Church Experience #41 – October 30, 2011

Living Stones Ministry – Chattanooga, TN

Don’t Read This

Race is an interesting topic in society today.  It can be controversial, a cause of hate and anger, a story of love and acceptance, or a complete non-issue.  You can look at different races and point out scores of differences and then just as easily come up with an equal number of similarities.  Within the realm of Christianity we are called to a higher standard than society in general when it comes to our view on race.  Our calling is one of unconditional love, just as our savior, Jesus Christ, provided us with the ultimate example.  My point of view is that race does not exist, but culture does.  No matter what pigmentation a person’s skin contains, they will more than likely be a reflection of the culture they have been exposed to for the majority of their formative years.  Of course there are innumerable factors at play here, and probably just as many exceptions as there are inclusions, but for the basis of this article I want to be very clear about how and why I formulate my thoughts and hopefully avoid any offense.  For me, race is not a sensitive topic and I fully believe God has given me the ability to see people as people regardless of their race.  I do see differences in cultures and I will be commenting in this article about my experiences and observations of these differences.  My comments are not meant to be stereotypical or come from any type of bias or discrimination.  They are simply my experiences and observations.  Sorry for the long “disclaimer”, but this week’s church visit brought out some pretty powerful feelings and emotions in me that a lot of other people probably will not agree with.  My wife did not agree with some of my sentiments and became frustrated with me when we were discussing them.  Hopefully I do not frustrate even more people, but instead, my hope is that anyone who reads this will consider why I felt these things from my point of view without interjecting your own point of view into my situation.  In fact, if you would like to get some real honest insight into how you really feel, I would recommend putting yourself in the same situation and make your own observations from your own experiences.  In the end, that is really the purpose of my blog anyway.  It is not for Chattanoogans to live vicariously through my experiences…this blog is an encouragement for you to get out there and have some experiences of your own.  I am just pointing out the obvious…that interesting things are happening all around us in church every week, you just have to be present and open to experience them!  OK, sorry about the rant (not really…but I kind of am…but no, not really).  So if you are still reading, here is how my church visit went this week…  Read more...