Oppression in the Church
In the American church years ago, if a black man would dare to worship with whites, he could not sit freely wherever he wished. He was expected to sit in the back, or to stand in the balcony, separated from the whites.
It was the norm of that time, enshrined in old, well-established church tradition. White ministers even used Scripture to support such racial prejudice.
Their reasoning went like this:
Canaan, son of Ham, was cursed by Noah for his role in the "look-at-naked-Grandpa" scandal.
That curse included slavery. And Ham's offspring settled the areas populated by the black races.
So the whites thought they were in the will of God, to enforce this curse on the black people!
Furthermore, the New Testament passages telling slaves to obey their masters were abused by the whites, to tell the blacks that this was God's will for them!
We as whites cannot imagine the pain this caused the black race in America. They are still trying to recover from the wound done on a spiritual level. Because when someone is wounded so deeply, the very DNA gets marked with hatred and resentment against the oppressors.
Science (the study of Epigenetics) has found that little "tags" on our chromosomes get turned on or off by the choices we make and the experiences we have. Those tags on our genes are passed on to succeeding generations.
It takes 4 generations in succession, exerting the energy to actively resist their natural inclinations, to reverse those attitudes.
That's what slavery did to the blacks in America.
And it was done by church-going, deeply religious people.
Now, those white southern Christians of 150 years ago had the same Scriptures we have.
And they may have even read them more than we do today!
Didn't they read the passage that commanded Philemon to welcome his runaway slave as if he were Paul himself? Didn't they read the verses that told masters to give justice and equality to their slaves? Didn't they read what Jesus Christ said, that "inasmuch as you have done it to the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me"?
Of course they read those passages.
But - like us - they read them with cultural blinders on.
They didn't think outside of the box they were taught to think in.
Instead of the Word shaping their culture,
their culture shaped the way they understood the Word.
Even 50 years ago, it was very unusual for a white American church to allow a black minister of the gospel into their pulpit. Racially integrated congregations were virtually unheard of.
(As a side note, the Pentecostal movement began completely integrated in the late 1800s and early 1900s, with blacks and whites sharing equally in leadership. This was such a great scandal that serious persecution broke out against Pentecostals. Their very lives being at stake, the blacks decided to withdraw from the white congregations, and to form their own Pentecostal denominations.)
Today, thankfully, American Christianity has realized the truth of Galatians 3:28 -
"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus."
Today, we celebrate the integration of churches. It's considered an honor for a predominantly white denomination to host a black speaker. The walls are coming down at last!
But we've still got a ways to go. There are old strongholds of prejudice, especially in the more traditional-style congregations. White culture is seen as superior by far too many people. Older people have a hard time changing their ways of thinking. We walk a tightrope between honoring our elders and dishonoring ungodly traditions.
Today, in 2019, it's pretty well openly acknowledged that Galatians 3:28 means black ministers ought to be able to sit as equals among white ministers.
.................
But we've got another cultural stronghold, that's blinding us to another phrase in that verse.
Why do we apply it so easily now to racial barriers, or to national barriers....
but we interpret the verse differently when it comes to gender?
It's easy today, to see this verse means all races are equal in Christ! All nationalities are equal!
We ought not act as if one race or nationality is spiritually superior to another.
We can see it now, because our culture has changed. The blinders have come off.
But when it comes to gender... the blinders are still there.
Remember that cardinal rule of Scripture interpretation: "Be consistent within the passage."
If the passage can only be used to apply to equal access to Christ,but not to equality in ministry, in the case of gender, then that is the way it must be applied in the case of race.
Either it's only about equality in access to salvation for race, nationality, and gender...
or else it means complete equality in all things, for all three groups!
..............
In fact, if we are completely honest, we would have to admit this fact: the way Scripture was abused to support American slavery, is the same way Scripture is abused to deny women an equal voice in the church.
The idea that a curse needs to be enforced... check.
The idea that God grants special privilege to those born with certain physical characteristics... check.
Using New Testament passages enjoining slaves (or wives) to be submissive, as permission to own (or lord it over) slaves (or women)... check.
Using such passages as tools of oppression... check.
...............................
It is interesting to note that the Pentecostal church not only began with blacks and whites equally sharing the pulpit...
but it also began (as the early church) with women equally in ministry, alongside men.
But something happened.
The Pentecostal church began learning at the feet of non-Pentecostal theologians.
Attitudes began to build... reflecting a carnal, power-hungry egotism.
And with these attitudes came racial prejudice... and pushing women away from equality in ministry.
And over the next century, the numbers of Pentecostal women entering the ministry dropped... and dropped... and dropped.
Because even the Pentecostal church is often not a friendly place for women in ministry.
Women are told to follow the call... but the church does not open the doors for them.
If a woman is called by God to preach, she usually has to make her own way.
This means the mission field... or starting a church from scratch, in difficult places.
She has to do the hard stuff most others wont.
This inequality toward women, concerning ministry, is not of Pentecostal origin.
It comes from polluted fountains.
Fountains that also produce much false doctrine, created from the human imagination.
God poured His Spirit out on both genders, all races, and all nationalities, EQUALLY.
He engineered this event to include WOMEN prophesying equally in public, alongside the men.
Which begs the question,
"Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?"
It was the norm of that time, enshrined in old, well-established church tradition. White ministers even used Scripture to support such racial prejudice.
Their reasoning went like this:
Canaan, son of Ham, was cursed by Noah for his role in the "look-at-naked-Grandpa" scandal.
That curse included slavery. And Ham's offspring settled the areas populated by the black races.
So the whites thought they were in the will of God, to enforce this curse on the black people!
Furthermore, the New Testament passages telling slaves to obey their masters were abused by the whites, to tell the blacks that this was God's will for them!
We as whites cannot imagine the pain this caused the black race in America. They are still trying to recover from the wound done on a spiritual level. Because when someone is wounded so deeply, the very DNA gets marked with hatred and resentment against the oppressors.
Science (the study of Epigenetics) has found that little "tags" on our chromosomes get turned on or off by the choices we make and the experiences we have. Those tags on our genes are passed on to succeeding generations.
It takes 4 generations in succession, exerting the energy to actively resist their natural inclinations, to reverse those attitudes.
That's what slavery did to the blacks in America.
And it was done by church-going, deeply religious people.
Now, those white southern Christians of 150 years ago had the same Scriptures we have.
And they may have even read them more than we do today!
Didn't they read the passage that commanded Philemon to welcome his runaway slave as if he were Paul himself? Didn't they read the verses that told masters to give justice and equality to their slaves? Didn't they read what Jesus Christ said, that "inasmuch as you have done it to the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me"?
Of course they read those passages.
But - like us - they read them with cultural blinders on.
They didn't think outside of the box they were taught to think in.
Instead of the Word shaping their culture,
their culture shaped the way they understood the Word.
Even 50 years ago, it was very unusual for a white American church to allow a black minister of the gospel into their pulpit. Racially integrated congregations were virtually unheard of.
(As a side note, the Pentecostal movement began completely integrated in the late 1800s and early 1900s, with blacks and whites sharing equally in leadership. This was such a great scandal that serious persecution broke out against Pentecostals. Their very lives being at stake, the blacks decided to withdraw from the white congregations, and to form their own Pentecostal denominations.)
Today, thankfully, American Christianity has realized the truth of Galatians 3:28 -
"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus."
Today, we celebrate the integration of churches. It's considered an honor for a predominantly white denomination to host a black speaker. The walls are coming down at last!
But we've still got a ways to go. There are old strongholds of prejudice, especially in the more traditional-style congregations. White culture is seen as superior by far too many people. Older people have a hard time changing their ways of thinking. We walk a tightrope between honoring our elders and dishonoring ungodly traditions.
Today, in 2019, it's pretty well openly acknowledged that Galatians 3:28 means black ministers ought to be able to sit as equals among white ministers.
.................
But we've got another cultural stronghold, that's blinding us to another phrase in that verse.
Why do we apply it so easily now to racial barriers, or to national barriers....
but we interpret the verse differently when it comes to gender?
It's easy today, to see this verse means all races are equal in Christ! All nationalities are equal!
We ought not act as if one race or nationality is spiritually superior to another.
We can see it now, because our culture has changed. The blinders have come off.
But when it comes to gender... the blinders are still there.
Remember that cardinal rule of Scripture interpretation: "Be consistent within the passage."
If the passage can only be used to apply to equal access to Christ,but not to equality in ministry, in the case of gender, then that is the way it must be applied in the case of race.
Either it's only about equality in access to salvation for race, nationality, and gender...
or else it means complete equality in all things, for all three groups!
..............
In fact, if we are completely honest, we would have to admit this fact: the way Scripture was abused to support American slavery, is the same way Scripture is abused to deny women an equal voice in the church.
The idea that a curse needs to be enforced... check.
The idea that God grants special privilege to those born with certain physical characteristics... check.
Using New Testament passages enjoining slaves (or wives) to be submissive, as permission to own (or lord it over) slaves (or women)... check.
Using such passages as tools of oppression... check.
...............................
It is interesting to note that the Pentecostal church not only began with blacks and whites equally sharing the pulpit...
but it also began (as the early church) with women equally in ministry, alongside men.
But something happened.
The Pentecostal church began learning at the feet of non-Pentecostal theologians.
Attitudes began to build... reflecting a carnal, power-hungry egotism.
And with these attitudes came racial prejudice... and pushing women away from equality in ministry.
And over the next century, the numbers of Pentecostal women entering the ministry dropped... and dropped... and dropped.
Because even the Pentecostal church is often not a friendly place for women in ministry.
Women are told to follow the call... but the church does not open the doors for them.
If a woman is called by God to preach, she usually has to make her own way.
This means the mission field... or starting a church from scratch, in difficult places.
She has to do the hard stuff most others wont.
This inequality toward women, concerning ministry, is not of Pentecostal origin.
It comes from polluted fountains.
Fountains that also produce much false doctrine, created from the human imagination.
God poured His Spirit out on both genders, all races, and all nationalities, EQUALLY.
He engineered this event to include WOMEN prophesying equally in public, alongside the men.
Which begs the question,
"Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?"
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