Classism Exists in the Church—and It’s Hurting All of Us

This article, retitled "Valuing the Poor in Our Midst," also appears on the Outreach Magazine website.

“Pastor, we have a diversity problem.”

I knew where this was going. Her stern, soul-piercing stare told me all I needed to know. She did not mean what you might expect her to mean, but four years as her pastor prepared me for what followed. By “diversity,” she meant people who didn’t measure up to her standards. And she didn’t mean some swath of people. She meant one person in particular was a problem: Shelley.

I nodded and let her lay out her case. Shelley smelled. Shelley wore dirty clothes. Shelley used coarse language. Shelley smelled like pot. Shelley fell asleep during my sermons. Shelley didn’t belong.

“She’s also confessed faith in Jesus, which makes her one of us,” I said with as much grace and gentleness as a challenged pastor might muster.

“Don’t matter. It’s her way of being, it’s just too, uh, too…poor.”

There it was, the real crux of the issue: Shelley didn’t meet the standards because of any number of issues perceived as endemic to poverty in America. Read More

Members of the congregation may not say anything about the presence of someone from a different social-economic class in the church but they will evidence their distaste for that individual's presence by their actions: They will generally shun the person, avoiding any meaningful interaction with him or her. The message their actions convey is "You do not fit in here. You are not welcome." This attitude, however, is not consistent with Jesus' teachings and example.