When my children were small, I wanted them to know Jesus. As the African-American mother of bi-racial children, I desired a church where my kids could see the gospel of Jesus lived out in a loving way between people of different races and cultures. It bothered me that I’d grown up singing that Jesus loved all the children — red and yellow, black and white — but I’d seen Jesus-followers look at other-colored brothers and sisters in Christ in unloving ways.
I’d seen an advertisement about a new church meeting in a school. I grew up in a traditional Black Baptist church, so it was a little weird going to church at a school. As I opened the doors, I wasn’t surprised that none of the adults looked like me. But I was shocked when two small African-American children ran by and disappeared around a corner. I looked for their parents but gave up and went into the auditorium. People were friendly, but it was still uncomfortable for me. It was a similar feeling that my Caucasian friends would describe when they drove across the unfamiliar side of town at night and got caught at a traffic light.
The pastor came out and introduced himself by his first name, Lee. My eyebrows raised because that kind of informality was shocking to me. At some point in the message, Lee mentioned that he and his wife were foster parents and I realized that those two little Black kids were his foster children.
That was the moment I decided I would attend that church.
Not only was I grateful to hear Lee teach about the gospel, but he also lived the gospel — lived like he truly believed God loved the whole world, meaning all people. The pastor not only embraced color but invited color into his home with love.
Far too many Christians get defensive or uncomfortable when skin color comes up in church. Let’s not forget that color was divinely created by a holy God and therefore, inextricably woven into the gospel story. Racism is an injustice against God’s creation that grieves the heart of God. Therefore, our problems with race and color need the blood of the cross, too!
For centuries around the world, the topic of race is and has been one of the biggest barriers between Jesus-followers. Even after the massive civil rights movement of 2020, the most segregated space in America is still within our churches. If the gospel that we preach is only to people who look like us, we’re robbing ourselves of witnessing the full beauty and glory of what a colorful gospel looks like. The early church shows us an intentionality few churches have today. Most of all, the early church shows us the blessings that we’re missing out on.
After the Day of Pentecost, Peter taught and thousands came to Christ. Then, Acts 2:39-47 documents how all the believers met together. Who were all the believers? You better believe that “all” included Jesus-followers from different races and cultures who’d come to Jerusalem. They had differences in how they looked and lived, but they still intentionally tucked themselves around communal tables. Look at what happened next. Notice the word “together” after their activities:
“Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts.”
Acts 2:46 NIV
After the sermon, people didn’t have to continue to worship together, meet together, or eat together, but they chose to! As a result, non-believers were attracted to the remarkable community. Non-believers were probably astonished by the unlikely love and shocking unity between people who looked and lived differently. That visual scene plus the power of the gospel message resulted in many non-believers getting saved (Acts 2:47).
It’s my belief that we can never be the best version of the gospel if we’re not connected to those who look different from us but are an essential part of our “together.”
As a Black person, I’ve wondered often why God created us with different skin colors because it has created much hardship and heartache. Yet, God shifts the atmosphere of any struggle when we let Him in. So, if God’s character is love, grace, holiness, and justice and we invite God into the abyss of our racial struggles, then God’s glory will overpower what we can’t fix on our own.
In the most well-known civil rights speech of all time, Dr. Martin Luther King cast his vision. Notice how Dr. King’s words reflect the beauty of the Jesus-followers’ togetherness in Acts 2:
“I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.”
Dr. King is right. God’s gospel glory is revealed when we as believers are intentional about standing together. Maybe today God is prompting you to pray about finding the Jesus-followers who are the other part of your “together.”
Originally published on January 16, 2023.
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I am grateful for your voice, Barb, and for the witness of these prophetic words on a day like today.
Thank you, friend! I shared this devotional with Lee, who I referenced in the story. He’s retired now, but his legacy for togetherness endures at our church almost 30 years later. Praising God for him!
Ah, I love to hear this! Part of our family’s recent relocation had a lot to do with the story you shared it. What a gift to look back and see how a decision paved a way for values as such.
Dear Barb……………………What you had to go through in the beginning really angers me as the people that are other than I am (Caucasion) I feel are part of all of us together. The facility I live in, I have found people that are very negative about those that are “different” to them. These are the individuals that I stear clear from as I know that I would say something very unkind to them and that is not right either. Today is Martin Luther King Day (of Service). He was a wonderful man and very wise. Of course, someone had to kill him. I remember right where I was when I heard that. I have had many friends that are of different color and religion. That can be almost as bad, as there are so many people that actually hate Jewish people. Why? I don’t understand, but I am so glad that you found that church and I could say much more, but I have to get ready for lunch. This was a perfect devotion for today. Thank you so much. Love…………Betsy
Hi Betsy, I’m so glad today’s devotion blessed you. Thank you for showing God’s love through your life to others. Enjoy lunch!
I loved this written piece. I live in Puerto Rico, and as many know we are very mixed in our variety of colored skins due to our heritage. I love when our family gathers and you see all the array of skin tones, different textured hair and features. It would be so boring if we were all one color and looked the same. Our different skin tones and cultures actually enrich our lives in so many ways. We’re white, mestizo, brown and black and I wouldn’t change who we are for anything. Let’s embrace more and reject less. Let’s focus more on the common grounds that unite us rather than those that divide us. As Christians, one blood flows through our veins, the blood of Christ!
Miriam, thank you for your comment! You’re comment beautifully captures the blessing of celebrating how God has created us and the beauty of unity.
I live in a small town in Maine. While on the whole, the area and town is not racially diverse or diverse in any other sense, our small welcoming community church has a diverse congregation and has for sometime- different skin colors, different sexual preferences/identities, etc. What a joy it is coming together at worship, other activities and coffee hour after worship. Our pastor opens worship each week asking if we are going to “do church”, and part of that is living out the commandment to love one another. And there is the resounding yes to the question. It disturbs me to think about your experiences.
Thank you for joining us today, Madeline! It sounds like your church has a beautiful sense of together. That’s wonderful!
I have to say that I felt this article was racist. I personally have no care what color your skin is, and I’m quite sure Jesus doesn’t either. However, to read that it took seeing a mixed congregation to get you to choose a church is honestly heartbreaking to me.
I’m glad you found somewhere you felt welcome and I personally do NOT support racism but I do feel that as long as we speak of it like this, it will continue. It’s not one color that is suffering, it’s all colors because we can’t forgive and that males none of us better than the other. We are to love and all lives matter.
Shauna, I appreciate you taking the time to read this article. It’s moments like these that I wish we could sit face to face to fully hear each other’s hearts, rather than converse through a cold screen. But given our limitations, I will share just a few things in response to your comment.
First, one of our values at (in)courage is to learn from experiences unlike our own so that we may grow in awareness and compassion for others and their unique stories. It’s clear that you and Barb have had very different life experiences. As a white woman, I can say I have never known what it’s like to be unsafe or unwelcome because of the color of my skin, and therefore can’t fully comprehend the impact of finding a church that IS a safe and welcoming place. So I believe your heartbreak is misplaced. It’s not heartbreaking that Barb chose a congregation because it was mixed race, it’s heartbreaking that there are churches where a Black person is not welcome.
Second, your comment reflects an incorrect or incomplete understanding of what racism is. At its core, racism is the belief that one race is inherently superior or inferior to others, leading to discrimination, prejudice, and unequal treatment based on race. Parts of this story *acknowledge* the existence of racism, but that is very different than being racist. Nothing in Barb’s article promotes or infers a belief that one race is inferior to another, so to call it racist is unfounded.
Lastly, I believe that Jesus very much cares about our skin color—not because it adds to or diminishes our value, but because we are all made in the image of God and therefore every part of us was intentionally crafted to reflect the fullness of who God is. Scripture is rich with evidence that He is mindful of our ethnic differences, and Jesus was intentional to bridge cultural division. Revelation 9:7 gives a beautiful picture of how “every tongue, tribe, and nation” will worship the Lord in heaven, which tells us that our diversity is not insignificant to Jesus.
I’m grateful (in)courage is a place where we can lovingly have hard conversations as sisters in Christ. I pray you will thoughtfully consider this perspective.
Becky Keife
(in)courage Community and Editorial Manager