“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.”
That song has been a staple in Sunday Schools since I was wearing diapers, and long before. And it expresses a noble theme – that the love of Christ is not racially-based. Jesus saves people from all over the world. In fact, back in the early sixties, when I was singing the song in Sunbeams and Sunday School and Vacation Bible School, the message was radical and counter-cultural for many Baptists across the country.
But I was thinking about something last week, how this song is indicative of a very normal human response – one that we need to be aware of and keep in check – the tendency to magnify our differences.
I’m a white guy. But, having spent several of my growing up years in Taichung, Taiwan and in Central and South Florida, I have a perma-tan that leaves me anything but white. If you painted your walls to match my skin tone, no one would say, “Wow, I love the white you used here.” I’m more of a “medium tan.” But I’m white guy.
And we call people of African descent, “black.” Really? Black? I have a “black” friend whose skin is hardly darker than mine. Yes, there are some Africans (I saw many during my trip to Tanzania) whose skin tone is very dark, but still, they are hardly black.
And, of course, I’m pretty sure that Native Americans aren’t crazy about the designation “red” any more than Asians like to be caricatured as “yellow.” But neither designation is accurate, either.
This song presents a noble sentiment, but I think it also demonstrates a very human problem. We tend to magnify our differences. Black and white? No, we aren’t. We are a generally lighter shade of brown versus a generally darker shade of brown. Red and yellow? Not really.
It is a natural human tendency to focus on and magnify those things which separate us.
This is especially true on blogs. In my six years as a part of the Baptist Blogging Brigade I have had arguments about ecclesiology and baptism and Calvinism and a hundred other things. I think each of them is important in their own way. But the natural tendency is to magnify our differences and our offenses and assume that those who differ are seeking to undermine truth, justice and the American way instead of differing over points of theology that do not affect the story of Christ. Contrary to some, I think blogging discussion has a valid point and can be helpful. But we need to remember the context of our discussions and we need to keep that in mind as we interact.
I started blogging because I did not want the Baptist Identity group to set the direction of the SBC. I still don’t. But a funny thing happened along the way. Some of those guys whom I fought so hard against actually became friends. They will never agree with me, nor will I with them, about some of the finer points of that doctrine. But within the context of the Christian world, our differences are minuscule.
Think about it. What are the key issues of baptism?
- That baptism should only be performed on someone who has professed clearly their personal faith in Jesus Christ.
- That baptism is by immersion only.
- That baptism is a symbol of salvation and not a salvific sacrament.
- That baptism must be done in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Agree. Agree. Agree. Agree.
Where do we differ?
Well, we all agree that normally baptism should be performed under the authority of a local church. Where we disagree is on the degree of necessity of that oversight. And we disagree on whether baptism is valid if it is performed in a church that does not hold to our view of eternal security.
In other words, we AGREE on far more about baptism that we disagree. But in our rhetoric, we sometimes act as if we practice completely different views baptism. Simply not true.
Now, I don’t want to focus on the BI movement and its view of baptism, I only use that as an illustration. My point is that blogging leads us to a natural tendency to magnify our differences and minimize our points of agreement. That’s natural, but we need to understand it. The same is true of our discussions of Calvinism, of the GCR and other leadership issues, and many others. People who agree about 95% of issues are blogging about the 5% in which we disagree. Let’s keep that perspective in min.
Have you heard this old cherry of a joke? It’s told in different ways, but this is the gist of it. It gets at the heart of what I’m trying to say today.
Die, Heretic Scum!
Walking across a bridge, I saw a man on the edge, about to jump. I ran over and said: “Stop. Don’t do it.”
“Why not?” he asked.
“Well, there’s so much to live for!”
“Like what?”
“Are you religious?”
He said: “Yes.”
I said: “Me too. Are you Christian or Buddhist?”
“Christian.”
“Me, too. Are you Catholic or Protestant?”
“Protestant.”
“Me, too. Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?”
“Baptist.”
“Me, too. Are you Baptist Church of God or Church of the Lord?”
“Baptist Church of God.”
“Me, too. Are you original Baptist Church of God, or Reformed Baptist Church of God?”
“Reformed Baptist Church of God.”
“Me, too! Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915?”
He said: “Reformation of 1915.”
I said: “Die, heretic scum,” and pushed him off.
As we continue to hammer out our differences in the blogging world, let us remember that we are not fighting the “heretic scum” on Baptist blogs, but we are discussing with our Baptist brothers (and the occasional sister) how to best proclaim the gospel of Christ.
Of course, if anyone doubts I am truly white, perhaps an old video of playing basketball might exist. At 6’4″ I couldn’t dunk, proving the truth of the movie title, “White Men Can’t Jump.”
Sorry, I shouldn’t go there.
“I started blogging because I did not want the Baptist Identity group to set the direction of the SBC…But a funny thing happened…Some of those guys whom I fought so hard against actually became friends.”
Can you see me laughing Dave?
Only when you talk about sabanation.
So Dave,
Do you admit that even though the SEC and the elite of the elite, SABANATION, is far beyond your greatest hopes and dreams for the Buzzard-Eyes and the lesser conference they are in,you still humbly recognize we are pals to the end?
uh…well…um…well…okay.
White people aren’t really white either. In school I worked for a time loading trucks. At the end of a shift one night I jumped up to grab the bottom of a dock door and pull it down. A “black” coworker said to me, “Who says white men can’t jump?” I replied, “Who says I’m white?” That got a good chuckle out of him.
I don’t know if he though I meant I was what they call “passing” in these parts, but there is a sense in which we magnify differences based on what we otherwise call stereotyping. We make categorical assessments and prejudge based on those categories although the category or the assessments might not be particularly accurate. Most people balk with ire at having to refine their categories. Blogging over differences is popular because we are more interested in defending dubious categories from apparent attacks without than we are reinforcing certain categories from within.
Hey! I been to Saba. It’s about 40 miles South of St. Maarten. I don’t know what color the folks there are. I only saw two and they were different.
Bob,
The people there are crimson.
Of course, I take it that you are talking about Saba, Alabama which is just 40 miles south of St. Maarten, Alabama which is just 3 miles south of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. And Tuscaloosa is the home of the most crimson of the crimson ethnic group of people on planet earth….and also the home of the smartest ethnic group of people on the planet.
Seriously Dave,
I appreciate this post. Our differences are not of such a radical nature that we should forget that our uniting fellowship is the gospel of Christ the Lord.
He is the very radiance of God’s glory, and the exact representation of God’s nature to us. It is Christ who upholds all things and binds us together by the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. I praise Him that He has made purification of our sins and as He is seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven, He has given all of us who know Him a seat in heavenly places.
It is that and nothing less that can bind sinful men together for now and eternity. Thank you for the post. Red, yellow, black and white, we really are precious in His sight and for that I thank Him. And may we honor and glorify Him by allowing others to see Him in our lives daily, for certainly this fallen world needs to see men, red, yellow, black, and white, in unity, proclaiming His precious name in all the world. Jesus now, Jesus tomorrow, Jesus forever.
Thanks for the post. Your recommendation is certianly well stated and I believe we need to make sure that we do everything we do in humility and love and out of respect for individuals even though we may disagree with the other’s theology. It is easy for someone to take a “cheap shot” and us respond with a little more fervor than we should. It is human nature to stike back and to stand our ground. But the question must always be the “ultimate good” which is God and His will for our lives in every single situation we will ever find ourselves. I just posted on my site a comment dealing with this untimate good. Love all of your thoughts!
I tell my church family regularily: You cannot control what others say to you or do to you; all you can do is control your response to them and that is some of the best advice I have ever come across. Even when someone says something in a blog post that ruffles my feathers… my response does not need to be retaliatory in nature to the point that it effects my relationship with others, incuding how I see the person I am “debating.” We do need to work on the side of caution at all times and keep our comments centered on the issue and not everyhting BUT the issue.
I want to do that. Sometimes I will intentionally get carried away to encourage comments… but it is so easy to let emotions come into play and to be determined of not to win, but not to lose!
Thanks for allowing me ot be part of the conversation here.
Grateful to be in His Grip!
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49 years ago, to be precise, 1962, I enrolled in a course in Black History at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Mo., under one of the greatest of Black Historians, Lorenzo J. Greene, Ph.D., Columbia Univ., 1940, and our text book was John Hope Franklin’s From Slavery to Freedom (In which he says in the bibilography section on chapter 8 that Greene is the expert on slavery in colonial New England). It was utterly fascinating to me to learn that there were original people in Africa who were not Black in the sense of Negroid futures, etc., that Africa was as varied in colors and ethnic groups as any other part of the world, and more so than some. It was also fascinating, utterly absorbing to learn that Black folks were just as smart any day of the week as White folks. I had a living example before me, teaching me. He was an accomplished scholar, historian, resolutely accomplished in his field, able to lecture without notes (had a small hand held outline, a 3×5 notecard). Years later I would be able to check out some of the things he told us in class, and I found him to be utterly reliable, the soul of dependability in scholarship and fidelity to the highest principles of true learning. Dr. Greene launched me on a 6 years odyssey in historical research. He said, “Pick a subject, any subject, whatever you are interested in, and start doing research.” I picked church history as I wanted to prove a point, namely, that the Baptist Landmark position on the church was true. Dr. Greene said, “Take notes. All the notes you can. Take notes on everything you can get on a subject. Remember you are not ready to write until you have covered everything written on the subject.” For six years I did research in Baptist and Church History, taking some 3000 5×8 notecards and covering more than 250 sources. It was poorly organized, but from it would write a Master’s thesis in American Social and Intellectual History. That research almost launched me on a Ph.D. in Black history at Columbia University. And all of it due to a Black scholar, an African American Historian of the First Water, applying a term used in gemmology to scholars and scholarship.
The good professor also made the class aware of the scholarship, love of books, and intellectual atmosphere of the African empires such as the Mali and the Songhai. His faithfulness to truth would lead me to write a paper at Columbia on the subject, “Intellectuals of The Western Sudan,” which was really a study of one African American Intellectual of the 1500s, Ahmed Baba, “the rare jewel of learning.” I compared him with Ibn Khaldun (sp?), one of the leading Arabic Scholars in Moslem History. It was under circumstances like these that I came to love and appreciate scholarship and Black Folks and to realize how ridiculous any sort of racial prejudice against any one really is.
All of which prepares for me say that our Baptist church records were the source of my knowledge that would have led to a Ph.D. from an Ivy League University, if I had not had other interests to pursue. And, furthermore and moreover, our Baptist church records are gold mines of information that need to be researched, assessed, investigated, and evaluated for what they have to contribute to our understanding of the Bible, life, and our nation. Consider how those very same church records actually contribute to the idea of spiritual equality in the Church. I could write a blog on the value of those records for the Christian Faith.
Above and beyond that is the matter of the enlargement of, and appreciation for, the church and what it is and what attendance thereof really involves, namely, something few have ever dreamt. Here it is: Are you ready for it? Going to church is like going to Heaven.