God Did Not Create the Black Church, Racism Did
author | Mack Major
Unpopular opinion: "God didn't create the black church. Racism did."
The only reason why we have a black church in America today is because back in the day an overwhelming majority of white Christians refused to allow black Christians to worship alongside with them as equals.
Blacks were not allowed to worship with white Christians unless the black believers agreed to accept social and spiritual inferiority.
In this environment of dehumanization, black Christians simply formed their own congregations and began to worship God together on an equal footing: like Christians are supposed to.
This idea of inferiority/superiority is completely antithetical to the mentality of Jesus Christ, what He taught us on brotherhood, and everything the Holy Spirit stands for. And no true citizen of God's Kingdom would ever view another believer as inferior in any way.
I'm not invalidating the existence of the so-called black church. I understand that it grew out of the necessity of the times. But why is it even referred to as such? Why don't we ever call other churches 'the white church?'
I have yet to hear the term 'the white church' used - not even in conjunction with the very church denominations that refused to accept the equality or the brotherhood of all Christians, regardless of race.
They're just called 'the church.' Meanwhile, churches made of a majority black demographic are lumped into a category that in my opinion belittles the very existence of the Holy Spirit, and makes it seem as if black Christians are some lesser subset of the Body of Christ...like a mole, a skin tag or some afterthought in the mind of God.
There's no such thing as "The Black Church." Not in my Christianity. And I really don't think it exists in the mind of Christ at all. We are all simply "The Church." God is not categorizing believers based on their skin melanin content - or the lack thereof.
To think otherwise is just dumb.
It's almost as if that same spirit of division and disunity that placed a huge wedge between Christians back in the day still prevails in the Body of Christ. At least mentally. And how can this be acceptable in the eyes of Jesus Christ?
"Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!" Psalm 133:1
"Let brotherly love continue." Hebrews 13:1
"A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another." John 13:34
"Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Outdo yourselves in honoring one another." Romans 12:10
"Now about brotherly love, you do not need anyone to write to you, because you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another." 1 Thessalonians 4:9
"Since you have purified your souls by obedience to the truth so that you have a genuine love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from a pure heart." 1 Peter 1:22
It's important to note that when Jesus, Paul, John and Peter were talking about love, they were speaking to a multi-ethnic Church. Govern yourselves accordingly.