Liberation Must Include Reconciliation

I have an issue with folks who deal with the race issue by simply talking about liberation and the end of White supremacy. This limited solution to the issue of race misses the mark in two ways. One, it doesn’t go far enough in bringing a more comprehensive solution because it keeps the issues within the matrix of race. The further development of blackness becomes the solution for dealing with the problems of a dominant whiteness. The more comprehensive solution must include pulling the covers back on both blackness and whiteness and exposing this false social construct. Blackness and whiteness must be dismantled. Ethnicity and culture are truer elements of humanity than race. Whiteness rose by making itself good while blackness was bad. Is the solution to simply just reverse this and make blackness good and whiteness evil? Or to fight for the empowerment of blackness?

The second issue is that a race-based solution doesn’t work within a true biblically-based, Christian theology. Now I know that there are many who are fighting for racial justice, who don’t care if the solution to racism is deeply connected to a Christian theology. Well as a Christian this is of utmost importance to me. Christianity works for me because it is about dealing with sin. Racism, injustice, prejudice, and oppression are forms of sin and the God of the bible has a solution for this. This solution is about liberation and reconciliation. Racism is truly dealt with in Christ. Not the black or white christ, but the true multi-ethnic Christ who is both Jew and Gentile. Jesus Christ walked the earth as a multi-ethnic and multicultural human being (Matthew 1). When we are reconciled to God through Christ, we are born again and given a new identity beyond the social construct of race. Until we get to heaven though, we still live in this race-based society. This is why we must dismantle the segregated state of the church so that the church becomes a true new and reconciling community. This kind of community can in part deal with the ugly and sinful issue of racism and the injustices that come from it.

The bible is the story of God delivering a people out of oppression and it’s also about the opportunity for reconciliation and new identity for all humanity. To separate these two critical points is to limit freedom and salvation.

Coming (Back) to America

Even though it’s been over a month since my return from Kenya, I’m still feeling the experience in a profound way. I couldn’t help but connect the poverty that I saw and specifically the issues of African children and youth in some of the areas of Kenya with African-American children and youth in many of our inner cities in the United States. I struggled in explaining clearly to my European-American brothers on the trip with me what I was experiencing. I had similar feelings when I visited South Africa in the summer of 2001.

I believe there is a deep connection between issues facing African children and youth and African-American children and youth. For some reason though, many evangelicals have developed a deep sensitivity and compassion for African children and youth, but not as much for African-American children and youth. I know that this is a broad statement and that I must give room for the exception. I guess what I’m trying to say is that it’s harder to get large suburban evangelical churches to  become just as passionate about dealing with issues of poverty and brokenness in Oakland, Detroit, or North Minneapolis as they are about it in Kenya or the Congo.

Now don’t get me wrong, I understand that there is an extreme poverty that exists in parts of Africa that no poverty in the United States can be compared to. But even with this fact, there are still issues within inner cities of the United States that call for the same passionate action as is evident in parts of Africa. It’s not an either or issue, it’s a both, and.

I think part of the issue is that many evangelicals see the United States as this fair and just society that provides opportunity for anyone who is willing to work for it. This is to say, that if you are poor in the United States, to a large degree you are to blame. But, because of the perceptions and views of Africa, poverty in there is somehow connected to other forces. My question is, can the United States be the land of freedom, opportunity, and democracy and still have other forces beyond simply individual opportunity that could cause one to fall into poverty? I think the recent economic crisis in our nation proves this to be true. Many hard working and educated Americans have lost their jobs and homes despite in many ways doing the right thing. There are some who have lost their homes because they were given a home loan that they really should have never received, but there are many others who are victims of the other forces.

I came back to America with an even deeper passion to work to see the Christian church have a biblical and broad ministry strategy to address the poverty impacting both African and African-American children and youth.

The Future of Christian Music?

Because I’m very fortunate to speak at a lot of christian churches, conferences, and other events, I get a chance to hear a lot of christian music. In general, christian music can be broken down into the following categories; contemporary christian, gospel, southern gospel, urban gospel, holy hip hop, and traditional hymns.

To be more specific though, you can break christian music down to black christian music and white christian music. Many people don’t want to talk about this, but that’s the current state of christian music and it’s been that way for a long time. It’s race-based and is mostly influenced by places like Nashville and Detroit in the United States. Even when I preach at a Latino church, the praise and worship is mainly contemporary christian(white); it’s just being sung in spanish.

Even christian radio is segregated. Rarely, does a ccm station play urban gospel and never have I heard a black gospel/urban gospel station play ccm. As a matter of fact there aren’t very many black gospel/urban gospel stations, but mostly shows that last about two hours weekly hosted by Be Be Winans or Dr. Bobby Jones. Why is it that in this multicultural reality, christian music is for the most part, race music? This shows how far behind christian music is compared to so-called secular music.

Secular music has transcended race. A black artist like Seal to some sounds white, while Pink sounds black. A white rapper named Eminem is one of the hottest artists in what is considered a black and urban genre. Yet, we expect our multicultural, christian youth today to value christian music over secular music. You may want to push back at me (and you’re welcome to), but christian music is held captive by race and we don’t want to seem to talk about it. My theory is that this is done by secular record industry powers to keep christian music a second class genre and we need local church folks to fight against this reality.

Most christian record labels and other companies have been sold to larger secular companies. Find a christian for profit and it’s most likely owned by a company headed by someone who is not a christian. Maybe this explains it. Or maybe it’s because many christians don’t want to have healthy and real discussions about race, business marketing, and power and its impact on christians.

There is hope though. There are christian artists such as Toby Mac, Israel and New Breed, John Reuben, and Kirk Franklin who are being bold enough to cross race lines and create kingdom music. This must be the future. We must move beyond christian music enslaved to race, to a more liberating genre. I will this call kingdom music. Kingdom music is christian music set free, designed for all God’s people, also able to reach all lost people. Can I get a amen? Now what we need is a group of non profit kingdom music record labels that won’t sell out to secular companies. Can I really get a amen?