Lies Kill - Part 2 - Racism

In this second part of our "Lies Kill" series, we are going to look at the idea of racism and its root in falsehoods and its being incompatible with a Christian worldview. The last several years have seen more outrage driven by a racial divide in America than the previous several decades combined. Protests and riots, discrimination and violence have been a seemingly every day occurrence as one watches the news cycle. The lie that "my people" are better than "your people" or that a person should not be judged by the color of his skin and not the content of his character is literally killing people. What is proper Christian response to this cultural division?

Love.

The gospel of Jesus Christ has always had at its core the tearing down of cultural or societal divides. "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28). As the adage says, "The ground is level at the foot of the cross." Income inequality, ethnicity, gender, class, or family, all of them are peripheral in the context of the good news of Jesus. The gospel is that ALL come as sinners and any who receive Christ by faith are then reconciled to God through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, adopted into a new family, a holy nation, a chosen people (Romans 10:13; 1 Peter 2:9). For this reason, racial discrimination or any prejudice based upon a person's background, culture, or appearance has NO place in the body of Christ, in the heart of a Christian. 

Theologically, the idea of racial equality is common sense. Adam and Eve were both created in the image of God and from them came all the people of the earth (Romans 5:12). Though this has always been the teaching of Scripture, scientists, including Darwin, have not always agreed that all modern day humans come from a common human ancestor. Such wrong beliefs prompted political movements such as Nazi extermination and even the hunting of many tribal groups including Australian aboriginals. Such racial injustice and violence is not compatible with a Christian worldview. It is based upon a lie, the belief that your value is dependent upon your appearance, or your background, or your abilities or education and not from your being created in the image of God.

Christians should be agents of reconciliation when it comes to societal racial conflict. We should be peacemakers (Matthew 5:9), and spread love for all people, "red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight." Jesus died for every person on the planet, every person in your city, and every person who has ever existed. Jesus' last words echo His heart for all people:

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

The words "all nations" literally mean "all ethnicities." The gospel is meant to transcend culture, country, and race. Thank God it did for the average white American Christian as none of the original followers of Christ were Caucasian!

Jesus consistently tore down the barriers caused between the rich and the poor, the privileged and the under-privileged, the Jew and the Samaritan (the hated race in the Jewish world). We too as the global Church should be agents of multi-ethnic unity. We should be looking forward to the day when followers of Jesus from every ethnicity worship the Lord together as is described in Revelation:

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:

“Salvation belongs to our God,

who sits on the throne,

and to the Lamb.”

(Revelation 7:9-10) 

This is the TRUTH that flies in the face of any lie that prompts racism or discrimination. Let us love on another no matter the color.