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There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28)
I have been asked to clarify and expand a statement I made to the Executive Board of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention at its spring meeting. In an attempt to challenge the board to pray for President Barack Obama, I made the statement that “it’s hard to be a black pastor in a predominantly white convention.” This was my effort to reduce the tension of the moment and request a plea for understanding. I have since developed great apprehension for having made this statement because I never want to be considered as a president who represents one group of people. Please allow me to make it clear: my commitment as president of this great state convention is to represent all ethnicities within our 2,400 churches regardless of race. I am proud to represent a multi-cultural convention. However, if a conversation on this subject will assist in making the SBTC more inclusive, I am available.
It is no secret that there has been a heightened cultural divide in our country following the 2008 presidential election, and it appears comparable in many ways to the late 1960s and early ‘70s. As an African American pastor, I choose to remain colorblind and encourage God’s people to remain the same with all the racial overtones being leveled at President Obama. This task, as a conservative evangelical pastor, has become increasingly difficult as I attempt to understand whether the many negative connotations associated with the name Barack Obama are based on his ethnicity or some of his anti-biblical policies. I hope the posture of evangelical conservative congregations, with regard to ethnic relationships, are determined by their view of Scripture. However, the historic companionship of race, religion, and politics in America leaves much uncertainty as to the converted hearts of men. As a pastor, I intentionally incorporate into my sermons the biblical disapproval of racism, abortion, homosexuality, same-sex marriage, cohabitation, gambling, drinking, etc. For centuries pastors have failed to condemn racism, and yet it is one of America’s most prevalent sins.
Our country’s moral values have eroded under this current president and his administration—I feel embarrassed and ashamed. Likewise, these same feelings are replicated when I see those who use the anti-moral policies of this administration to hide behind their racism. A major concern of mine is how to lead my church to bridge the racial divide and remain colorblind in the process.
The morning after the 2008 election, I was delighted to be an American living in a country that had reached a point of ethnic diversity by electing an African American to the highest office in its government. I quickly found myself wedged between an African American community that was overjoyed, and the annoyance of many evangelical conservatives. As one could imagine, this is a difficult spiritual and sociological situation to manage.
The excitement of many conservative African Americans began to fade into irritation as the opposing political parties continued their warfare at the expense of all Americans. This annoyance and irritation crept into our churches among people who love the Lord from all ethnic backgrounds. In the black community, the term “evangelical conservative” has become synonymous with racism because of its slant to a political party. Furthermore, the SBC, abiding by its conservative biblical views, has become identified with an anti-Obama movement, which the majority of blacks believe is stemmed from racism and not biblical beliefs. Black Southern Baptist pastors are often confronted with the question, “Why do we remain affiliated with the SBC when the political party of its choice can say such mean and hurtful things about the president of the United States?” For me, it is difficult to observe the negative effects politics takes on the body of Christ based on cultural bias.
This positional statement on race, located on the website of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, says:
“Tragically much of our nation’s history is stained with the ugliness of racial discrimination and prejudice and, even more distressing, there was a day when many condoned these attitudes from church pulpits, twisting Scripture to justify their bigoted behavior and thought, rationalizing it was perfectly all right to own and/or abuse another human being.
“Yet racist thought and behavior denies the reality that each of us is created in the image of God. It empties Scripture of its power in our lives when we accept some of its teachings and reject other biblical instruction because it conflicts with our idea of what is right and what is wrong. And as much as we want to believe otherwise, racism has not been erased from society. It’s sin—pure and simple.
“While we have made progress in our country in this area, we have not yet arrived. Much of what was spoken aloud in the past by many is still being whispered by some.”
I believe the SBC is striving to overcome the sins aforementioned. My election as president of the SBTC, along with three other African Americans who are SBC state presidents, and the upcoming election of Rev. Fred Luter as the next SBC president, says that we are steadily pressing for a new day of inclusion. The struggle still remains for total ethnic inclusion in all Southern Baptist life, especially in its executive positions. It is my belief that strides towards greater diversity will enhance an atmosphere more accommodating to black pastors in the SBC. The following sermon illustration, from Parson’s Bible Illustrator for Windows, I pray will help us to bridge our cultural divide as Southern Baptists:
Shortly after the end of the Civil War, in a fashionable Richmond church, members of the congregation were invited to come to the altar to receive Holy Communion. After several rows of worshipers came and left after receiving Communion side by side, a black man walked down the aisle. A tense silence gripped everyone. No one else got up to go receive the bread and wine, although many had not yet received Communion. The black man started to kneel alone. Quietly, a tall, graying man with a military bearing stood up and strode down the aisle to the black man’s side. Together, they knelt. Before the preacher could continue, people realized that the person kneeling beside the black man without showing any distinction was General Robert E. Lee.
Although Lee said nothing, everyone knew he had shown his faith through his act of joining that lonely black worshiper at the altar. Lee’s example is an example for all of us. We have to work toward breaking down the racial, cultural and denominational barriers that divide us as Christians. We’re called to let go of past hurts that have separated us from one another by turning them over to God and offering those who have hurt us forgiveness. And in seeking forgiveness from those we have hurt. We’re called to demonstrate our unity in Christ through love. It has to start with us. We have to pull together. And we have to keep on climbing. No matter what the vote: Christ’s prayer and Christ’s command is still that we be one as He is one with God and that we love one another as He has loved us. This is the Word of the Lord for this day.
—Terry Turner is the pastor of Mesquite Friendship Baptist Church and is serving his first term as SBTC president.
