Devotionals

I don't see Lennie as Black, I see Lennie as Poor

by John Custer
06/22/20
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I don’t see Lennie as Black; I see Lennie as poor

“Lennie, let’s stop at Numbawan Cafe for coffee and coconut pie on our way home.”  “No, John, that’s a white man’s place.  We don’t eat there,” Lennie replied.  “Well, it's not today. That’s where we are going,” I told him; and we did.

I got that every time I took him someplace that he had not gone before, even though the restaurants there were not segregated.

It happened in Vanuatu, a country in the South Pacific. Lennie was a black national, and I was a white foreigner.  

More significantly was that Lennie was poor and I was not.

It bothered me, however, that he attributed his race, rather than economics, for not going certain places.  When Jesus told us in Matthew 28:19 (NIV) to “go and make disciples of all nations”, he did not differentiate by race.

While prejudice is very real and very wrong, not everything that is labeled “racist”, is “racist”.  Lennie’s problem was his poverty, not his race.

To correct Lennie’s poverty, however, was thorny because of a custom called “One Talk”.  To summarize it, if someone in his language group had a legitimate or illegitimate need, people of means felt culturally obligated to give to that person, even to their own detriment.

We had fruitless conversations about how that custom was hurting him.  Fortunately, Vanuatu is trying to change that custom.

Jesus said in John 10:10 (NIV) “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”  I want economic, social and spiritual freedom for Lennie and his people,.

Prayer: “Lord, help me to know how to bring economic, racial and spiritual freedom to all people.  Amen.”

Sharing Christ is my purpose and passion.