A Bad Sign

I consider it a very bad sign when Churches seek to be homogeneous -- although it is supposedly a respectable idea (my alma mater Fuller once taught it). It is a bad sign because it indicates that there are influences more compelling than the gospel in the Church. When it comes to race in particular, there are various degrees of being an integrated Church: • one admits other races into membership • one encourages them to minister (the priesthood of believers), and • one appoints them to Church office. (And in rare cases, one marries them). OBSERVATION: One (ex) Church elder said to me: "We welcome Blacks warmly in our Church -- but membership, that is where we draw the line!" Others draw the line in other places, and sometimes it may not be the whole Church which draws the line, but a part of it. But no, equality needs to be complete, or there is something wrong, if not fatal. In the same way, that means equality for Whites and for all races and cultures.