ELITISM
DR. JIM DIXON
JAMES 2:1-4, JAMES 2:8-9
JANUARY 26, 1997
At the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, first year students, be they male or female, are called plebes. This semi-derogatory label is derived from an old Latin or Roman word which means common. If you lived in the ancient Roman world, you were either plebeian or you were patrician. If you were plebeian, you were common. If you were patrician, you were elite. You were considered superior. You were part of the aristocracy.
Now the Bible tells us that in the church, in the body of Christ, we’re all plebeian. We’re all plebes. We’re all common. No one is superior. No one is elite. Even though we are sons and daughters of God destined for heaven, destined to reign and rule with Christ, still, with regard to each other, we are all plebeian. We are all common. No one is elite. In the church of Jesus Christ and in the world, elitism is a great evil. God would caution us today regarding elitism.
Now this morning I want us to examine three forms of elitism that threaten the world and threaten our church. First is racial elitism, more commonly known as racism.
On April 30, 1945, Adolph Hitler and Eva Braun were secluded in a bomb shelter beneath the Reich Chancellery in Berlin, Germany. They had been married the day before, April 29, 1945, but they knew that they had no future. In fact, Adolph Hitler was a broken man. His hands and his feet and even his head trembled. He was tortured with stomach cramps. He knew that the allied forces were rapidly approaching Berlin and he had not the power to resist them. And so on that day, April 30, 1945, Adolph Hitler and Eva Braun killed themselves in a kind of suicide pact. Their aides burned their bodies and seven days later Germany surrendered and it was the end of one of the most hideous chapters of world history.
Adolph Hitler believed that he was racially elite. He believed that there was an elite race of human beings superior to all others and he called them the Aryans, the Aryan race. Now, of course, anthropologists tell us that the Aryans were actually Asiatic nomads who invaded India 1500 years before Christ and through the centuries their blood was mingled throughout the Middle East and Europe. But Adolph Hitler believed that the Aryans were the fair-skinned blue eyed Nordic peoples of Northern Europe and he believed that the German people were the essence of this great Aryan race, superior to all other people. Of course the great sin of Adolph Hitler was not misunderstanding the word Aryan. The great sin of Adolph Hitler was believing that any race was superior to other races. Because of his racism, because of his racial elitism, Adolph Hitler wound up incinerating and gassing 6 million Jewish men and women. He also killed 5 million additional people, many of them simply because they did not meet his standards of racial purity. Adolph Hitler remains today a warning regarding the demonic monster called racism.
Now this past Monday, on January 20, this nation celebrated the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Of course he was actually born on January 15 and he would have been 68 years old this year had his lite not been snuffed out by James Earl Ray on April 4, 1968, almost 30 years ago—James Earl Ray, a white man, a drifter, an escaped convict. And, of course, Martin Luther King, Jr. was buried at the Southview Cemetery in Atlanta, Georgia and his body was then ultimately moved to the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. On his tombstone these words are inscribed: “Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty I am free at last.”
Of course those words remind us of Dr. King’s famous “I have a dream” speech that he delivered at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. on August 28, 1963. In that speech, Dr. King said, and I quote, “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
Well, of course, Dr. King’s four children have grown up. This last Wednesday night at Colorado Christian University, Barb and I had the privilege of hearing Yolanda King speak. She is the eldest daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Her speech at Colorado Christian University on Wednesday night was entitled “The Dream Is Still A Dream” and she’s right. The dream is still a dream because that dream has not yet become reality. It has not yet reached fulfillment. The dream is still a dream in this world, in this nation, and even in the churches because humanity is fallen and we are all sinners and there’s a little bit of racism in all of us.
It is a sad thing to realize that the dream is still a dream with regard to the church. I mean in Galatians, chapter 3, the Bible says, “In Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female but all are one in Christ Jesus.” All are one.
We struggle, of course, today to have blended churches. Wednesday night after Yolanda spoke, she had a question and answer period. Students were allowed to come up the microphones and ask questions. One student came up and said, “Well, what can we do to have blended churches with blended races?” Yolanda King said “Well, there are a lot of people in the black community that really don’t want that. A lot of black leaders really don’t want that because they feel like the African American churches are still needed for the sake of identity and solidarity. In the African American community, she said, sometimes the African American church is the only forum for leadership and for dialogue. But she said there is no question that blended churches are desirable and biblical and it’s a wonderful thing when you see a congregation with blended races.
Of course sometimes demographics make it difficult. I mean if you’re in an area where demographically most people are Asian, the church in the area tends to be Asian. If you’re in an area that demographically is primarily Hispanic, most of the churches are Hispanic predominantly. If you’re in an area where demographically most people are African American, the churches tend to be black congregations. If you’re in an area where most churches are white, the churches tend to be predominantly white. We are in an area where demographically it is predominantly white and this congregation is predominantly white.
But still, wouldn’t it be wonderful if we were more blended? Wouldn’t that be wonderful? I think styles can sometimes be a problem. After Yolanda King spoke and there was the question and answer time, I had the privilege of talking to her a little bit and we talked about blended churches. She said style is probably the biggest problem in blending churches. I mean it’s a bigger problem than racism, a bigger problem than theology. It’s hard to get people of different styles of worship to come together into one congregation.
Of course in the African American community, a lot of young people grow up and they hear preaching where there is a lot of banter and there’s a lot of exchange between the preacher and the congregation. Then they hear prayers where there’s a lot of crescendo and a lot of emotion in the rising and falling of volume. They hear singing where there’s a lot of movement. It’s just tough to blend styles. Very tough.
But, you know, last week if you will recall and if you were here, we talked about becoming a bringer church, how we wanted to be a bringer church, that each and every one of you would bring people to church that they might hear about the love of Jesus Christ and they might begin to experience the divine life that is found only in Christ. We would encourage you not only to be bringers but to bring people who perhaps are not of your race, to bring people regardless of their race so that we might be a congregation that is more blended. I really pray for this and it’s tough because of our demographics, perhaps because of our style, but how great it would be if we were a congregation where there were more Asians, more Hispanics and more African Americans. I mean wouldn’t that be great? That we might truly be the body of Christ, plebeian, no racism, no racial elitism?
Of course there’s another kind of elitism that threatens our culture, our nation, our churches and that’s socioeconomic elitism. Socioeconomic elitism. Mohandas K. Gandhi was the leader of the Indian Nationalist Movement against British rule in India. His followers called him Mahatma which means “the great soul.” He died 49 years ago but he is still honored in India as the father of the country and he’s venerated the world over because he advocated nonviolence as the means of accomplishing sociopolitical and socioeconomic reform, even as Dr. King had advocated nonviolence as a means of accomplishing racial reform.
In Gandhi’s autobiography which he entitled “MY EXPERIMENTS WITH TRUTH”, Gandhi explains how when he was young and when he was a student in England, he seriously considered becoming a Christian. He had read the Bible. He loved the gospels. He loved the image of Christ as he read the gospels and he seriously considered becoming a Christian and he believed that perhaps Christianity could overcome the caste system that permeated India, the caste system that was based on socioeconomics and socioeconomic elitism.
So Gandhi decided that he would go to a Christian church in London, England and he hoped to convert to the Christian faith. He says in his autobiography that as he was heading to the sanctuary he was planning on meeting afterwards with the pastor of the church, receiving Christian instruction and then receiving Christian baptism. But as he entered the doors of the church, one of the first things he noticed was that there seemed to be a lot of socioeconomic divisions. It was very apparent that wealthy people were sitting with wealthy people and poor people were sitting with poor people. Some people were refused admission because of the way they were dressed that Sunday morning. Then Gandhi himself was refused admission., refused a seat in that sanctuary. He said if there’s a caste system in the Christian world, I might as well remain a Hindu and he did remain a Hindu.
Now, of course, in India there are over 3,000 castes split into four strata and people are expected to marry within their caste. They’re expected to dine within their caste. People within a particular socioeconomic caste are expected to dress similarly, use the same kind of entertainment. I mean it’s a rigid caste system. Of course Gandhi was on the lower level of those castes. Of course beneath all the castes were the outcasts or the untouchables. Of course all of this is technically illegal in India today and yet practically it still exists.
Here in the United States of America in our culture, there are also many socioeconomic distinctions, perhaps more subtle, but distinctions nonetheless. Socioeconomists are telling us that in this nation there’s increasing polarization. The rich are getting richer. The poor are getting poorer. The gap is growing. The middle class is shrinking and there is growing rage.
The Declaration of Independence says “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal” but, of course, socioeconomically that is not true. Some people are born into great wealth. Other people are born into great poverty. This is true in our nation. This is true all over the world.
Wednesday night at Colorado Christian University in the question and answer time, one of the students asked this question of Yolanda King. “Do you believe that with regard to economic opportunity in America the playing field is flat?” She said “Well, many people believe it is and perhaps legally it is” but she pointed out that amongst the African American population in America almost 50% of the people are functionally illiterate. Almost 50% and there are similar statistics in the Hispanic community. So we might say legally the playing field is flat but some people just aren’t able to compete.
You know, that’s why I thank God for our Whiz Kids Program here at the church where you can go into the inner city and we train you. You go into the inner city and you can pick up an inner city child, might be a black child, might be a Hispanic child. It doesn’t matter. You can pick that child up at his or her home or at his or her school. We’re linked up with five inner city churches and you can pick that child up and take that child to one of our inner city churches and there you can help tutor that child. You can help tutor that child in his academics or her academics and you can also share the love of Jesus Christ. You can help that child grow up and learn about Christ, learn about academics. You can help that child someday have a better chance to compete for the dignity of employment. You can do this in the name of Jesus Christ.
Do you realize how wonderful that is? Do you realize how incredible that is? Do you realize how important that is? Hundreds of you have done it. We need hundreds more and we’ll train you. What an incredibly important thing to do.
In Galatians, chapter 2, we’re told how Paul and Barnabas traveled to Jerusalem to meet with the Jerusalem Council and they met with what Paul called the “pillars of the church.” Paul identified them as Peter, James and John. That had to be a scary experience for Paul and Barnabas, who had not been part of the original twelve, to go and meet with Peter, James and John. Of course Paul and Barnabas were missionaries taking the gospel of Christ to the uncircumcised, to the gentile world and they had to meet with the leadership in Jerusalem to discuss how they were to do that.
Paul tells us in Galatians, chapter 2, that when they met with Peter, James and John, they received the right hand of fellowship and they were given the blessings of the church as they went forth to the nations. They were given one charge — one charge, “remember the poor.” Read Galatians, chapter 2. As they were sent out from the Jerusalem church, they were sent out, taking the gospel of Jesus Christ, but told to remember one thing — remember the poor which Paul said “we were glad to do.”
I thank God for our Manna Ministries here at the church. I thank God for our Missions Department. I thank God for you and your support of Manna and your support of Missions. This is a great congregation and yet God wants us to be greater still. He wants our love to go deeper and He wants us to reach out in greater ways to the poor, both locally and around the world in the name of Jesus Christ. Of course in our church He wants there to be no socioeconomic distinctions. That’s why in our passage of scripture today in the book of James, the second chapter, we have this teaching. “Show no partiality as you hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory.” Show no partiality between rich and poor. We are to internationalize our effort to fellowship with those outside of our socioeconomic class.
I mean isn’t it just natural to form your friendships at your own socioeconomic level? I mean if you’re upper middleclass, you tend to make upper middleclass friends. You all have the same kind of toys. You take the same kind of vacations, eat the same kind of food, dine at the same kind of restaurants. But God wants you to internationalize forming friendships outside of your own socioeconomic group.
In fact, in I Timothy, chapter 6, the Apostle Paul writes to Timothy who is pastoring. Paul says to Timothy, “As for the rich of this world”, and of course that includes us because when you look globally, most of us are rich, “charge them not to be haughty. Associate with the lowly.” In fact the word haughty is a word that means high-minded and it referred to people who formed their friendships with the higher classes. So we are called to associate with the lowly. This doesn’t mean people who are lower than us as though they had lesser worth. It means people who have less money. Perhaps people who are even oppressed. We are charged to do this.
I must say many is the time in my preaching and teaching that I have not well modeled those things that I preach. This is one of those times. You see, the word of God is not only for you, it’s for me. You’re not the only ones who sit under the word of God. I sit under the word of God and we’ll all be judged by the word of God. In fact I’ll be judged with greater strictness because I teach. That’s what the Bible says.
So this charge is given to each and every one of us, to battle against elitism in the churches and in society — racial elitism, socioeconomic elitism and then finally, and I know our time is up, finally spiritual elitism. Of course spiritual elitism is everywhere in the religious world. Spiritual elitism. Thinking we’re more righteous than others. Thinking we’re more spiritual.
And, of course, you know our church, as we said before, is almost 15 years old. During the first 8 years of the church I wore a robe on Sunday mornings when I preached. I always wore a robe and finally after eight years, people began to come to me and say “We don’t think you should wear a robe.” I said “Why is that?” and they said “Well, it’s elitist to wear a robe.” I said “Well, how’s that?” and they said “Well, it sets you apart as though you were a better, more holy person.” Of course I new they weren’t referring to racial elitism or socioeconomic elitism. Of course that was hard for me because I kind of liked wearing a robe. I mean first of all it was easy because I didn’t have to worry about a wardrobe. I could just throw the robe on. Secondly, I thought I looked kind of cool in a robe. But, you see, I didn’t fully agree with what people were saying to me because I believe elitism is really a matter of the heart, but on the other hand I think all of us want to avoid even the appearance of elitism. Right? So I quit wearing a robe.
Do you realize how important it is to God that we do not think ourselves more righteous than others? We struggle for righteousness, yes. That’s critical. Hunger and thirst for righteousness. Become part of this great quest for holiness but avoid the air, the temptation to think yourself more holy.
There is that passage of scripture in Luke’s gospel, the 18th chapter. Luke begins by saying “To those who are confident of their own righteousness and who look down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable. Two men went up to the temple to pray, on a Pharisee, the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thusly with himself. ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people — robbers, evildoers, adulterers or even like this tax collector,’ but the tax collector standing far off would not even lift his eyes towards heaven but beat his breasts, saying ‘Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.”‘ “I tell you”, Jesus said, “that man went home justified and not the other for those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” You see, Christ hates spiritual pride. Avoid it in any of its forms.
You know, the rapture is coming. The rapture of the church of Jesus Christ. It’s described in many passages of scripture. The church of Jesus Christ will be caught up from the earth. Some people believe the rapture will take place before the tribulation. Some people believe it will take place after the tribulation. Some people believe it will take place in the middle of the tribulation, in the final time of tribulation. We don’t know. I mean some people think they know but within the Christian community, biblically there’s just a variety of views. But, you know, there are some people who hold to a partial rapture theory, that only part of the true church of Jesus Christ is going to be raptured and the other Christians are going to have to wait until after the tribulation. That’s just a kind of elitism. You won’t find it in the Bible because there’s ONE Lord, ONE faith, ONE baptism, ONE God and Father of us all, and we are ONE in Christ Jesus.
Don’t be tempted by Pentecostal theology which tends to divide the body of Christ into the haves and the have nots, those who are spirit-filled and those who are I guess half-filled or empty. Don’t use the gifts of the Spirit like that. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are wonderful. All the gifts from tongues and prophecy to help and administration. All the gifts of the Holy Spirit are wonderful don’t use them for elitism. Avoid any touch of spiritual elitism because Christ hates spiritual pride and we are all plebes in the body of Christ, common. So, three types of elitism—racial elitism, socioeconomic elitism, spiritual elitism. We are called to be ONE in Christ Jesus. Let’s look to the Lord with a word of prayer.