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Minority leaders such as Manny Ortiz, Samuel Solivan, and Malcolm Newton are not speaking at evangelical gatherings just to put a black or Latino face on a white event. Their very messages, geared toward mostly white audiences, are defined specifically through their unique cultural grids. Minorities have a "bottom up" theology that sees Scripture from the perspective of oppression, marginality, and community. For the seemingly bashed and besieged lone-ranger white male, this message suddenly satisfies a new hunger.

Minorities have long been learning from white Christians. We have learned their hymns, read their books, practiced their theories. But it is time for whites to recognize they can benefit from minority perspectives on life and faith. If whites do learn from minority Christians, this will enrich, embolden, and strengthen the whole church. The shift from whites saying, "What can I do for you?" to "I need you" would signal that perhaps words and deeds are starting to come together.

-Journalist Andres Tapia is a regular contributor to CHRISTIANITY TODAY. His reports are also carried by the Pacific News Service.

Copyright © 1997 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

February 3, 1997 Vol. 41, No. 2, Page 54

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February 3 1997, Vol. 41, No. 2