The Church of Jim Crow

On Sunday morning J.C. doesn’t always mean Jesus Christ
Just walk in a random church and take a look around
The stained glass windows have more colors than the people sitting down
In the American Churches of the 21st century it should not be the case
That so many members in a given place - have the same face

The most segregated hour in America is still Sunday morning
And that fact has King Jesus and Martin Luther King mourning
Who knew that when it came to race and integration
the Kingdom that Jesus preached and the Dream of the Civil Rights Movement
would come in a much greater measure to corporations and college campuses
than it ever has to Christian churches

On the plantation black folk went to church with whites
The preacher taught that God wanted them to be slaves because they were black
They said “Amen” as they sat in the back
And planned an Exodus on the Underground Railroad track
In the North and even after slavery they had to start their own congregations
As long as they worshipped with white people they couldn’t have salvation
They had their own interpretation of the Word
their own preaching style
their own songs to sing
their own rhythm to dance to
And they still do

Cultural difference is a gift to embrace
But, it gets complicated when its mixed with race
Now most of us are stuck in our racial and cultural comfort zones
Diversity is no more than downloading a rap song for a ring tone
Or maybe an African-American turning up that song by a white singer on the radio…
if she got soul

We have to work together
Sometimes we even have to go school together
But since we don’t have to pray together, usually we don’t
Is that what Jesus died for?
Oh that’s right, Jesus doesn’t care anything about these sociological issues
God was getting lonely in heaven
Jesus just came to help more people get there
Yet he told us to pray, “Your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”
Well heaven’s not segregated
So it might be time for us to get integrated

Jesus didn’t say, “Repent for the Kingdom is at hand,
Now if you’re Greek go back home, Egyptians stay in Africa
And Jews don’t even think about minglin’ with the Gentiles”
The Jordan wasn’t divided up into sections labeled “White” or “Colored”
When people were lining up to get healed, Jesus didn’t tell certain people to
“Get to the back of the line”
With all the progress that our country has made
why is the church so far behind?

I guess its gonna take some bold black folk
who are not afraid to invade white spaces
We need some white brothers and sisters
who don’t mind being surrounded by black and brown faces
In the urban churches of America, every continent on the planet should have representation
Anything less is spiritual and theological stagnation

When I talk about integration in the Body of Christ
that means I can maintain my identity
Not get absorbed into the whiteness of the dominant society
I can take off the mask I wear to work
You can be yourself
You don’t have to keep up with the latest in Black English
I know some black people like to call each other the “N-Word”
We can talk about that, but for now, all you need to know is
Don’t say it, trust me on that

English and Spanish were the languages of colonizers
I may as well pick up another colonial tongue
If it’s gonna help make more connections
What we’ve been doing isn’t working
We have to explore new directions
Its time to send Jim Crow back to where he comes from
In the Kingdom, there’s only room for God’s Son