(Editor’s Note: This article was originally posted in October.)
Village Church pastor Matt Chandler thinks churches must do a better job at addressing white privilege.
As he explains in this video (which they actually posted last year) the concept may be polarizing to some, but the reality that being in the majority does afford some people some privileges that others don’t receive, must be understood and acknowledged.
The short video offers an interesting perspective:Back in April of last year, Chandler talked about how speaking about race and justice often leads to accusations that he is “liberal,” but the issues are too important to ignore. At the MLK 50 Conference, he said,
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If I preach the sermon out of the book of Isaiah on justice, my inbox would fill with their glee that I would broach the subject. But if I applied it to the subject of race, then all of a sudden I was a Marxist or I’ve been watching too much of the liberal media. If I spoke on abortion, I was applauded as courageous, as a ferocious man of God, and yet when I would tackle race I was being too political … If I quoted the great reformer Martin Luther … never did I get an email about his blatant anti-Semitism. But let me quote the great reformer Martin Luther King Jr., and watch my inbox fill with people asking me if I’m aware of his moral brokenness.
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He said many people “don’t know what they don’t know and they are part of a system that encourages their not knowing,” adding, “There is no way forward if white pulpits won’t talk.”
