am placing this man in the White House to bring to the surface ALL the racism hidden under the surface of the nation."  Sure enough, that is what happened. The sad thing is, I've heard many "White Leaders", even proclaim - it's his fault.  They claimed, that our President has stirred up all this racial hatred. My only response has been to say Jude 1 warns the Body of Christ not to speak evil of dignitaries.  I Timothy 2:2 states "To pray for kings and all who are in authority, SO THAT we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity."  As I immediately shared this with my own Church and others in our community and called for prayer I began to face opposition.  I couldn't believe it.  I was called a political liberal, was cut off from relationships, and watched in horror as many Christian Leaders and Church people blasphemed and damned the President of the United States, instead of praying and supporting him.  After all he is our President. Right?  Some people responded to me and said, “Well he's not my President!  I didn't vote for him.”  I have watched for the last eight years, Christians engaged in saying he's not American because he wasn't born here; even though he was clearly born in Hawaii and his mother was American!  They said; “He was born in Kenya, he's a Muslim, and is not a Christian!”  So, what if he was? Does that make him any less American?  Doesn't the Constitution of the United States guarantee the freedom of ALL religion? What's wrong with Kenya? I have many Christian friends and ministers from Kenya and Africa. They are delightful.  I spent two days with Dr. Jeremiah Wright, A distinguished member of the clergy in The United Church of Christ. This man was President Obama's pastor and is born-again, loves the Lord with all his heart, and is a prolific preacher. He experienced a huge character assassination by the US media, the political establishment, and right-winged, conservative Christian church.  Even though, many may not share his theological perspectives, he embodies everything the United Church of Christ stands for.  In my private conversation with him, He told me that he led President Obama to Christ.  He told me that he mentored President Obama in his faith.  He told me he officiated the marriage of the Obama's and baptized their children.  President Obama was a member of "Trinity United Church of Christ" in Chicago for over 22 years.  Even if he was a Muslim?  He became a Christian.  A famous Christian football player, who won the Heisman Trophy, who meets with the President on a regular basis told me clearly, our President is born again, but said that he did not have the same theological or biblical perspective as President Obama had.  So what?  If you disagree with The United Church of Christ - it doesn't mean that it is not a Christian perspective.  

When the birther movement couldn't prove his being born in Kenya, they tried to say he was born in Indonesia like something is wrong being born there. I have dear friends who I have ministered with from Indonesia. Is Indonesia any different than Fiji, Korea, or Japan? We are the Body of Christ. We are not a part of The HOLY Roman empire nor part of a Christian American empire! Our citizenship may be from an earthly nation but we are members of the Kingdom of God. That's what matters. It is not a kingdom of this world. We should not be engaged in America's civil religion, we should be engaged in winning Americans to Christ, not to a political party or view. Barack Obama was born as an American citizen because his mother was an American.  He was raised in Kansas by his WHITE grandparents.  The amazing thing to me is these same Christians didn't say former presidential candidate Senator John McCain wasn't American (He was born in Panama).  They didn't say former presidential candidate Senator Ted Cruz wasn't American even though he was born and raised in Canada.  His father was Cuban and his mother American.  He held dual citizenship until he ran for public office.  So why has President Obama been singled out?  Remember he's half white too!  All this has its foundation in racism. President Obama is not American or Un-American because his father was from Kenya. He's an American because his mother, Anne Dunham, (1942-1995) was an American.  She had a PhD in Economic Anthropology from the University of Hawaii. Something you never hear in the “American White Privileged Church!” It's appalling how many even questioned President Obama's education. His White mother I am sure encouraged her son to get his education. But, those same racists who challenged his birth records probably thought his mother was some kind of white trash too! Bet you didn't know that to address the problem in rural villages, in developing nations, she created micro-credit programs while working as a consultant for the United States Agency for International Development. Bet you didn't know that the whole reason President Obama spent part of his early life in Indonesia was largely due to his mother being employed by the Ford Foundation in Jakarta. Maybe you will also be shocked to learn that President Dwight D Eisenhower's mother was African-American? Yet, he never faced such disrespect.  It all has its foundation in racism.  President Obama is not American or Un-American because the Church is caught up in racism

Why is this all important?  Because God is "exposing the hidden works of darkness", Ephesians 5:11 exhorts the Body of Christ to "not have fellowship with the unfruitful hidden works of darkness."  Racism is a manifestation of the hidden works of darkness within us.  I am deeply disturbed by the "White" Church's reluctance to address its own racist European roots.  The European Church which came to American soil in the beginnings of the 17th Century did so under charters granted by European kings who base their colonization efforts on a 16th Century papal decree known as The Doctrine of Discovery.  This racist document was based on Augustine's "City of God" and his own sexually perverted mind.  For the White Church not to acknowledge this, repent of this, and even confront this heresy is unbelievable.  

God is dealing with the iniquity of the land. Leviticus 18:25 says, "The land has become defiled, so I am punishing it for its sin, and the land will vomit out its inhabitants." We are witnessing Ezekiel 9:9; "The sins of the people of Israel and Judah are very, very great. The entire land is full of murder; the city is filled with injustice. They are saying, 'The LORD doesn't see it! The LORD has forsaken the land!'"

In my upcoming writing, “Roots of Calvinism: Foundation for Dehumanization, Racism and Slavery in America (Part 2)”, I intend to demonstrate that Augustinianism provided the foundation for the “Doctrine of Discovery” which was the basis of all charters granted to those who colonized America, committed genocide against the Native Americans, then dispossessed them of their lands, and worked to create a permanent slave class in America.  This hideous Church doctrine unleashed the principalities on our nation.  Matthew 18:18 states very clearly, "Whatsoever, you bind on earth is bound in heaven; whatsoever you loose on earth will be loosed in Heaven." The Church is responsible for the prevailing demonic spirits that hold our nation captive today.  Why is Sunday morning the most segregated time in America?  

Many White Christians would agree that we need to end segregation in the church - hoping that African-Americans would join their churches.  But what if God wanted the White community to leave their comfortable suburban churches and join an African American Church and be the minority in the congregation?  I believe that God's finger is on the Church to lead the way forward.  If the Church doesn't address its own racism, how do we expect the Church be an effective witness to the nation? It's time!  

If we neglect the challenges of our time right now, the Civil Rights Movement will be set back for another 50 years.  Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King was gunned down by the American Government.  On December 8, 1999, There was a trial in Memphis, Tennessee, with a jury that deliberated and concluded, that the government was guilty for the assassination of Rev. King. (http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mlks-family-feels-vindicated) The King family received an official apology letter from the government and a $100 check for reparations for his death. Where was the Church?  How come the Church has not led the way of fulfilling the "I Have a Dream" prophetic word given in August, 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial that was uttered by Pastor King?     
     

What message does our education send to the African American community each year during Black History month or in our public school textbooks about the assassinations of Malcolm X and Dr. King? They speak of no other major leaders or great contributors from the African American community; just Malcom X and Dr. King. Might those who want to continue in their status of "White Privilege" in our education system, just want to remind them – “You get out of line, like they did, and this is what will happen to you?  It's unthinkable that 150 years after slavery, our nation is still entangled in this mess.  We need the Lord to intervene in the affairs of our nation now, more than ever before.  Racism is not something you were born with.  It is taught.  It's time for the Church to stand up and lead our nation into a National Day of Repentance and Reconciliation that goes beyond the words, beyond the prayers, and into action!  We need to win our nation to Christ!