Racism is an issue which is prevalent in most every country of the world, in one form or another. Without first addressing racism it would be impossible to promote mutual respect, dignity and harmony among people. History tells us that when the early missionaries arrived in the Indian-Subcontinent, present day India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, they started converting the lowest caste Hindu Dalit, who were considered untouchable by the Hindu Brahmans. The missionaries took special care of the physical and spiritual needs of the new converts. Thereafter, they also converted Sikhs and others who were considerably better off financially. It was, however, quite unfortunate that the conversion of people from different religions and class systems created an immense divide among Christians of the Sub-Continent on the basis of their social standing and ethnicity. Unfortunate still was the fact that this divide carried itself into the Churches of the Sub-Continent.
In Pakistan there are churches that consider only the High Anglicans, Presbyterians, Catholics, etc. The “National Council of Churches of Pakistan-NCCP” recognizes only four mainline churches: the Presbyterians; Church of Pakistan, comprising Anglicans, Methodists, Scott Church, and Lutherans; the Salvation Army, and the Associated Reformed Presbyterian Church.
Besides these high end churches, there are many small churches which have been established in the slum areas around the big cities as well as in the villages where Christians are mostly poor and deprived of even their basic fundamental rights. The bishops and pastors of mainline churches do not entertain the pastors from poor congregations.
I represent the Baptist Church, which is a small indigenous Church in Pakistan. Our Church believes in equality, as defined in the book of Romans 10:12 ‘For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.’ Similarly, Genesis 1:27 says, “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them”.
In my personal point of view, it is the Church leadership that is responsible for racism in the Church as they have divided the congregations on the basis of class and ethnicity. I would humbly hold them accountable because they have divided the body of Christ in caste and ethnic affiliations.
According to the teaching of Christ, no one is superior to another. I believe that the church needs to take the following steps to eliminate racism and class differences from within the church as well as the communities:
- Sensitize Christian religious leaders, (pastors and bishops) to be humble and follow the teaching of Christ in its true letter and spirit;
- In order to reduce the class difference, Christian youth from economically challenged families should be provided education so that they may stand shoulder to shoulder with educated and well off Christians;
- NCCP needs to open membership for evangelical churches, those who believe in the inerrancy of Bible, Trinity, the death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and most of all in Credo Baptism;
- Initiate religious dialogues between pastors of small and mainline churches in order to develop relationships. This would also promote acceptance and create a bonding which would help them to regard each other as equal Christians and different parts of the body of Christ.
