Sinners and Racists

Last Sunday I was participating in the Facebook live streaming of morning services of the Baptist church of my childhood.

The minister, who is a lifelong member of the church, shared a story about the circumstances around his joining the church when he was 10 years old. As was the custom, he had a discussion with the senior minister before joining, who described how the service would go. The senior minister asked the 10 year old if he were a sinner, and he said, “NO, I’m not a sinner. I’m only 10 years old!” He shared that he was a pretty good kid, but had disobeyed his parents some. He thought…