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I have time in the mornings, I like to catch a couple minutes of the news
before bustling off to work. I am especially pleased when I get to watch the
scheduled special feature at 7:45am. During this segment they usually interview
some local public figure about current hot topics.
This
morning they interviewed one of my favorite guys: Art Gray. From my first exposure to him, I found Dr. Art
Gray to be a complex, intriguing individual. A quote from his webpage confirms
my suspicion:
- "Dr. Art has worked as an economist, an attorney, a pastor of two churches, an executive or a religious non-profit and as an overseer of up to 150 local churches...he has a bachelors degree in Economics from Loyola Marymount University, a Juris Doctors degree from, Southwestern University School of Law and a Doctor of Ministry in Transformational Leadership of the Global City from Bakke Graduate University. He is also a certified Life Coach from Leader Breakthru Coaching."[1]
Clearly, he has had a variety of life-experiences that make him, at minimum, quite an interesting guy to talk to. While I find some of his religious conclusions difficult to concur with, I do think he has helpful distinctions to make especially in the area of racial reconciliation.
All
that being said, today the news team was talking with Dr. Gray about the Trayvon
Martin/George Zimmerman trial. Now well
over a year past the fateful February night, the courts are working to
determine the actual events that occurred and whether or not it is appropriate
to convict Zimmerman. This process has given rise to many related conversations
about neighborhood watch groups, gun control, racial profiling, and Zimmerman’s
110lb weigh gain over the course of the trial (ok, maybe the last one was just
news on TMZ).
So,
racism was the topic of choice on the morning news and the anchor asked Dr.
Gray if he thought Zimmerman was racist.[2]
Dr. Gray responded that he didn’t think
Zimmerman was racist, but ‘place-ist’. This
means that Martin seemed (to Zimmerman) to be in the wrong place – he didn’t “fit”
where he was. Subsequently, Zimmerman’s awareness was heightened and he pursued
Martin to determine why he was where he was.
So,
I’ll be honest. I have no idea what was
going through Zimmerman’s head. I don’t even know if Dr. Gray’s assessment satisfactorily adjudicates the racist issue
(would a young white kid have conjured up the same place-ist awareness in
Zimmerman?). However, I was struck by
how true the idea of place-ism seems to be.
Stop
for a minute and think about it.
Doesn’t
it seem like American culture pushes people into social ghettos? Maybe it’s not
just American culture, maybe it’s something about human nature, but it seems
like we all have a place – socially, geographically, etc. We live in that
place, know that place, treasure that place and anytime someone who isn’t a
normal part of that place enters it we are immediately aware. Remember back to those
socially awkward middle-school days, right? Well, I’m not convinced that those
middle-school days are completely over. Honestly, my exposure to the ‘grown-up-world’
tells me that it’s not.
While
having a place is not necessarily a bad thing, it can (and often does) give
opportunity for great amounts of discrimination and animosity. The people of
this ‘place’ can’t possibly interact with people of that ‘place’ because they
don’t dress the right way or drive the right car or eat the right food. Social
ghettos immediately suspect that alternative social ghettos are somehow less
valuable or even not valuable.
What
is most disappointing is when this attitude of ‘place-ism’ finds its way into
the church. This denomination can’t fellowship with that denomination because
they believe in speaking in tongues. This pastor can’t dialogue with that
pastor because he doesn’t preach the ‘right way’. This Christian can’t sit next
to that Christian because “they’ve never tithed one penny the whole time we’ve seen
them coming to this church.”
I
think we’re missing it here. This has never been the way of the gospel.
The
gospel unites (Galatians 3:28); ‘place-ism’ divides. The gospel has an eschatological vision of
people from every tribe, tongue, and nation (Revelation 7:9) together in God’s Kingdom;
‘place-ism’ has a vision of us-four-and-no-more. The gospel sees difference and celebrates (1
Corinthians 12); ‘place-ism’ sees differences and separates.
As
followers of Christ, we are called to be more than ‘place-ists’. We are to be
an open people that willingly incorporate others into our lives and give them….a
place.
So,
today, let’s be Kingdom people; not ‘place-ism’ people.
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