Racism, Mental Health, and Sexism (Women's Roles in the Church)
Some other things that need to be talked about within the Church include but are not limited to racism, mental health issues, and sexism.
Racism exists outside of the Church and everyone knows it. However, racism is just as prevalent inside the Church as it is outside of the Church and it needs to be fixed and talked about.
First of all, racism is defined by Google as "Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against a person or people on the basis of their membership in a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized."
For some reason people think it is okay to discriminate against people that are different than them. But it makes no sense as to why they are actually discriminating against them, most of the time people don't even know these people that they hate so much.
Within the Church, this has caused a great divide. Already in the Church there is a great divide between denominations, and race has only caused more issues. Whether we like it or not, churches do not exemplify the Kingdom of Heaven when it comes to race. What I mean by this is that God and the Kingdom of Heaven don't look at races with any prejudice. Heaven will be full of all sorts of races, yet most churches do not reflect this.
Many churches have majority of one race and have a couple of other people of different races sprinkled throughout. For instance, a "white church" that has a couple of black and hispanic people, or a "black church" with a couple of hispanic or white people sprinkled throughout. Now, if this reflects the population of that area, there is probably not a problem. But at least where I live, our churches do not reflect the area the church is in. And I think that is because people of my church and surrounding churches minister more to people that look like them and are similar because it is in their comfort zone. But if the community surrounding your church is not similar to the demographic within your church, then chances are your church is somewhat racist whether you know it or not.
And to be honest, it is something that is uncomfortable to confront and talk about. But now more than ever, racism is coming up and being confronted, and the Church should be at the forefront showing people how to love regardless of differences, and in a way that understands and respects peoples' differences.
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."
Genesis 1:27
This verse proves that man was made by God and we reflect some of God's qualities. So if we were made in God's image and we reflect God and he chose what we look like, when we hate people for being different, we are just as much hating the one who created them.
Now, for another issue comes mental health. So many people struggle with mental illnesses or just mental health in general, yet there is still a large portion of churches that don't have counseling centers or any type of ministry to help these people or reach out to people that are facing these things.
Another issue within the church is not discussing these problems and treating them as real issues. Not all churches, but some churches minimize mental health and the importance of working on mental health. But especially in today's worlds, we need to learn and become educated on all of these things. It seems like at the very minimum, 1 out of every 3 people I know struggles with mental health, whether it is someone fighting anxiety, depression, or any other type of struggle with mental health or mental illness.
Yet, within the churches that I have been a part of, there has not been resources available to me or those people to help them and to get counseling or therapy. I am a firm advocate that all churches should have counseling centers and therapists to help people deal with these things and in a way that is faith-based.
Lastly, I want to talk about sexism in the Church. It exists and is as rampant as ever. I have witnessed first-hand how people, specifically women in the Church are held to different standards and are not able to get as high up in the Church as men.
I understand that a Church might not want a female head pastor, as in the Bible, men were given more roles in leadership. However, that was also a part of their culture. I am a full believer that God can use women just as much as men and that it good to have a staff that is diverse not only racially and ethnically, but also when it comes to sex/gender. I feel like men and women often times have different strengths and weaknesses, but that is good because each sex can pickup the slack of the other.
I personally prefer to have a head pastor that is a man. I think that is more of a preference than it is biblical, but still. I think that men and women should both have leadership roles within the Church if the community of believers is to flourish and thrive!
So hopefully that wasn't just an uneducated rant. But all in all, these are issues dear to my heart that we as a community of believers need to confront and face head-on. If we don't confront these things, then nothing will change and we will continue on an unhealthy path that can only lead to destruction. And don't just take my word on these things. I'm human. I'm sure I am incorrect in some areas of the things I talk about. So research for yourself and look into what the Bible says about these things and think for yourself. And if I am wrong on anything, please call me out. I would love to talk and become more educated on these things.