Wesh - Re-Evaluating Our Efforts

This was an article I submitted to a supposedly black reformed website. It was rejected, apparently. I have since, perhaps out of a desire to counsole myself, changed my views, kind of, on the idea of being part of a "black" website. There shouldn't be a black. And I know black people need to be drawn into the reformation, but we should avoid distinctions as much as possible. To use an analogy, we should cast the net hoping to draw some black fish in with the whole, we shouldn't make special lures in order to catch only the black, and when they are caught, place them in their own pile in the Reformation boat, no! They need to be in a mixed pile with all the other fish. The black fish and the white fish are both fish and need to realize they are swimming up the same stream. Anyways:

Wesh - Re-Evaluating Our Efforts

The body of Christ never seems to be aloof from the concerns of its day. It either gives rise to such concerns or slavishly follows the cultures goals and objectives, yet, in our untimely attempts to play catch-up, the question always remains, are we utilizing the worlds methodologies for progression or are we coming up with a biblical approach?

The Concern of Our Day

The churches primary goal in our day, to draw in all potential black churchmen into the reformed fold is the current interest of reformed ministers, of all colors. It's no surprise, then, that we see another, civil, movement in the secular world striving towards a similar end. America seeking to reverse its segregated culture into a mosaic of peace and unity. And I believe that once again, it is the Church that is slavishly following. An unbiblical view of race, a neglect of some of the most fundamental aspects of Christian charity has, I believe, caused our lagging, on both sides of the racial spectrum. And it is still an unbiblical view or race and the fundamentals of Christian fellowship (though it must be said, in a much lesser degree, now) that is the detriment to this trend of black reformed evangelicalism today.

Our Shared Methods

The world’s means to bringing minorities to the affluent level of their white-American countrymen has appeared to be to lower the bar for them. This finds its spiritual parallel in the predominantly white reformed church lowering some of its age old theological bars in order to receive their erring Christian brothers. The world promotes affirmative action and accepts many aspiring African-Americans into prestigious colleges they, academically, have no business being in in the first place. Parallel, the neo-reformed has accepted Charismatics, woman preachers, non-Trinitarians, and all manner of worldliness an theological declension in order to declare their unqualified poor black Christian brother "Reformed". This is atrocity is not only a slap in the face to the orthodox reformed tradition, but an insult to the intellect of black Christians (and I use the term black loosely to mean all minorities, but the black Christians seem to be the general focus. Also, we must be reminded that not all black Americans are African-Americans and I am speaking of all our black American Christian brothers and sisters).

Our Solution

Now, I don't believe most reformed advocates are aware of this. I believe they are simply following the worlds methods without even knowing it, it is an extremely easy thing to do. However, we must have a biblical view of man  -that we are all created with the same basic intellectual faculties as one another, and that there really is no need to view Christians in terms of race and ethnicity, we are our own race. Skin tone should not be overwhelming concern until unbiblical views make it so, and I'm afraid it has made it so, and only a biblical approach to our problems can eradicate the errors that brought about the unbalanced racial demographics in our current reformed and evangelical churches in the first place.