Am I Black? Or am I Christian?

The friend standing before me, frustration and hurt in her eyes, declares “You’re a Christian first and foremost!” I’ve heard numerous white Christians echo these sentiments whenever the topic of ethnicity is being discussed. By contrast, from my experience, few – if any – Black Christians echo this sort of thinking. If they do, it is usually stated with a hint of uncertainty or forlornness, as if trying to convince themselves that this hierarchy of identity is what God intends for people of color. This type of ‘theological’ thinking carried out to its ‘logical’ conclusion suggests that God wants our faith as Black Christians to supersede our ethnicity to the point of fracturing our very selves, as if we should naturally know when to slip off our Black ethnicity masks so that our true Christian identity can take the lead. Having to choose between our ethnicity and our faith directly contradicts the inherent, inspired, divinely-imagined design that is clearly evidenced in Psalm 139:13-16:

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the early, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” (Psalm 139:13-16, NIV).

Attributed to King David as the author, Psalm 139 speaks of God’s intimate involvement with our divinely created, gently ‘knit-together’ selves, and His desire to always remain present with us. In verse 1, David observes that “O Lord, you have searched me, and you know me.” The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the word ‘search’ as “to look into or over carefully or thoroughly in an effort to find or discover something.” As Psalm 139 describes, God takes time to thoroughly search us; He is pondering deeply our dreams, our fears, our mannerisms, our likes and dislikes, and our innermost being. How do we know this? Psalm 139:3b records David’s response: God is “familiar with all my ways” (Psalm 139:3b). 

And so I ask: Would God, who is “familiar with all [our] ways,” suddenly find himself surprised by our ethnic expressions? Of course not.

Although human beings created the racial caste system that exists in America and other nations, God crafted our ethnicities, chose our skin complexions, and purposely placed us within our mother’s womb as she embodied her divinely beautiful ethnic identity within a community of similarly treasured human beings. And yet, this has not been my experience as a Black Christian whose unique ethnic identity has not always been welcomed by others, particularly by white Christians. I have repeatedly heard white Christians reference Galatians 3:28 in response to people of color trying to embody their ethnicity, falsely arguing that Christians should not distinguish themselves by ethnicity because God sees us all the same. But is this what Galatians 3:28 actually argues? 

God takes time to thoroughly search us; He is pondering deeply our dreams, our fears, our mannerisms, our likes and dislikes, and our innermost being. How do we know this? Psalm 139:3: God is 'familiar with all my ways.' (1/2) Share on X

And so I ask: Would God, who is 'familiar with all our ways,' suddenly find himself surprised by our ethnic expressions? Of course not. (2/2) Share on X

The text reads as follows: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28, NIV). The meaning behind Paul’s words are made more clear in the entire context of his words. In Galatians 2:11-21, Paul notes the hypocrisy he witnessed in some of his Jewish brethren, particularly the Apostle Peter (!), in assimilating to Jewish culture in the presence of fellow Jews, but living as Gentiles when amongst Gentile people. Paul builds a compelling argument throughout Galatians 3 that the law no longer holds Jews or Gentiles captive to a religious set of rules, but that Jesus came to redeem each group through faith alone. Paul’s argument builds to Galatians 3:26-27, where he declares that “in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” Paul is not saying that a person must deny their culture before approaching Christ, but that our cultural differences do not prevent us from partaking in Christ’s family as a unified collective. 

One should note that Galatians 3:28 also deliberately references male and female being one in Christ Jesus. I mention this to say that I have never heard white Christians in particular argue that the church should do away with gender specific groups or ministries. On the contrary, the American church is often very vocal about upholding gender specific ministries because of the unique giftings that men and women each bring to the body of Christ. Similarly then, the American church should celebrate the unique gifts and expressions that various ethnic groups bring to the Church at large. And yet, when I reflect upon my experience as a person that has grown up in “multiethnic” churches, I still see how white cultural expression dominates and largely dictates the preferred ethnic expression of the multiethnic church.

Although human beings created the racial caste system that exists in America, God crafted our ethnicities, chose our skin complexions, and purposely placed us within our mother's womb as she embodied her ethnic identity. (1/2) Share on X

And yet, this has not been my experience as a Black Christian whose unique ethnic identity has not always been welcomed by others, particularly by white Christians. (2/2) Share on X

Here’s a painful example of this white cultural domination that actually happened in my life: 

A few years ago, during a particularly passionate section of our pastor’s message, a Black member of our congregation shouted out her approval. This was not abnormal as several others within our congregation would do the same. However, this particular Sunday, this woman continued to exclaim her approval even when the rest of the sanctuary remained silent. She clapped, jumped up in excitement, and shouted praises to God throughout the entire sermon. And each time she did, a wave of anxiety washed over me. I wanted nothing more than for her to sit quietly and stop drawing attention to herself. 

For weeks after this particular Sunday, I scanned the pews to see if she had returned, a knot quickly forming in my stomach if she was present, and a deep sigh of relief if she was absent. Months after this occurrence, I realized that the root of my discomfort was not her outspokenness, but rather how her outspokenness would be perceived by the white members in attendance. I was ashamed of this woman expressing her approval in a uniquely Black manner, and how I would be perceived as a Black Christian as a result.

Had we been in a primarily Black congregation, this woman’s actions would not have phased me in the slightest, because that type of call-and-response is characteristic of the vast majority of Black churches. However, because we were in a ‘multiethnic’ congregation filled with mostly white Christians, that was led by an all-white leadership team, I feared how her actions would be viewed negatively by our white peers. How ironic, that in a multiethnic setting, I suddenly felt a subconscious, yet explicit, pressure to conform to a dominant white cultural expression by diminishing my own ethnic voice. In a faith community where I should have had the freedom to celebrate all parts of my identity as a Black woman, I experienced the exact opposite, and felt that I needed to remain silent.

Revelation 7:9 references “…a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne of the Lamb…” (Revelation 7:9, NIV). As the divinely inspired word of God, every word and detail in the Bible is intentional. If John, inspired by God, purposely chooses to note that a great multitude of ethnic groups come together to worship Jesus in the age to come, then why would we not also acknowledge and celebrate this beautiful ethnic diversity within the church today? Why does my faith have to supersede my ethnicity when God desires both to integrate in mature, holistic unity within my soul? Why does the American church profess love for me as a Christian, while simultaneously stripping away my identity as a Black woman that God has gifted to me?

And so I ask once more, am I Black? Or am I Christian? 

Deep within my soul, I increasingly know that this is a false dichotomy – for I am a Black Christian, deeply loved and cherished by God, just as I am.

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And so I ask once more, am I Black? Or am I Christian? Deep within my soul, I increasingly know that this is a false dichotomy – for I am a Black Christian, deeply loved and cherished by God, just as I am. Share on X

*Editorial Note:  Joylanda’s winsome piece is the fourth of several articles in a new series that we will publish over the next few weeks, all seeking to answer the (obvious) question, ‘Do Black Lives Matter?‘ with a hearty, robust, empathetic, biblical, and obvious apologetic: YES! They always have, and they always will. One of our Leading Voices, Rev. Dr. Dennis Edwards, introduced this series in April with his piece, ‘Listening to Black Voices Experiencing Oppression.’ You’ll hear from a number of African American voices over time as we continue to answer this question with a resounding YES. ~CK