Interesting that this article should appear on the front page of CNN.com today, considering my pastor spoke at length yesterday concerning this very issue.

When I heard my pastor mention that one of the goals of City Church of East Nashville was to reconcile the diversity of East Nashville to each other and to Jesus Christ, my anti-affirmative action, knee-jerk response was, “Why is that so important?”

We were talking about it before the sermon because the church is searching for both an assistant pastor and a worship leader. Our church leadership feels strongly that the assistant pastor should probably be black, and it might not hurt if the worship leader was bringing a different cultural experience as well.

As I sat listening, the reasoning sunk in. First of all, I reminded myself, there’s nothing unbiblical about the desire to reconcile and break down barriers. In fact, the message of the Gospel levels the playing field, breaking down all barriers.

Then I read the article on segregation in the church. I never used to think of it as a problem. You know, they enjoy their services, we’ll just do ours a differently over here. But that is precisely why it’s a problem. The “us” and “them” mindset. If it’s that pervasive in the Church, how do we expect it won’t invade our lives elsewhere? It will.

The article does a great job of showing the breakdown of fellowship between Christians from all angles, speaking to the detriments from a religious standpoint. It was the end of the article that really got me, though. And keep in mind that this was on the front page of a major news outlet:

When Pryor sees his friend on Sunday, he says he no longer sees a “they” or a “them” trying to invade his world.

He sees his brother in Christ.

“We come to love each other,” he says. “When I look into his eyes, I can see the love of Jesus Christ. He and I have become friends.”

Shouldn’t that be a strong enough reason for racial healing to take place beginning in the Church? Remember, once the truth of the Gospel reaches a person’s heart and they really understand the Fall and their depravity, is it not true that we begin to realize just how much this whole thing isn’t about us and our preferences?

Several months ago, I began having to defend my particular part of the country to Obama supporters. You see, I live in the South. Not the deep South, mind you–only Nashville. I was honestly a little surprised to have several of my more liberal friends leading the charge that “the South’s just not ever going to elect a black man to be President.” They seemed to be more fascinated, not with electing a worthy candidate, but just making sure that it was their party that made it “first” with a black man.

They would most certainly be correct in their predictions of which candidate to whom the southern states would go, I can assure you. But it won’t be for the reasons they’re giving. Since the 1976 presidential election, the majority of southern states have consistently voted Republican. So if come November we’re a bunch of red states again, it won’t necessarily be because of all our Klan meetings.

But then here I am, watching CNN. (Something I haven’t done in several days– and my life has been remarkably more peaceful for it.) Apparently now there’s another inflammatory preacher at Obama’s (former) church. Guest preacher Michael Pfleger, of the Catholic persuation:

I’m WHITE! A black man is stealing my show!

Don’t worry, he wasn’t speaking for himself, just mocking Hillary. Where all his white guilt is coming from, I have no idea. But what is interesting to me is not that all this is occuring. No, we’ve been exposed to the hate coming out of this church for months now. And let’s just call it that, hate. What disturbs me is the reasoning coming out of nearly every black talking head on the news. I’m told that I wouldn’t know what black churches are like because I’m not black and have never been to a black church. (Though I have.) I’m supposed to be understanding of the black experience and put these words into black church context.

Can I be honest with you here for a second? That reasoning sounds just a ridiculous as telling an onlooker of a KKK rally that he really should put into context the words coming from the Grand Dragon’s mouth. It’s asinine. Read: devoid of intelligence. Let’s call a spade a spade: the vast majority of non-black Americans are watching those clips and saying, “Wow… is this what blacks think about the rest of us?” I’m not sure about you, but when I go to church, we talk about Jesus. Not how awful other people are and how their behavior is ruining our lives.

You see, for decades now, we’ve been thinking that we’re making progress with healing what was once a gaping racial divide. But apparently that was some sort of illusion, according to this kind of rhetoric. And it’s supposed excuse, presented to the media and the rest of us, is that it’s all too common. Go to any black church and you’ll see it.

I’ve got two massive problems with this. First, I’ve been to several black churches, and the people there were nothing but hospitable. And while you might have to prepare for a church service that may never end, if it does, there will be some tasty eatin’ at the end of it. Second, if you’re telling me that every black religious leader gets up at the pulpit and spews the kind of hatred and conspiracy against their own country that Rev. Wright did, that doesn’t assuage my fears at all. Instead, it tells me that we’ve got a major problem in this country, and maybe we’re not ready for a man to be president that spent twenty years under the mentorship of a hate-monger. If we’re so desperate for a black man to be president, then this man is not a good first choice. Perhaps the democrats should’ve thrown their weight behind someone principled: someone without a dingy, opportunistic record, someone with a wife that hasn’t only recently found pride in her country, and someone who’s more than a rookie junior senator that comes to work on a rare occasion–only to vote ‘present’. Barack Obama is like a new business partner who, lucky enough to be made junior partner before he’d even been with the company for very long, answers, “Oh, I’m here,” when asked how he feels about a company proposal.

He hasn’t been fully vetted yet, and Democrats, you can fully expect that the Republicans have yet to unleash their fury on him. Republicans desperately want this man to win your nomination. As soon as he’s clinched it, let the games begin, friends. Hope you like you like your loss in ‘08.