One of the integral issues relating to the issue of reformed theology in the ‘black church’ context is whether there is even an institution such as the ‘black church’. If you had asked me a year ago, I’d have said that the idea of the black church was just a mythical idea of what church should be really like and that as black people, we needed to get out of that mode of thinking. But times change, people change and so my thoughts on the issue have shifted a little.

Here’s my premise: there isn’t a black church, any more than there is a white, hispanic or Asian church. There IS, however, a set of values which large numbers of black Christians would cherish as part and parcel of Christianity.

I dismiss the former because the Bible is clear – Gal 3:28. As far as the Government of Heaven is concerned, the black church is non-existent. There isn’t a black church, any more than there is a white church or Asian church. Ephesians 2 makes it as clear – God has torn down the wall of hostility between Jew and Gentile to create one new humanity. Racial differences still exist – Paul still speaks of Jew and Gentile, Greek or barbarian – but differences ought not to lead to division. That doesn’t mean that there isn’t a distinct sub-culture in the visible church, united by racial origin and several other distinctives. As I tried to figure out what those distinctives were, I wrestled between being stereotypical and being honest to my own experience. And so, I offer some distinctives – conscious that these are from one vantage-point and open to critique.

• Predominantly Pentecostal/Charismatic: Chances are, if you met a black Christian, they are mostly Pentecostal or Charismatic (and yes, I do believe that there is a clear distinction to be made between the two). Even those who wouldn’t call themselves Pentecostal or Charismatic often find themselves inadvertently affected by the ideas of these movements.

• Deeply experiential: The stereotypical depiction of the black church service tend to go something like this. While an extreme case, we do tend to view Christianity in a primarily subjective fashion. It would be fair to say that we tend to think the broad outline is more important than the details.:

(May I say briefly that I am not opposed to an experiential faith. In the Reformed  tradition, we have long emphasized the importance of “heart religion”. The teaching of such modern reformed preachers as Dr Joel Beeke has re-emphasized this facet of our faith.

• A distrust of intellectual rigour: This isn’t true of all, but in many circles, there is a clear distrust of the intellectual. We don’t think much of theology, we don’t rate ministers based on their theological accuracy and we’re more likely to look down on the person who thinks ‘that stuff’ matters than we are to listen to them.

• Strong emphasis on social position: Now I don’t want to speak bad of this trait. It has made us more conscious of social equality and thus desirous of worthy causes of advancement. There is a reason that (despite any theological differences) the civil rights movement was primarily headed by ‘clergy’ and churches. That being said, by focusing on their social position, black churches have become fodder for the prosperity gospel with its belief that poverty is never God’s will and that believers should actively seek to prosper as their covenant right. Even among those who do not accept the prosperity gospel, a social gospel remains an ever-lurking threat with its belief in social equality and the betterment of all in society.

These are the things I could find across the board and dealing with them may advance the discussion on being black and Reformed.

To be continued…

Related posts:

1. On Being Black and Reformed (1): Do I Have to Choose?: An Introductory Word As you may gather when you read this blog, I...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.