The Great Divide

by

Vociferous political polarization, divisive sexual orientation and transgender battles, racial tension erupting into violence. America seems increasingly to be a nation of great divides. Unfortunately, the Church founded by Christ is not immune. Nearly half a century after Martin Luther King, Jr. declared Sunday morning as “the most segregated hour in America,” our churches still exist within a great racial divide.

The Pew Research Institute reported in late 2014 that “about eight-in-ten American congregants still attend services at a place where a single racial or ethnic group comprises at least 80% of the congregation.” Fortunately, that trend is slowly starting to reverse. Pew reported in 1998 that twenty percent of U.S. white churchgoers attended church services with absolutely no one of another race or ethnicity. By 2012 that percentage had dropped to 11 percent. But there is still work to be done.

I am frankly more concerned about Christian attitudes toward segregation within our churches than I am relieved by the growth in diversity. A recent Lifeway research report, like Pew, noted that eight in ten U.S. congregations are made up of one predominant racial group. However, its survey also revealed that many churchgoers appear to be happy with the status quo. Here are a few of the salient points:

  • Fifty-three percent of the study respondents disagreed with this statement: “My church needs to become more ethnically diverse.”
  • Forty-two percent felt their church was doing enough already to embrace diversity.
  • Thirty-three percent strongly disagreed that their church needed to be more diverse.
  • Seventy-one percent of those identified as Evangelicals say their church is diverse enough.

​What is it within us that perpetuates this desire to be separate from those unlike ourselves both in our homes and in our churches? If asked point blank, I wonder how many of us could only retort with the “Good fences make good neighbors” line, long memorialized in one of my favorite Robert Frost poems “The Mending Wall.” Yet if we truly claim to answer Jesus’ call to “follow me,” we no longer have the luxury of isolation from our sisters and brothers. We must broaden our definition of “neighbor.”

I don’t want to be part of a faith community filled only those who look, act and vote as I do. When that happens, I am convinced our churches miss out on the rich diversity of what God has planned for our lives, our missions and our ministry.

In our recent Ginghamsburg “At the Movies” worship series, our final message was based around the movie Selma. The message video is available online.