Racism in the Church

Ever read something that just leaves you in shock? I just read this and could not believe the intense racism that exists in some places. Perhaps my eyes are not open wide enough, but I’ve never experienced anything quite like this. It is a travesty.

Two excepts from the news article (Source)

The Rev. John Stevens says Fellowship
Baptist Church in Saltillo voted not to approve blacks as members
during a scheduled Sunday night business meeting Aug. 6. Because of the
decision, Stevens stepped down from the Baptist Missionary Alliance
congregation that has an average Sunday morning attendance of 30 people.

According
to Stevens, the church made race an issue after a biracial 12-year-old
boy, Joe, began attending Fellowship Baptist with his temporary
guardians.

The church was "afraid Joe might come with his
people and have blacks in the church," Stevens said. "I could not go
along with that. There would always be a wall between us, so I resigned
that night."

Insert my jaw dropping face. I couldn’t believe this and I applaud John for walking away from that place. Words cannot express accurately what I’m thinking.

After being told of the vote, Cliff Hardy,
an officer with the Tupelo Police Department, left the church. He and
his family had been going to Fellowship Baptist for about a year and
had been praying about becoming members there.

"I was asking the Lord to lead us," Hardy said.

The police officer says there are good people at Fellowship Baptist, and the Bible was preached there.

However,
"You see, my best friend is a black man," he said. "I wouldn’t be
comfortable going to a place where I couldn’t ask my best friend to go
to church with me."

I don’t believe in leaving churches over flippant reasoning. But this is a valid reason to go. I pray I am never at a place in my life where people exclude others from fellowship in the body over clearly non-biblical standards. Absolutely sickening. It’s my hope that I am doing the opposite in my life… widening room at the table for people of all backgrounds for a seat at the table with Christ. I hope we are united in our differences by the shed blood of Jesus.

If this is true, how could anyone justify staying there? Where in the Bible are people getting this idea that we should not allow people of different races to worship together?