“Dad, what color crayon should I use for Jesus’ skin?”

My daughter, 6 years old, was coloring a picture of Jesus.  She is quite artistic and drawing people is one of her mainstays.  They are typically brown or peach colored.

Great question.  I suppose if one referenced the Jesus portrayed on film, most versions of the Savior would be a Caucasian man with blue eyes and flowing, if not permed, hair.  Looking further back to the stained glass found in many ancient churches would lead us to the same conclusion.  Da Vinci’s Last Supper and Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ come to mind.

The fact that most modern (by modern I mean produced in the last millennium) art portrays Jesus as looking like this or that might be a parable of how most church congregations look like this or that.  Discrimination and racism are huge diseases, and in many churches in our country the symptoms are obvious.  In the USA, Sunday morning is often the most segregated hour of the week.

Why is this?  The answer is simple – we are sinful and we do not love one another.  One of the easiest ways to segregate ourselves from others is to base inclusion and acceptance on appearance.  How easy this judgment is amplified when ethnicity is so easy a thing to notice.

In the Bible we see this separation clear in the tension between the Jews and Gentiles.  While the Scripture was very clear that God’s people were to avoid the customs of other nations and races, it is equally clear that it is God’s heart to include all of them in God’s kingdom.  But sadly many of God’s people in both the Old and New Testament saw themselves as being above others, and they used their faith as the reason for this.

Human history follows the same vile trend.  Just in the last few centuries alone there are many examples.  We remember the atrocities of the relocation of the American Indians, of legal slavery in the United States, and the resulting segregation that followed.  We read of the Holocaust and of ethnic cleansing responsible for the death of millions in Africa and other parts of the world today.

Many people of faith work to reverse this, but the ethnic makeup of most churches in the United States shows that we have much work to do.

But there is hope.  If we are inviting God’s Kingdom on earth, as the Lord’s Prayer tells us to, then we desire that the every tribe, tongue and nation that worship God in heaven might be reflected here and now as well, and maybe under the same roof on Sunday morning.

Scripture is full of God’s heart for people of all cultures and skin color.  As early as Abraham’s covenant God made it clear that his mercy was for all nations, not just the Jews.  Moses and Solomon married outside their race.  The Lord commanded Peter to eat pork.  The church was launched outside of Jerusalem to the whole world.  And in heaven we see a very multi-ethnic congregation assembled in great praise of Almighty God.

Our congregation has worked hard for 15 years to embrace this Biblical value of diversity in the church.  It influences our décor, the toys in our kids church, our music style, and who is quoted during the sermons.  The theme weaves its way into Sunday teaching often.  It impacts our choice of meeting location.

But beyond that, it must work its way into our lives outside the church.  So in our workplace and neighborhood we become conscious of not making friends based on skin color.  If we’re from this side of the tracks, we might choose to visit a restaurant on that side, and vice versa.

And even deeper than that, it must work its way into our heart.  We must ask ourselves if we are bothered by the segregation in our church, and if we are willing to do anything about it.  I for one have been repenting for the last 25 years of the racism in my heart and its effects on my faith and church.

I challenge our southern church culture to consider what color crayon we pick when it’s time to color Jesus Christ.  The challenge of this introspection may do wonders for our faith.