“I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.”
~ From Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech

Today we celebrate the life and work of Martin Luther King, Jr., one of my favorite figures from our country’s history.  His legacy resounds with me for two reasons.

He addressed the glaring issue of racism, knowing that it would invite fierce opposition. We don’t like to acknowledge how deeply racism has scarred American history, but there have been many injustices small and great, based solely on the color of skin. King stepped in and began to dig up what had become very hardened ground in the hearts of American citizens, and he did so with a courage that few possessed.

Second, he motivated us to envision and strive for a different kind of America. King’s challenge remains strong today: release your lazy intellectual stereotypes. Start looking at people as individuals, instead of categorizing them based on superficial standards.

Racism is much easier than love. If I can group a person into a class and label that entire class, I no longer have to decide how to love them. It’s automatic. We say, “Oh, she’s one of those people,” and move on. No thought or effort required.

I appreciate the way King’s message pushed all of us, regardless of skin color, to take the hard path of love, to rise out of our stereotypes, and to begin to see each other as people bathed in the image of God.

Take 18 minutes this week to watch King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, and consider again how we can make that dream our own.

Michael Reddish has again inspired me to reflect on a topic from his blog. Michael and a few committed friends have started a church in downtown Nashville called Emmaus Church. He is asking the question of whether or not the church has a racial segregation problem, and how to fix it.

The point of this discussion is not to decide whether we should try and reach other cultures with the Gospel, but whether or not local churches should intentionally try to attract people with a wide variety of cultural backgrounds. As I reflect on this, I wonder what thoughts Brian Alex would contribute to this conversation, as he and his family are answering God’s call to minister to a specific people group in Estonia? Perhaps he will be led to chime in with a comment (hint, hint).

I’ve never tried starting a church in a downtown area of a big city (or anywhere, for that matter), but I have spent a lot of time in church, including some churches of other cultures and races than mine.

Is it possible on this side of heaven to have a local church body that meets the differing cultural needs of every race? Generally speaking, I don’t think that is realistic. The world is a big place, full of a wide spectrum of languages and customs, so the idea that a church can effectively minister and communicate the gospel to every conceivable people group in their week-to-week gatherings is a little hard for me to swallow.

It’s OK that the Korean church down the street doesn’t meet with us. It’s OK that our church doesn’t try to incorporate every conceivable cultural custom in our worship service. Each culture has distinct ways in which they speak about and celebrate the Gospel. We don’t have to strain ourselves to try and be one of those multicultural churches, just so we can say we did it.

That doesn’t mean I don’t want to be around Asian, Hispanic, African-American, Indian, Middle-Eastern, or Southern Fried White people. I enjoy meeting and learning from people who see the world through a different hue of glasses. When they want to be a part of our church body I will offer them a huge, loving welcome. When I visit them at their place of worship, I would guess that they will do the same for me.

In my five years on the leadership team of Parkway Baptist Church in Goodlettsville, TN, I saw the difference God can make in the hearts of people who are open to see racial walls come down. We partnered with Christ Temple Christian Center, a non-denominational African-American church in Madison. This was due in part to the initiative taken by people who had a vision for unity. Doug and Ann Hardin were a big part of that, along with the pastor at that time, Jimmy Moore. “Brother Jimmy” was an all white-meat, old-school Tennessee boy just shy of retirement. These were regular folk, who wanted to make a big change with some God-empowered small steps. We didn’t merge our churches into one “multicultural” body, but we did move to loosen the bonds of racial separation and fear.

Based on that experience, here are a few things that I believe can make a difference in any congregation that wants to disrupt cultural racial barriers, without sacrificing the distinctives that make up their unique identity:

First of all, welcome anyone and everyone when they come through the door. Operate in love, not in fear. Then God will send people your way and skin shade won’t mean a thing.

Second, make an effort to meet with local churches who are made up of a different ethnic background. Have the occasional “awkward” worship gathering where you celebrate God using songs and practices from both congregations, knowing that half the group won’t completely relate to half the songs. Have dinner with them, and enjoy one another’s company.

Finally, as you occasionally gather together, listen to the stories of the people. Learn about how they view the world and the gospel. Then when you meet with them, you will discover that you are not with “foriegners,” but with fellow sojourners in Christ, who happen to have different customs.

It didn’t matter that Parkway Baptist Church was mostly made up of blue-collar white folk. We did it anyway, thanks to the vision of people like Brother Jimmy and the Hardins. And even though Parkway didn’t proceed to incorporate a black gospel choir in their weekly worship, something significant was happening to those who opened their hearts: a permanent perspective shift. We were learning to be who God had called us to be, without shutting out from our hearts those who were different.

Sleep, sleep tonight
And may your dreams be realised.
If the thunder cloud passes rain
So let it rain, let it rain
Rain down on he.

Lyrics by U2

Sleep
Sleep tonight
And may your dreams
Be realized
If the thundercloud
Passes rain
So let it rain
Rain down on him
So let it be
So let it be

From the U2 song, MLK, in memory of Martin Luther King, Jr.