SBC 2008 Day 2, continued – Bud, not Buddy, Lee for President

The cold hard truth is that Southern Baptists are a pretty monochromatic group of folks. To put it another way, there aren’t many chocolate chips in the cookie and, for better or worse, those few that are present stand out.

That’s how I’m able see the back of the head of a massive black man across the hall and know it’s Bud Lee. No, not Buddy Lee. Bud Lee. Actually, Bud does sort of look like Buddy with his big round head. But I sincerely doubt Buddy Lee could ROCK “His Eye is On the Sparrow” like Bud.

A traveling evangelist/musician with a mountain of a lisp, Bud is one of the few black men to ever set foot into my local church (twice, once in Missouri and once in Oklahoma) and one of even fewer to take the pulpit. Either way, Bud and his wife Barbara have an uncanny ability to walk into a 99.9 percent white congregation and not only do they feel at home, but the white folks don’t feel any residual guilt for the sins of our fathers. That’s a pretty amazing feat, considering the denomination’s past.

It isn’t hard to see that racism played a role in Southern Baptist history. I mean, it’s the Southern Baptist Convention. There’s got to be a reason it’s not the Northern Baptist Convention and slavery seems likely culprit.

In the years before the Civil War Baptists in the South began to break away from the national group (although it was a significantly looser group that anything existing today) over the issue of whether or not their missionaries should own slaves. After all, it’s in the Bible, therefore it must be OK. Of course, the Bible also preaches that God loves the whole world, regardless of race, and sent His son to die for their sins, but never mind that.

Even after the war, when Southern Baptists acknowledged they couldn’t own slaves, there was of course still widespread racism and segregation (although to be fair, this was a problem far beyond just Southern Baptists... including northern abolitionists).

(Southern) Baptists more or less followed the overall societal feelings on racial equality (I'm sure the SBC was fairly represented among the protesters at Little Rock Central High in 1957). This journey culminated in 1995 when the Convention overwhelmingly passed as resolution officially apologizing for the role racism and bigotry played in our history. (Fun note: I was actually there, in Atlanta, when it passed. OK, actually I slept late that day and was awoken only when the hotel caught fire… it’s a long story.) Fittingly, this happened on the 150th anniversary of the SBC. A few excerpts:

WHEREAS, Our relationship to African-Americans has been hindered from the beginning by the role that slavery played in the formation of the Southern Baptist Convention; and…

WHEREAS, Many of our Southern Baptist forbears defended the right to own slaves, and either participated in, supported, or acquiesced in the particularly inhumane nature of American slavery; and…

WHEREAS, In later years Southern Baptists failed, in many cases, to support, and in some cases opposed, legitimate initiatives to secure the civil rights of African-Americans; and…

WHEREAS, Racism has led to discrimination, oppression, injustice, and violence, both in the Civil War and throughout the history of our nation; and ...

WHEREAS, Racism has divided the body of Christ and Southern Baptists in particular, and separated us from our African-American brothers and sisters; and…

WHEREAS, Many of our congregations have intentionally and/or unintentionally excluded African-Americans from worship, membership, and leadership; and…

WHEREAS, Racism profoundly distorts our understanding of Christian morality, leading some Southern Baptists to believe that racial prejudice and discrimination are compatible with the Gospel; and…

Therefore, be it RESOLVED, That we, the messengers to the Sesquicentennial meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, assembled in Atlanta, Georgia, June 20-22, 1995, unwaveringly denounce racism, in all its forms, as deplorable sin; and…

Be it further RESOLVED, That we apologize to all African-Americans for condoning and/or perpetuating individual and systemic racism in our lifetime; and we genuinely repent of racism of which we have been guilty, whether consciously (Psalm 19:13) or unconsciously (Leviticus 4:27); and…

Be it further RESOLVED, That we ask forgiveness from our African-American brothers and sisters, acknowledging that our own healing is at stake; and…

Be it further RESOLVED, That we hereby commit ourselves to eradicate racism in all its forms from Southern Baptist life and ministry; and…

Be it finally RESOLVED, That we pledge our commitment to the Great Commission task of making disciples of all people (Matthew 28:19), confessing that in the church God is calling together one people from every tribe and nation (Revelation 5:9), and proclaiming that the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is the only certain and sufficient ground upon which redeemed persons will stand together in restored family union as joint-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17).

Yeah, it IS just a bunch of words and as we all learned in Sunday School, one’s walk says a lot more than it’s talk. As a demographic group, I’m not sure how we’re walking, because as a white guy in a white church in a white town in a white state, it really doesn’t affect me. Convention-wide, nearly 10 percent of SBC churches (by congregation, not membership) are a majority of minorities. That actually seems pretty good for a group formed specifically because it wanted to keep a minority in chains. The modern KKK can’t really say they've "grown" that way.

Personally, I must admit that regardless of my faith, I have a few prejudiced and racists threads running through my body. I don’t like it, but there it is. If I avoid a certain side of the street because I see five young black men in downtown KC, I tell myself that my racism is perfectly justified and based in fact or at least probability. Still, that isn’t anywhere near right and that attitude (even if it were justified... heck, it is downtown KC) only serves to perpetuate racial segregation.

I don’t think I’m that bad on the racism scale. The first black person I ever remember seeing was LaVarr Burton on Reading Rainbow, a positive representative any race would be proud to claim. During my two trips to Africa, there were many times I was surrounded by hundreds of Africans while I was the only white within miles and I felt perfectly at home. Of course, slight inklings of racism began to creep in as soon as we landed in Atlanta, so maybe my prejudice is based on something other than pure race. Not that that makes it a positive behavior.

All that to say this: I speak for all Southern Baptists when I say, we're seriously not OK with Barack Obama.

Bud Lee for President!