Crossing Cultural Boundaries

We had an interesting class last night at church. We discussed why, at least in West Point, churches seem to be separated by race. The overwhelming answer from us was that people are not comfortable with the worship styles that are so different from one race, and in some case, one denomination to another. The different worship styles probably come from our cultural backgrounds. In West Point, African American congregations have more expressive worship styles, why whites are often more reserved. Should we try to integrate our churches? Personally, I feel that it would be a great thing, but I feel that most people, both black and white would not be willing to do that.

The more I think about this, the more I realize that when it comes to reaching out to the Lost we too often only reach out to those similar to us (the white churches get whiter, the black churches get blacker). I think it's time for Christians to be willing to cross over those cultural boundaries to reach people for Jesus, to be willing to proclaim his message to anyone regardless of their "color" or "social" status. We have made an effort at the Old Aberdeen Road Church of Christ to reach out to the African American churches in West Point to simply say, we are with you and we love you, and we have also done that with other denominations in general mostly through our singing group, "Refuge". But I think as a whole we haven't done enough for the lost of the community. Sure, we are inviting our friends to join us on Sunday mornings, but are we reaching out and serving those we don't know and don't usually "associate" with? (I'm including myself as well). I just think we can do better, so I am challenging you and I to be more aware of those around us regardless of what they look like and be prepared to reach out and serve them in some way, whether it's with money, food, kind words, a prayer, or simply a smile. You'd be surprised how the little things you do can go a long way in blessing someone.