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October 15, 2007
/--- THE LIGHT EN ESPAÑOL! -----------------------------\
The wait for a Spanish language Heartlight is over!
Come enjoy Today's Verse in Spanish, with many more
features already in development. Heartlight is
now reaching even more people around the world with
the positive message of Jesus Christ. Praise God!
\----------------------- http://www.laluzdelalma.com ---/
=========================== TODAY'S ARTICLE ==========================
Skin Color Shouldn't Matter, by Phil Ware
Special Note:
This is part three of a continuing series of messages Phil has
written to share the values that his father held dear and that he
also wants to pass on to his adult children who never got to know
their Daddy Al because he died so young. The links to the whole
series can be found at the end of the article.
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded
you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the
age" (Matthew 28:19-20 TNIV emphasis added).
And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people
to myself (John 12:32 emphasis added).
After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude
that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and
language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.
They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in
their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation
belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb" (Revelation
7:9-10 emphasis added).
Dear Zachary and Megan,
Recently, someone asked why we changed the words to the song, "Jesus
Loves the Little Children" when we sing it today at church. (In fact,
this question has been asked me a number of times over the years!) They
were quite concerned that the version we were now singing -- "any color
dark or light, they are precious in His sight" -- wasn't the one they
grew up singing -- "red and yellow, black and white, they are precious
in His sight." They were afraid we were caving in to the political
correctness police and had no idea how the song was heard by other
people, especially people of different races.
Their question reminded me of how blind we are at times to our own use
of words, especially racially hurtful words. I can still remember when
we had a group of Japanese high school students visiting our church and
we sang the song the old way and one of their sponsors very politely
let us know that the song was very hurtful. Many years ago, the dad of
some of your good friends talked to me about how the old fashioned way
of singing the song was heard by Hispanics -- it meant that they didn't
count at all in the white church because they were not even mentioned
in the song.
The reason I'm writing these letters, however, is not to talk about the
political correctness of a song, but about the values your grandfather
taught me that I hope you will live in your life. So in many ways, this
letter is about the way we allow skin color to divide us.
In the early sixties, your grandfather, Daddy Al, made quite a stir in
a small east Texas town where we lived. Racial tensions were high and
each race "knew it's place" in the order of things. Prejudice was as
thick as the mosquitoes. Churches were segregated and many folks were
determined to keep it that way. The only problem was your Daddy Al
lived by a principle that ruffled more than a few feathers. He taught
us that skin color doesn't matter to God and so it shouldn't matter to
us. He also lived that principle.
Daddy Al's own father, Homer (or G-daddy as we called him), was much
beloved in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas. He was one of the few white
businessmen who didn't pull out when "white flight" set in and the
racial balance of the neighborhoods changed. I remember G-daddy telling
me of the time two men tried to rob him in that neighborhood and the
neighbors all came out to protect him and beat up his attackers --
G-daddy was the only "white man" in sight, but the folks in the
neighborhood considered him their friend. So I guess your Daddy Al
learned his passions about racial equality from his own dad. All I know
is that your grandfather was passionate about this principle.
I remember one night that Daddy Al confronted church leaders who
responded with prejudice when a bunch of folks from the sister "black
congregation" in town came to a revival at "our white church." They
came, of course, because your Daddy Al had invited them. That raised
some serious stink in church and we didn't go back there for awhile.
The early sixties were a very difficult time for these kinds of things
in our country, and unfortunately, not a lot of churches led the way to
make things better. But, your grandfather made it clear where he stood
on the matter: racial prejudice was wrong and he wouldn't tolerate it.
One of the ways he made this clear was his practice of making friends
of all kinds of people. Your Daddy Al had a beautiful, 1959 Ford
Fairlane 500. It was black, had lots of chrome, and a really cool
black, red, and white interior with power windows and locks. In the
little town where we lived, everyone knew the car was Daddy Al's. It
was a cool car! There was an African American guy at the filling
station who worked on Daddy Al's car and he loved it. Your grandfather
would let him drive the car around town sometimes when he had washed it
or worked on it. He even let this young man propose to his girl friend
while driving the car. It seemed like everyone in town knew about this
and this was simply not acceptable behavior for "proper white folks." I
learned about this the hard way.
You see, one day I wore an old U.S. Union Army belt buckle to school.
It made a lot of the kids mad because they considered me a traitor to
the confederate cause -- now remember, this nearly 100 years after the
Civil War, but the hatred and prejudice still ran very deep in the
hearts of many people. They told me our family was a bunch of "n&##%@
lovers" because of what Daddy Al had done. They surrounded me and
pushed me down into a muddy ditch because I kept telling them they were
wrong to think about people that way. I wouldn't back down and told
them I would never be a confederate because they kept slaves. They just
kept calling me and our family that awful name.
I know that I am not free of prejudice myself.
I can still remember walking to the office feeling so all alone. I felt
like all the kids hated me and I didn't know what to tell them at the
office when I came in all muddy. Your Mimi (my mom) came and picked me
up from school and took me home so I could clean up and then she took
me back. I never really told her about the real reason I was muddy. But
after that day, a really tough guy became my friend because I stood up
to everybody else and nobody bothered me after that. However, the look
in their eyes still makes me angry and sad to this day. But I didn't
back down from what Daddy Al taught me -- skin color doesn't matter.
I know that I am not free of prejudice myself and neither was Daddy Al.
I want to be, but I don't guess any of us can fully be free of it. So
much of what we do is based on self-interest or fear. But I want to at
least be aware of the ugliness of racism and rid myself of as much of
it as I can. Jesus died to draw all people to him. In heaven, there
will be people from every language, race, tribe, and nation praising
God together. I am fully convinced that until we start living in our
churches like we are going to live with God in heaven, some folks are
either not going to make it or they will sure be uncomfortable if they
do. Until that day, I hope you will commit to finding the pockets of
prejudice in your own heart and work to eliminate them. I also pray
that you will be willing to stand up to those who so easily would lead
down a path of racial division and hatred. I pray that you will help
your churches to be open to all people. And as you do, just know that
you are following in the footsteps of Daddy Al who taught us that skin
color shouldn't matter!
Love you both, forever,
Dad
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Do you think things have changed that much since the 1960's in terms of
racial prejudice in our churches?
What can we do to tear down the walls of racism that exist in our
churches?
I'd love to get your insights on this on my blog:
http://blog.heartlight.org/phil/2007/10/skin_color.html
---------
(c) 2007 Phil Ware <phil@heartlight.org>. All rights reserved.
RELATED LINKS:
* Other Articles in This Series
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200709/20070924_remembering.html#series
* Sausage over Souls
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200610/20061027_sausage.html
* Blinded by Religious Prejudice
http://www.heartlight.org/wjd/matthew/0425-wjd.html
* Southern Hills Church of Christ
http://www.southernhillschurch.org
This article can be found on the web at:
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200710/20071015_skincolor.html
=========================== FEATURED PRODUCT =========================
THE PRACTICE OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD, by Brother Lawrence
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