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Date Posted: 11:52:22 04/23/03 Wed
Author: Corey B. Buckner
Subject: Stop Cultural Genocide

All2GodENtertainment.com"

Mercutio... Tibult... Romeo... Juliet... All dead because of a hatred that was not their own.

As you read William Shakespeare’s play "Romeo and Juliet", it is easy to get wrapped up in the love story. Two young individuals meet, fall in love, elope, and choose to die together rather than live apart. How romantic... But along with the romance, there is a much more serious and disturbing underlying message to be learned.

What was Romeo and Juliet’s problem? Undoubtedly it was hatred, not for one another though, for they were in love. Why did Tibult hate Romeo and slay Mercutio? It was hatred, but the source of that hate did not belong to him... Four young lives lost because of a conflict that predated their births, it was a hatred that belonged to their ancestors, it was their culture.

Romeo, Julliet, Tibult and Mercutio were all born into dissention for one another. Although individually Romeo and Juliet had nothing but love between them, the cultures they were born into dictated that their love could never be. Have you ever look down the aisle and seen a person you were sharing the sanctuary with and felt ill feelings about him. Have you ever wondered what the source of these feeling was? The truth of the matter is, you really think he is a pretty cool person but you just can’t look past the fact that he is _______________ (you fill in the blank).

The cultures and subcultures we grow up in often dictate our relationships for us. They teach us what type of people we can fellowship with, what type of people to love and fear, and what type of people to hate. Just as the Montegues and the Capuletes were born to hate one another, certain cultures have been seemingly born to do the same. For years I couldn’t look at a white man without harboring some sort of hatred. I was born into it, they had oppressed my ancestors and I was taught that all whites wished to do the same thing today. It was in me, it was my lifestyle, it was my culture.

Charles Swindol remains one of my favorite pastors of all time, but for quite some time I was unable to watch a video of him preaching because his skin color would ignite those ill feelings in me. I would listen to him every morning as I drove home from work, but if I saw a picture it was a different story. I was a racist, but I never knew it because it was simply my culture, I was born into it. There was hatred present that had absolutely nothing to do with Charles Swindol and I, and there was a conflict present that predated the both of us. If the truth-be-told, I really loved the guy!

I was serving as the assistant to the Minister of Music at my church and very active in ministry but was still handicapped by the fact that I was unable to openly fellowship with brethren of other races. I felt that because I was of African descent I was better than everyone else was. I was convinced that "whitey" continued to conceal my historical identity because they were unable to compete with me if we were on a level playing field. I was rebellious to American culture, and in the depths of my heart I harbored hatred for my brothers and sisters in Christ of other races. It was in me, it was my culture.

It went deeper than race. I felt that only certain styles of music were "real" music, only certain authors were "real" authors, and that creativity in the arts had died in the seventies. I was a real angry man, and it was never a problem because that was just my culture.

Scripture Reading: Acts 9:13-16

Saul of Tarsus was a very angry man. He hated the disciples and anyone who followed their teachings. He hated them so much that he was willing to kill or imprison every last one of them including the women and children. It was in him, it was his culture... He was a legend in his own time, a scholar, a man’s man, a Jewish William Wallace, and a role model for the children; and yes ladies he was single. But... As Saul made his way to Damascus he was about to have his eyes opened wide to the destructive nature of certain aspects of his culture. Saul was about to meet Jesus.

When your eyes are finally opened, you begin seeing the true nature of your culture and you realize that you have not seen correctly in the past. Jesus will cause you to step out of your microcosm and see the world from a much broader perspective. When you move away from home for the first time you finally begin to realize that some of the things that mom and dad taught were not accurate. I hear that when you leave the country for the first time it drastically changes your perspective of life in America. Likewise, when you step out of the guidelines of your culture for the first time you realize that much of what you saw was inaccurate, and the way you view the world is in many ways wrong. When a man cannot trust his eyes he is blind because he can’t make sense of the information they are sending to his brain. You become like Saul, in a strange land and unable to see.

Saul had to learn to see again, he had come into this fresh new life with Christ, but he still could not see. He was the same man with the same authority, but he was unable to see. Therefore God sent him a man to give him his sight back. And when Saul regained his vision and became filled with the Holy Spirit, he started on a path of great works that are charted in his writings throughout most of the New Testament.

Saul was infamous, he was a hero, and when he converted he became despised. He was feared by his new family members and hated by his former. Satan knew the power that Saul possessed and did not want it operate in the "culture of the kingdom" (thank you Apostle Howse of Cornerstone Christian Center in Chicago Heights, IL for the terminology). He knew Saul would not lose his authority when he entered the Culture of the kingdom, but on the contrary he would become more efficient. Satan was scared, so he had Saul’s former culture conspire to kill him.

Saul, now Paul had found a common bond with the ones he once hated; and that common bond was Christ. He and his enemies now found themselves in the same culture and able to work out their differences. Once we come into the knowledge that we are one in Christ we can stop hating one another. We can stop despising our brothers and sister we share the pew with. We can become comfortable fellowshipping with brothers and sisters of different subcultures because we will see that we are all in the culture of the Kingdom.

But we have yet to discuss my favorite part of this passage of scripture. If you look at Acts 9:15 you will see something beautiful. God did not call Paul because he wanted to change the way he was. God did not ask Paul to get saved, join a church and become a clone of the pastor. God did not seek out Paul so that he could make him fit into the predetermined mold of the Christian culture. When Ananias showed reservations, more accurately fear, about giving Saul his sight back, going as far to bring up Saul’s history, God gave a powerful response.

"Go! This man is my chosen instrument."

Because Paul was so dedicated, because he was so bold, because he was so fearless he was the perfect instrument. It would have done God no good had Paul join the flock and become just like John. God didn’t need another man to lay on his breast; he needed a warrior, someone to go forward with authority and preach the gospel. He needed someone who was so stubborn that if you locked him up for trying to preach the gospel in new lands he would sit in his cell writing, and sending letters in his absence. He needed someone to preach with such stamina and meticulousness that a man would fall asleep and injure himself. God didn’t need "just another disciple", he needed Saul of Tarsus!

But first, before he could use Paul, he had to blind him, remove him from the things of his old culture, and open his eyes in a new one. The same old Paul, just refined and with new allegiances. Paul had been living in darkness, and when the light shined he became blind. That’s what happens if your eyes are never exposed to light, then it is hit with such intensity.

Where are you at today? Maybe you saw the light, and when you regained your vision, instead of being "you", you transformed into a clone of Ananias. Maybe you surpassed the light and came into the culture of the kingdom, but never let go of the destructive behaviors of your previous culture; and as a result you are treating the kingdom as a subculture. Maybe you never met Jesus face to face, and you are still harboring hatred for your brother and sisters. No matter where you are, if you have not brought "you" into the kingdom, you need to head down the road of Damascus.
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The church does not need another Benny Hinn, Bishop Eddie Long, Bishop T.D. Jakes or Apostle Greg Howse; what the church needs is you! God created you for a purpose, and right now he is telling someone, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument." Are you ready to give yourself to the church? Are you ready to let go of the destructive behaviors that you were born into, and grab onto the culture of the kingdom? Are you ready to grab onto Jesus Christ and join the culture of the kingdom? We are waiting, and we have saved a spot that is perfect for you!!!

God Bless ~CB~ ~CB~

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