It's not a racial thing .... Actually it is!!!

"It's not a racial thing." That's what he said. That's what he said about the black kid that was wandering around semi-suspiciously during the ministry fair. According to the "HITCH" and books on interpersonal communication, 80%-90% of what people say is nonverbal communication. So it's not even about what he said. It's about what he didn't say. Here's what he didn't say. "Will, go talk to that black kid over there and find out what he's up to since you [can probably relate to him better]." Here's what he didn't say,"Will I haven't talked to that kid over there but he looks a little suspicious based on what others have said and how I am influenced by what they've said." Here's what he didn't say, "Will you're black so why don't you go over and talk to him." He didn't say those things mind you. But, I can't help but wonder if that's what he meant. That's what his body language suggested. That's what his tone suggested. That's what the look in his eyes suggested. That's what the awkwardness and sense of panic in his demeanor suggested. That's what his body language told me. After all, he pretty much pulled me out of a conversation that I was having with someone else, as if our pastor himself had passed out on the floor and I was the only one who could save him. He harped on me in his flusteredness (if that's even a word) so intervene. To his credit, he wasn't the only one. There were others of the church leadership frantically running around to make sure everyone had a close grip on their purses, money boxes, assets, valuables. You'd have thought Hurricane Katrina herself was coming our way in a matter of a few hours and we needed to prepare ourselves for the very worst!
Mind you, the kid did look a little out of place. I could see how one would possibly think he was up to no good. I'll give you that. But does that really matter all that much? Does it really? I mean, let's play worse case scenario for a minute here. Say he was up to no good? Let's say he was scoping out the joint to see what he could pilfer. If you actually go over and talk to him 3 things happen. 1) You let him know that we know he's here. 2) You have the opportunity to find out what he's about. 3) You have an opportunity to tell him what "supposedly" we're about.
Now I did see people go over and talk to him. I went over and talked to him myself. But I didn't do it for any other reason but to say hello and hopefully make him feel welcome. I wanted to strike up a conversation with him, look him in the eye, and let him know that "Hey, you're noticed and welcome." I wonder if that's the message we as a church sent to him.
Not to bring Jesus into it but I'm going to. Jesus had something similar go on. He welcomed someone into his fold that he knew was going to betray him. Let me say that again. JESUS! THE SON OF GOD! THE ONE WE CALL ALL KNOWING!! ALL POWERFUL!! MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH!! He invited a guy into his midst eventhough he KNEW the guy was going to steal from. He KNEW that guy would betray him.
I was just talking today in Sunday school about giving and a kid made a comment about how when we don't give to God our resources we are stealing from God. STEALING from GOD. You remember him right! THE ONE WE CALL ALL KNOWING!! ALL POWERFUL!! MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH!! We're stealing from him because all that we have is HIS anyway. I don't suppose it makes it any easier for me to teach a lesson like that and have students get it when their 'rents are doing the exact opposite (disclaimer for the offended: I don't mean every parent. It's just a general statement).
"So what are you saying Will? Should we just let him wander around and scope out our stuff? Should we invite him in to our midst eventhough we know he's going to steal from us? Should we just open our doors to anybody?" If that's what you're wondering about then you've completely missed the point of this blog entry so let me type this slowly so you can get it. Remember the beginning statement that I quoted? If you don't then refer to the first line of this entry or just re-read the title of this entry again.
It's not a racial thing ... but actually it is a racial thing. When you (meaning me) have 3 people come up to you in the span of 10 minutes telling you that you should go talk to "that guy over there" who happens to be a black person, when their lips are working perfectly fine and they are well within their rights to go talk to anyone they please, then it becomes a "racial" thing. When instead talking to him one makes assumptions based on what he looks like it begins to become a "racial" thing. When people start clutching their stuff (oh wait, I almost forgot. It's GOD's stuff. Yeah God. You remember him don't you? THE ONE WE CALL ALL KNOWING!! ALL POWERFUL!! MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH [and that includes all our stuff]!!) because a certain someone doesn't look right it becomes a "racial" thing.
I mean just imagine if you were him but you were completely innocent and just really wanted to know what everyone was doing. Just imagine you were walking around at the ministry fair and all of a sudden people start clutching their purses, wallets, etc and start looking at you funny. I would feel unwelcome if that were me. I would feel embarassed to be there. I would be annoyed. In fact I have felt that way when the same sort of thing happened to me based on what I looked like. These are feelings I would expect to feel elsewhere. Certainly not at church. So are we not supposed to make people feel welcome no matter who or what they are?
I'm speaking to myself just as well as anyone but I thought this the perfect opportunity to address an issue that in my estimation runs deep . We aren't as far a long as we think we are.