Segregation anyone?

Today is the day our government has set for us as a country to officially honor the life and work of a true civil rights hero - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Not everyone is excited about such an observance. Personally, I wonder how much farther he could have led us if his life had not be tragically taken in Memphis on April 4, 1968.

I hate segregation. Always have. Yet I'm always amazed at the human creature's propensity to segregate itself. I used to teach high school math in Charlotte, NC. When you looked at a map of the city, it was amazing at how well we had segregated ourselves into black and white halves of the city. That would have remained true even if you had taken out all of the sections of public and low income housing that were "intentionally controlled" to "keep them in their place". Because we black and white folk decided to segregate ourselves, kids were taking one hour bus rides in order to ensure diversity in the student population.

You see it on a global scale as well. No matter how hard we work to destroy societal, economic, or even civic barriers to integration, the human creature will always retreat to its fall back position - self-imposed segregation. We really prefer to be with people like ourselves. It's not always race that decides that affinity. It might be economics, political ideology, or religion. The more areas you can find in common, the more likely you are to become a group, maybe even a closed group.

Today I was part of a discussion with some fellow pastors and denominational leaders about this issue of segregation. No, we didn't discuss Dr. King. We didn't talk about Sunday morning being the most segregated hour of the week either. We discussed things like church membership. How closed or sectarian should something like that be? There are a lot of good opinions on all sides of that issue.

It should be noted that segregation is not always a bad thing. I don't really want to sit on a plane full of TB patients if I can help it. Some would argue that some type of segregation in the church is appropriate. Of course, we don't call it that. We call it membership. What should be the appropriate requirements for membership? Is it appropriate to have another set of requirements for those in leadership?

If you read this blog and have never posted, this is one I'd like to have your thoughts on. Don't give the popular answer or the one you think I'm looking for. Don't worry about whether or not it's right "biblically". I'm curious about your thoughts. That's what this blog is all about - thoughts that influence our faith journeys. And just to make you feel better, I'll turn on the anonymous commenting just for this post.