Life With Color – Part 6
Here I was, a West Texas boy who lived near Compton and moved back to the Texas panhandle was now making a move from Fort Worth to a small town in Mid-Michigan. I knew a guy from Michigan; he prayed with me as a teenager when I was in his youth group, and then fired me from the church I recommended him to be the lead pastor years later. I wasn’t really sure about moving my family to a town of 2,000 that was 95% white. I wanted my kids to grow up understanding that people are people no matter where they start from or who they come from. It was definitely going to be a challenge for us.
We moved into Leslie and as I looked around I realized that it would take serious effort to have my kids grow up with a diverse set of friends. Little by little we were introduced to people of color. All sorts of colors. We took them on vacations to help them see different places and people. Going to Detroit and driving through neighborhoods near the original Tiger Stadium and then the new stadium we never tucked the tough questions about why those areas were not always the nicest. We let them know about the differences between where they started from and others started from. Above all else we worked to make sure they understood that each person mattered to our God. He did not love us more than anyone else. There was not a chosen race, but a chosen people. Basically, that God’s heart is big enough for all of us.
That being said and looking for a place to end this series of writings let me tell you what my journey through a colorful life has taught me. First, that no matter where you live you are bound to run into people of all colors and backgrounds. No matter what when we are all boiled down to the smallest things, we are all people. Maybe the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. will eventually come true. That people can be judged by the content of our character, instead of the color of our skin. Could we just meet someone and take them at who they are from the start. Can we not hesitate because of the color of their skin? Could we walk into a place and not worry about if we belonged? Because, people are people no matter how God chose to wrap the gift he gave the world.
Secondly, can I let my past be in the past? Can I not judge each person I meet by how a past experience went? Can I let people get a fair shake? I have met people at different times that have judged or made me feel less than a person. Will I not see it as a “race” thing or a person thing? How will I treat people who are different? Can I eventually celebrate our difference instead of seeing it as a dividing point? Each person we meet is a chance to start again. The time will come when we must realize that it is a gift of God to be in a world that is so diverse. If there was only one crayon in the box, life would suck. Colors are meant to be shared and celebrated.
Third, can we truly begin to believe the song we sang in church as kids? When I grew up we sang over and over again a simple message that has been ingrained in my heart. “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red, and yellow, black and white. They are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.” How did all those churches miss that part? How do we as Christians not stop the hate that is between our races? Can we step out of line and say not today?
I have talked about it from the front of our church. I have tried to show it in my interactions with people. I have performed weddings for mixed races and not batted an eye. Hell, that doesn’t make any more difference in a marriage than everything else that tries to destroy. When I talk with kids at the school I will hug and spend time with all of them no matter what. We have reached out to a church in a city near us to partner with so that our kids will grow up knowing color doesn’t matter.
But, with all that being said, is it enough? What will it look like in the future? What do we need to do to help all of us? Will there be a day when all this does not matter anymore? I believe that day will happen. I just don’t want to wait for the end of the world. I want to celebrate all the colors that God has created and blessed us with in this world today. I wish I had the answer and could help each of us move past our differences. I do not have them, I just have hope. What else is there for us to have? Hope that we will all look across the aisle, room or class and see that we all struggle, celebrate and live in our own ways. Different does not mean wrong, it simply means good. Diversity is a wonderful thing when we can come together in a world that wants to keep us a part. There is money in division, but peace in harmony. So guess what will win in a world obsessed with money and power. So I raise my fist and say “Fight the Power.” My fist may stand out, but hell, let me stand out in a fight worth fighting.