Segregation: Spiritual Frontier continued present system of segregation. Tra dition and legislation combined to enforce third-rate lives. A system of inferior people living near you can serve a purpose. It can become a convenient scapegoat. I remember from college days a fascinating study showing that lynchings in creased with cotton crop failures. In the Council paper the point was made that when the races are permitted to mix there is an on rush of intermarriage at a rate that is threatening and overwhelming. So I got on the telephone and called several authorities to get reliable statistics. I found that here in Ohio Negroes and whites are rubbing shoulders just about everywhere (except in church, of course). In one study of marriages in Ohio it was found that less than % were
Those who are cleansed by the blood of Christ stand on the border separating the Church from the world and stand up to the evil of the world. The Bible says that the Church carries on a perpetual war fare with the god of this world, the devil, “ against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12). Other false religions could compromise with Rome. The members of Christ could not compromise. They de feated Rome and its evil spirit. A Christian is first, last and al ways joined with other Christians to Christ, the head. His primary mission in life is the function of the Church. That function is re vealed through the Word of God and by the Holy Spirit. Let’s say it again: if you try to direct the Church yourself or if your guid ance comes from a source other than the Bible, you will get into error and injure the Body of Christ. If you want to study the func tion of the Church, look first at Ephesians. B a r r i e r s existed be tween Jew and Gentile. The blood of Christ washed these barriers away. When any soul is bom again through acceptance of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, as Saviour and Lord, then he is justified and sanctified. It doesn’t matter who or what he is or was. He is baptized by the Holy Spirit into the Body of Christ, the Church. A ll blood-washed souls are to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. The Church is our earthly microheaven. The Church is the forerunner, here and now, of the time when the sov ereignty of God will be vindicated and all men will be forced to con fess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father. You are seeing (supposedly) in the Church what God desires for all mankind: unity in Christ. The Church is not ours at all. It belongs completely to Christ to be used as His witness of holiness in an evil world. Now and then you hear some
Christian say, “ I don’t want any N e g r o e s o r M e x i c a n s i n m y church.” In whose church? Christ paid for the Church with His pre cious blood and some saints seem to think because they put an offer ing in the plate on Sunday they have bought the Church back. If Christ died to save a Negro soul and that soul is now a child of God through the grace of Jesus, we have no more right to say he can or cannot meet for worship with God’s people than I have the right to tell you who you can bring into your home. You will hear people say that it is not the business of the Church to tell an unregenerated world how to change its face. Perhaps not but a pure Church is a living witness. Sin caused segregation. Read this from The Citizens’ Council, (July, 1957): “ In America the Negro has learned many of the white man’s habits, and the white man some times copies the Negro. But if the races did not live around each other, their habits would be pure. The white man is very civilized, while the pure Negro in Africa is still living as a savage.” Even a child can detect the sin that poisoned that pen. Take an unsaved white man in America and compare him with a Negro Chris tian in Africa who is growing in grace and tell me which is the sav age and which one is “ civilized.” Look at Paul’s statement that “ ye are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28 ), and “ For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Rom. 8:14). If the Church took that seriously and people of all races were invited in love to worship Christ together, then that unity in love would wit ness with terrific impact against a sin-divided world. The Church could say, “Here is Christ. He is the answer. You are struggling to overcome hate caused by racial tensions. Court battles and congressional s t r u g g l e s are
interracial. I contacted the West Cincinnati St. Barnabas Church that has had integration for some time and there has never been any courtship or intermarriage of those attending the worship and social functions. I asked if Negroes rushed into the church once restrictions w e r e r e m o v e d . Of course they hadn’t. Far from it. Anyone can explode the race fables just by read in g i n t e l l i g e n t a n d scientific studies. Read Sense and Nonsense About Race by Ethel J. Alpenfels. It is only 50c and is published by Friendship Press. You’ll find popu lar theories can be dangerous. Whenever you draw your final authority about human relation ships from a source other than the Bible, you are bound to get into more error than you can handle. One time a high school student asked her teacher why the Chris tians were persecuted in Rome when there were so many other small religions. The answer is be cause the Church of Jesus was cre ated to thrive on the spiritual fron tiers of the world. The Church is an army. Christ came to bring a sword. And the powers o f hell tremble before this army.
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