MARSHALL KEEBLE AND THE CHURCH THAT FAILED TO LOVE
Marshall Keeble, born in 1878 into the lingering shadow of slavery, was a preacher of such devotion and skill that tens of thousands came to Christ through his labors. He founded schools, planted churches, and preached with a faith that was both humble and unshakable. And yet, he did all of this in a fellowship that claimed to be the one true church—a fellowship that, in its practices, too often failed to love its neighbor as Christ commanded.
The Churches of Christ, particularly in their conservative wing, pride themselves on strict adherence to the New Testament. They call themselves the restoration of the Jerusalem church, the faithful disciples of the apostles. But a hard truth confronts anyone who studies their history: the gospel they claim to preach did not lead them to integrate their congregations. White Churches of Christ remained segregated long after the Civil War, long after the first African Americans were preaching and teaching, and long after Christ had commanded His people to love one another without distinction (John 13:34-35). One can hardly call a church “faithful to the Jerusalem gospel” when the very body of Christ remains divided by skin color.
Marshall Keeble worked within this broken system with remarkable grace. He preached to segregated congregations, he accepted invitations to speak in white pulpits that were careful to maintain the color line, and he navigated the prejudices of his time with patience and humility. His life proves the depth of his faith, his obedience to Christ, and his commitment to the Gospel, but it also exposes the moral failure of the church around him. Leaders like Foy E. Wallace Jr., while admiring Keeble’s skill, often defended segregationist norms and warned against social equality among congregations. The institutional church exalted “sound doctrine” above Christlike love, showing that imagined “orthodoxy” cannot substitute for obedience to the greatest commandment.
The Jerusalem church of Acts did not debate music, mission boards, or church buildings before breaking down the barriers between Jew and Gentile. They preached the Gospel and welcomed all who believed, regardless of race, status, or origin. But the Churches of Christ spent decades arguing over human traditions while their white congregations maintained exclusion, and their Black brethren labored within a system that refused fellowship in the very name of Christ. Integration was not a priority; the gospel of love was treated as secondary.
Keeble’s life challenges the Church of Christ to see that being “right” in doctrine is meaningless if love is absent. He bore the humiliation and exclusion of segregation without retaliation, showing that Christian maturity is not measured by pride or social power, but by patient faith and moral courage. The failure of the group to integrate undercuts the claim of being the one true church. If God’s Spirit had been allowed to guide their practice fully, their congregations would have mirrored the Jerusalem gospel, not the prejudices of the age.
The lesson is plain: a church that refuses the command to love is a church that fails Christ, no matter how loudly it proclaims doctrinal purity. Marshall Keeble shows us how one can serve faithfully in the midst of a flawed system, but his story also indicts the institutions around him. The one true church is not defined by what it claims, but by how it obeys the command of Jesus: to love all believers as brothers and sisters. Until that love is lived fully, any claim of restoration is a lie.
BDD
