When I was 20, an interracial couple had been visiting our Southern Baptist church for months before deciding to join. Everyone was welcoming, and they felt like they "fit in" there..... until the morning they decided to join. When someone joins a church, all members who are present "vote" on it. I'm not sure why.... but before this event, it had always been a positive "all those in favor of said person joining our church, say 'Amen!'" That particular morning, the couple went down, and when the vote was called, a couple of people voted against them. It was dramatic.... tumultuous.... downright heartbreaking. After the naysayers spoke, people started speaking up in favor of the couple. I remember getting up and leaving, as I was too emotional to even speak, especially after I watched tears fall down the face of the wife during the whole fiasco.
In the time after I left, I had many thoughts to deal with. Who WERE these people? This was MY church... the church I felt loved and nurtured in, and the only home I knew. I heard vicious words come out of mouths I had once revered. It hurt EVERYONE to the core. To make a long story short, the pastor apologized and many people privately contacted the couple telling them they were more than welcome, but the pain of those few was just too much for them to come back. I didn't leave the church. I got married there, and eventually moved away, but I still consider it my childhood church. The church is not a building with laws and rules. The church is made of the people... the members. It is supposed to be the Body of Christ. In retrospect, it was not my church that was evil, but the hearts of those few troublemakers who, in sadness, were ignorant and reluctant to change.... they had been taught a belief system that to them was right, but to the rest of us was wrong. The media, if they had been invited, would have had a field day, and the whole "church" would have been thrown to the wolves. However, there were many true Christians there that day, and while they may not have knocked the idiots over the head with clubs in a display of public detest, they reacted much more calmly and compassionately... for those being hurt, AND for those doing the hurting. We ALL need love, acceptance, and forgiveness. I must remember the same when thinking of this church and this situation. I simply cannot judge the hearts of all those involved, but I pray for peace and understanding for them all. I do now attend a Free Will Baptist Church, and there are people of all kinds are welcome, as by the teachings of Jesus Christ.
That said, while it is not MY wish or mentality AT ALL, I think that if churches, groups, clubs or any of the sort want to gather together and welcome only certain types of members, that is MORE THAN within their rights to do so. Would I want to be a member? Ummm, no. If a club decided they didn't want anybody like me... blonde, green-eyed, I'm-Not-From-Louisana-But-I'm-Still-Hot-Sauce kinda girls... well, they can do so. I wouldn't want to be a part of such group to begin with, but I still believe it is their not-so-nice right to do so. There's plenty of churches and groups for everyone to belong to.
