Biblically Speaking If any man speak, let him speak as the Oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. .. 1 Peter 4: 11

 WINDRUSH - A MISSED REVIVAL?

By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have  love one to another. John 13.35

June 21st 1998 was the fiftieth anniversary of the arrival of the ` Empire Windrush ' at Tilbury, bringing the first Jamaican immigrants to Britain after the end of the war. They had come here in response to a call from the Mother Country, whose population had been depleted by that war and who were desperate for labourers to man the factories. The infrastructure of Britain was being rebuilt after years of devastation and the newly arrived West Indians were eager to take up jobs also in public transport and the brand new National Health Service.

There, however, the welcome ended. As more ships arrived bearing more people hopeful of commencing a better life on these islands, the indigenous population began to grow increasingly hostile towards them. Signs appeared in the windows of the boarding houses and properties available for rent - ` No coloureds' . Work was readily available, but accommodation became problematic. "We don't mind them driving the buses and sweeping the streets, but who wants to live next door to them?"

In the face of such antagonism, many of the immigrants turned to the churches. This was not surprising as Jamaica , the largest English-speaking Caribbean island, is staunchly Protestant and attendance at churches and chapels on the Lord's day is still part of everyday life there. "No doubt," they thought, "our brethren and sisters in Christ will receive us. Did not their ancestors cross the ocean to bring the Gospel of salvation to our ancestors who were slaves?" Their disillusion and pain, as even the Christian churches spurned them, can scarcely be imagined. "Please don't come back," some ministers told them, "or else the white people will stop coming." So the immigrants banded together and set up their own churches.

    Is separation on grounds of race biblical?

In Old Testament times, the Jewish people were commanded not only to keep strictly separate from the nations around them but also on some occasions to eradicate them completely. The reason given for this was to protect the Jewish nation from the enticements of idolatry and its concomitant depraved practices, enticements which they proved ultimately unable to resist. However, the pages of the Old Testament are littered with examples of people from those nations who turned from their idols to worship the true and living God. Rahab the Canaanitess and Ruth the Moabitess married into the Messianic line. Among David's loyal servants we read of Uriah the Hittite, Ittai the Gittite and Zelek the Ammonite. One of the prophet Jeremiah's few supporters was Ebed-melech the Ethiopian. In most instances, conversion to the God of Israel meant incorporation into the nation of Israel, or Judah, and observation of Jewish laws and customs.

At the beginning of the first millennium AD, the Son of God declared, "And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd." (John 10.16)

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Gentile Ephesians, "Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God." (Ephesians 2.19, but for full context read v. 11-22)

Jewish apprehensions concerning mingling with Gentiles were entirely understandable, given their history, and so God dealt graciously with them to make it plain that it was His will that the Gentiles should be evangelised and received among them, as exemplified in the account of Peter's mission to Cornelius (Acts 10). However, when that same Apostle Peter allowed himself to be intimidated when ` certain came from James' and he withdrew from eating with the Gentile believers, Paul ` withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.' (Galations 2.11-21) Peter's dissimulation was setting a precedent so dangerous that it affected even Barnabas, so Paul dealt with it promptly and firmly. Also, the Apostle James himself wrote, "My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons." (James 2.1) The passage discusses the treatment of rich and poor, but equally applies concerning those whom we may be tempted to despise after the flesh on whatever grounds.

  But things have changed - haven't they?

In the late 1980's, a young Jamaican stood up in his church's weekly prayer meeting to pray. The main content of his petition was that the fellowship should be characterised by brotherly love, and that the church members should increasingly learn to respect those from the various ethnic groups represented in the church. He was greatly disconcerted when, just before leaving his house for the following week's prayer meeting, he received a phone call from the minister. "Several people were offended by your prayer," the brother was informed. "Do not pray in the prayer meeting about such matters again."

In 1997, a black family, the only non-white members of a ` reformed ' church in a multiracial area, were told by the minister that the other members were praying that they would leave. "This is our church," they were saying, "and we don't want other people to come."

In 1998, the monthly magazine of an orthodox Protestant denomination carries regular accounts of missionary work which took place in African countries in the 1940's and 50's. These stories of the conversion of African ` heathen ' are highly patronising and full of overtones of racial superiority. The simple fact is, fifty years on, that many former British colonies in Africa boast more professing Christians per head of the population than the nation that originally sent those missionaries. One might think that they would like to proclaim this as proof of the blessing of God upon the past labours of those British missionaries in ' darkest ' Africa, instead of continuing to perpetuate the stereotypical views of the Victorian era!

It may be true nowadays that no church would dare to turn a person from their doors because of their brown skin - after all, such actions are currently unacceptable in secular society and it may even be illegal - but many non-white people who do venture into churches where white people predominate in the membership still find themselves marginalised by attitudes which communicate more subtle forms of racism. Their presence in the pews is tolerated but their gifts are either not acknowledged, or else not valued or used to the glory of God and the edification of their fellow believers.

  The Power of Corporate Witness.

Do the British people have a current or historical claim to a covenant relationship with God, or are we not rather ` sinners of the Gentiles', converted from paganism by the various evangelists of the first millennium AD? When the white churches rejected the immigrants who sought fellowship with them as co-heirs of the salvation of Jesus Christ, the testimony of those Christians was irreparably damaged. Had they instead welcomed their Caribbean brethren, consider the impact that would have had on race-riven secular society. If the American Civil Rights movement, born in the black Baptist churches of the Deep South, had succeeded in shaking that country to its foundations when white and black stood together on the streets demanding racial justice, how much more would the joint proclamation of the grace of God to all men have been blessed, maybe even by an outpouring of the Spirit in revival.

That both communities have lost out catastrophically is beyond question. The white churches are often little better than worldly clubs, where middle-class graduates have educational and professional aspirations in common with their ungodly counterparts. In many black churches likewise, a veneer of religion is insufficient to conceal a hotbed of licentiousness and materialism. Repelled by such hypocrisy, young black British provide easy pickings for the militant Nation of Islam or the confused teachings of Rastafarianism, or else they disdain religion altogether and give themselves over to a debased pop subculture, to which, ironically, many white youngsters find themselves attracted.

   Hope for the future?

When the prophet Isaiah declared to his generation, "...with another tongue I will speak to this people." (28.11), they most likely considered it an insult. Probably the greatest humiliation the unbelieving Jews of New Testament days experienced was when that prophecy was fulfilled and the Gentiles, as wild olive trees, were grafted in among the believing Jews. The fear of God is still more in evidence among those of West Indian and African descent than it is among the other 95% of the population of this country. God may yet use them to bring this nation to its knees.

S.M. Thompson, June 1998

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