Boy Scouts Should Have No Barriers--Nor Should the Church

Photo by Artbyheather / flickr

Reading today’s The Greenville News about the new scouting program—my mind traveled back 70 years. Could it have been that long? In the little cotton mill village where I lived three blocks from my house, overlooking the river was the Scout Cottage. And, like most of the boys in my neighborhood I signed up first for the Cub Scouts and later the Boys Scouts. I learned a lot. How to fish, how to swim, —I learned how to put up a tent and camp out. I learned how to cook outdoors on an open fire . And I would lie on my back some dark nights outside a tent—and look up at the stars and the mystery that surrounded me. 

I learned the Scouting Oath: “On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; To help other people at all times; To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.” I read the Scouting Manual like it was the Bible.

I remember how proud I was when I first put on that dark blue Cub scout uniform and later that olive/beige Boy Scout outfit. The only barriers to admission that I remember were that we had no girls in our group and no blacks. We never even gave these restrictions a thought. We lived in a tight, insular 1950 world of white, hard-working Georgians. There were no atheists and if there were they kept quiet back there. There were no Jews, no Muslims and no African-Americans. We knew no Catholics. We had no unearthly idea what Transgender meant.

But we welcomed all the boys that looked like us, took the Oath and came regularly. So when I read in this week’s front-page story about an alternative scouting program for Christian boys—I find myself troubled. Reading further down the article it clarified its admission policy. Atheists, non-Christians and even gay boys could participate. But not fully. You had to be a church-going Christian to be a first-class scout. I wonder how those other boys must feel.

The group calls themselves Christ-centered. I have no doubt they are well-meaning and  must help a lot of boys to maturity. But after more than 40 plus years as a Preacher I have slowly learned that to be Christ-centered is not the easiest thing in the world. The real challenge is inclusiveness and not exclusion. Sure there were churches through the years that turned away blacks, that were suspicious of even groups like Jehovah’s Witnesses,  Mormons, Christian Scientists and Catholics. No gays were allowed. And if they were—they would be made to feel guilty. Jews would have felt most uncomfortable. Jesus opened his arms to all: Samaritans, women, even with shabby reputations, sinners, the hated tax collectors, Gentiles and outsiders of every stripe. Jesus himself was a Jew. There was no pecking order and I have learned that there were no second-class categories in his outfit. Nobody would ride in the back of his bus.  Jesus stretched his arms and said whosoever will to everyone.

I wish this new group would change the word: Christ-centered. For the Christ I try to follow “there is no east or west, no north or south but one great fellowship of love throughout the whole wide world.” And under that banner nobody would feel uncomfortable.

used by permission of flickr

(This article was published in The Greenville News and Anderson Independent, October 28, 2017)

--Roger Lovette / rogerlovette.blogspot.com