Jesus and Our Beautiful Brown Skin
The beauty of Christianity is the diverse experiences and ways of seeking, experiencing, and understanding Jesus. As a black woman descended from enslaved Africans in North America I have had a conglomerate of influences over how I have and still experience Jesus.
When I got to college and learned that the Bible was used to promote and support the argument for slavery, I was heart broken. I felt like everything that I learned was a lie. Did the fact that my ancestors were introduced to Jesus through White Europeans/ Americans, who were probably their oppressors, cancel out my faith and experience with God?
It took a lot of pressing in and studying to understand that Christianity is not synonymous with whiteness or the Euro-Centric ways in which our ancestors were exposed. I was even pleased to learn that there are African retention in the way we worship, meet and embrace God. I’m amazed at how African-Americans have infused the rhythms of emphasis on the “off beat” in music, adorning our heads with beautifully and elaborately decorated hats, and what I affectionately refer to as “shouting.” All of this after systems and rules were enforced to squeeze every ounce of their homeland. Motherland.
The truth is that Jesus is synonymous with Jesus. The white stained glass, King James translation, and incorrect/ incomplete interpretation of scripture Jesus is not who God is limited to. Jesus and the statutes shared with us in both the ancient Hebrew and Greek texts of the Bible are complex, beautiful and can translate into any time, race, culture and heritage.
This complexity is why it is important for us to experience the voices of people throughout the African Diaspora, and the myriad of cultures throughout the world. Here at Be Inspired Again we are dedicated to un-Europeanizing our perception of Jesus, God and Holy Spirit. We believe that it’s limiting and won’t help in our passion to see women from ALL walks of life, races,cultures and heritage thrive and Be Inspired to love God day after day, after day.
We will be sharing the voices of Black Women who love God and dance through life with Jesus.
Visit our Instagram @beinspiredagain for an upcoming collection of Bible teachers and “Inspirirers.”
Be Inspired to let God outgrow that box and into the fullness of who the Bible, creation and our experience of Him tells us He is.
Jazz
