One of the most lasting effects of racism on white churches is an
intellectual wound that makes people think they’ll do right if they believe
right. So they put all of their emphasis on believing the right things.
Preachers work so hard to get their doctrine right, and then try to think of
clever ways to get their congregations to sit and listen to their good
theology. I ask them, “How are you helping your church learn to love?” And they
tell me, “Well, if they're Christians they will love.” But I’ve met a lot of
Christians who don’t know what love means. I talk to white Christians all the
time who say, “I love black people. . . .” Love isn’t just a good feeling. It’s
an action that requires conversion.
John Perkins in Charles Marsh and John M. Perkins, Welcoming
Justice: God's Movement Toward Beloved Community (Downers Grove:
InterVarsity, 2009), 41.
[Read the Introduction to 95 Theses for Christian Racial & Ethnic Unity here.]
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