Post by Sheila on Apr 18, 2024 14:59:59 GMT -5
I can hear the arguments now. This race or that race is racist toward another and you know the people spewing the hatred are Christians. Are they really Christians? Just because someone may be wearing a cross, a Christian-themed t-shirt, or quoting Scripture doesn't mean they're a Christian. Just because the people happen to be part of a congregation or the pastor is the one spewing the hatred doesn't mean those people are Christians. We'll get back to this in a few minutes.
The fact is you won't find any support for racism in the Bible. If you do, you're misinterpreting what you read. Let's walk through some of the passages that should show we're all the same and equal in God's eyes.
Not only are all races tied together by a common ancestry, Christians are bound together through our our rebirth into the family of God. "Yet to all who did receive him [Jesus], to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God" (John 1:12). As brothers and sisters in Christ, we may have our little sibling rivalries; however, we're to stand together in our faith and beliefs. We need to respect one another just as we respect the members of our biological families. God treats us as equals and we need to do the same. At the end of time as we know it, all of God's children can be seen as the great multitude "from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb" (Revelation 7:9). Jesus allows all Christians to gather around the throne and you'll never find a verse in the Bible that says this multitude will be made up of only people of one race or another. If all Christians are equal in the eyes of Christ, we should all treat each other the same way while living here below.
Here are two major rules by which Christians should live their lives. "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:39). Christians aren't to love their neighbor only if they belong to the same race - they are to love all of their neighbors. James repeats this first rule and adds, "But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers" (James 2:9). While this chapter in James is about treating the rich better than the poor, it also applies to anything making one person different from another. Women are equal to men, one race is equal to the others, and the young are equal to the elders. We may all have different jobs to do for God; however, that doesn't make any one person better than any other.
There are other passages that speak about the equality of believers and none about one race being seen by God as any better than another. If you're a real born again believer, racism should have no place in your life because racism breaks so many of the laws set forth by God and taught by Jesus. If you find yourself believing one race is better than another and call yourself a Christian, you need to take a deep look at yourself, admit you're sinning against God, and make some changes in your life. It's my belief that anyone who does or says anything of a racist nature is not really a Christian as they claim because a Christian may sin from time to time, but they won't live in the constant sin of racism. And racism goes more than one direction. Lumping an entire race of people together by calling them all racists, saying they have some type of special privileges, or anything else of this type is just as racist as them treating you as if you're less of a person. None of that belongs in the life of a Christian.
When it comes to any member of the clergy who, in any way, pits one race against another, they're also a racist. They aren't teaching what's in the Bible. In fact, they're teaching in opposition to the Bible while they spread their hatred and try to get everyone in their congregation to do the same. The pastor, priest, or whatever you call your church leader isn't really called by God to that position if they're acting this way. Don't be afraid of them. They need to be rebuked and warned to change their ways. If they don't, that person needs to be replaced by someone who will preach the truth.
Racism has no place in a Christian's life. It may be present in the world, but shouldn't find a place in the church. This doesn't mean individual churches or denominations, this means the true church of God - the body of believers. No real, Bible believing, God fearing Christian should allow racism even the smallest of presence in their minds.
* All quotes are from the New International Version of the Bible.
The fact is you won't find any support for racism in the Bible. If you do, you're misinterpreting what you read. Let's walk through some of the passages that should show we're all the same and equal in God's eyes.
As the Bible does, we'll start at the beginning. We're all related even if you choose to deny the fact. We all descend from Adam and Eve. The book Acts refers to Adam in this way: "From one man he [God] made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands" (17:26). In other words, Adam is the biological father of mankind. In Genesis, we read that "Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all living" (3:20). Each and every person, regardless of their skin color or other physical characteristics, are all related because we come from the same place. Sure, that was a long time ago, but it doesn't change the fact that all humans have a common origin and we're all related. We may look different on the outside, but we're all the same on the inside.
Not only are all races tied together by a common ancestry, Christians are bound together through our our rebirth into the family of God. "Yet to all who did receive him [Jesus], to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God" (John 1:12). As brothers and sisters in Christ, we may have our little sibling rivalries; however, we're to stand together in our faith and beliefs. We need to respect one another just as we respect the members of our biological families. God treats us as equals and we need to do the same. At the end of time as we know it, all of God's children can be seen as the great multitude "from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb" (Revelation 7:9). Jesus allows all Christians to gather around the throne and you'll never find a verse in the Bible that says this multitude will be made up of only people of one race or another. If all Christians are equal in the eyes of Christ, we should all treat each other the same way while living here below.
Here are two major rules by which Christians should live their lives. "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:39). Christians aren't to love their neighbor only if they belong to the same race - they are to love all of their neighbors. James repeats this first rule and adds, "But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers" (James 2:9). While this chapter in James is about treating the rich better than the poor, it also applies to anything making one person different from another. Women are equal to men, one race is equal to the others, and the young are equal to the elders. We may all have different jobs to do for God; however, that doesn't make any one person better than any other.
There are other passages that speak about the equality of believers and none about one race being seen by God as any better than another. If you're a real born again believer, racism should have no place in your life because racism breaks so many of the laws set forth by God and taught by Jesus. If you find yourself believing one race is better than another and call yourself a Christian, you need to take a deep look at yourself, admit you're sinning against God, and make some changes in your life. It's my belief that anyone who does or says anything of a racist nature is not really a Christian as they claim because a Christian may sin from time to time, but they won't live in the constant sin of racism. And racism goes more than one direction. Lumping an entire race of people together by calling them all racists, saying they have some type of special privileges, or anything else of this type is just as racist as them treating you as if you're less of a person. None of that belongs in the life of a Christian.
When it comes to any member of the clergy who, in any way, pits one race against another, they're also a racist. They aren't teaching what's in the Bible. In fact, they're teaching in opposition to the Bible while they spread their hatred and try to get everyone in their congregation to do the same. The pastor, priest, or whatever you call your church leader isn't really called by God to that position if they're acting this way. Don't be afraid of them. They need to be rebuked and warned to change their ways. If they don't, that person needs to be replaced by someone who will preach the truth.
Racism has no place in a Christian's life. It may be present in the world, but shouldn't find a place in the church. This doesn't mean individual churches or denominations, this means the true church of God - the body of believers. No real, Bible believing, God fearing Christian should allow racism even the smallest of presence in their minds.
* All quotes are from the New International Version of the Bible.
Copyright © 2024 by Sheila Rae Myers