Yesterday I was scanning through Facebook as I often do when I am sitting idle and bored and I came upon a post regarding the death of a young man from Georgia.
A little backstory on what I know, this young man was running in his neighborhood as he often did, and he was confronted by two armed men who suspected that he was a burglar that had been in the area. An intense struggle ensued and as a result, this young man was shot and killed.
If you read this story without knowing the name or the races involved you would think how tragic. But when you add the name and races involved serious issues start to come to light. You see, the young man was an African American. The men that accused and assaulted him were white. They suspected he was the criminal simply because he was a black man running down the road in "their" neighborhood. It is another terrible tragedy caused by a perception based on the pigmentation of a man's skin. This is NOT the way God intended our world to work.
It is 2020 and racism is alive and well in America. There is blame to be laid on all sides. People make quick judgments on the characteristics of a race to rate them as inferior or superior, ultimately demonstrating partiality or bias. Racism is an evil plague on our society. But ultimately Racism is sin. It is a problem that we can't run away from or ignore. It is as important an issue today as it was when the Bible was written.
As I have read the Bible, I have found many instances where racism or prejudice was confronted head-on but today I want to focus on The Apostle Paul and what he wrote about racism and about the division that it caused.
In the first century AD, it was common to assign different values to different races and ethnicities. Foreigners, women, and children were generally regarded as "property" owned by the male heads of the household and the local rulers. Foreigners would often be employed in bonded labor (enslavement to a debt), making it difficult or almost impossible for them to live freely.
During this time, one of the primary divisions in the church was between the Jews and the Gentiles. Some of the Jews who had converted to Christianity were allowing their long-standing racist views of non-jews to force Jewish ritual and religious views on them. They had the opinion that to be a good Christian, they had to do all the right religious activities, namely the Jewish ones.
Rather than telling Christians to ignore this discrimination, Paul faced it head-on: "For there is no distinction between Jew or Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all." (Romans 10:12 ESV)
I am a southern white man. And in my past, I have said and done things that I am NOT proud of but I have repented those things and left that point of view and behavior behind, nailed to the cross. When I finally gave my life over to Christ, I realized that I was wrong thinking and that the differences I perceived weren't right. I realized they were simply an avenue for sin in my life and it was an opportunity for the enemy to divide me from my brothers and sisters in Christ. If I can change, anyone can change. No one is out of the reach of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus Christ and His teaching are contrary to this type of thinking. Other people and their views don't determine the value of man, God does. God brings peace where there once was strife and kindness where there was once hate. God absolutely cares about how we treat each other because we were ALL created in His image. He makes absolutely NO DISTINCTION between races. He only sees us the way He designed us. The one true race: The Human Race!
In my forty-one years, I have only found one thing that will draw everyone together...God. The Gospel doesn't just bring us closer to God it can also bring us closer together as a people. People from all sorts of backgrounds and ethnicities. Only God can restore our relationships and bridge the gaps caused by man. He is the only one that heals the wounds caused by years of hate, mistrust, and injustice. It is only through reconciliation and the removal of prejudice that the necessary restoration of relationship to a healthy understanding and appreciation for each other.
Our God is a God of reconciliation. And the Gospel is a message of ultimate reconciliation. God can bring us peace where there was once hate. God can bring kindness were there was once animosity. He saved me from my former life and my former point of view and He can do it between us and our neighbors.
I am praying for the family of Ahmaud Arbery. He didn't deserve what happened to him a little over two months ago. I am praying for quick and swift justice for the parties involved. But I am also praying for the people that hear this story in the media. My prayer is that rather than being inflamed by anger and bitterness, they are inflamed with the Holy Spirit and that they use their platforms for positive change rather than for bringing more division. It is only when we unite under the common bond of Jesus Christ that we will finally put this division exactly where it needs to be...nailed to the cross.
A little backstory on what I know, this young man was running in his neighborhood as he often did, and he was confronted by two armed men who suspected that he was a burglar that had been in the area. An intense struggle ensued and as a result, this young man was shot and killed.
If you read this story without knowing the name or the races involved you would think how tragic. But when you add the name and races involved serious issues start to come to light. You see, the young man was an African American. The men that accused and assaulted him were white. They suspected he was the criminal simply because he was a black man running down the road in "their" neighborhood. It is another terrible tragedy caused by a perception based on the pigmentation of a man's skin. This is NOT the way God intended our world to work.
It is 2020 and racism is alive and well in America. There is blame to be laid on all sides. People make quick judgments on the characteristics of a race to rate them as inferior or superior, ultimately demonstrating partiality or bias. Racism is an evil plague on our society. But ultimately Racism is sin. It is a problem that we can't run away from or ignore. It is as important an issue today as it was when the Bible was written.
As I have read the Bible, I have found many instances where racism or prejudice was confronted head-on but today I want to focus on The Apostle Paul and what he wrote about racism and about the division that it caused.
In the first century AD, it was common to assign different values to different races and ethnicities. Foreigners, women, and children were generally regarded as "property" owned by the male heads of the household and the local rulers. Foreigners would often be employed in bonded labor (enslavement to a debt), making it difficult or almost impossible for them to live freely.
During this time, one of the primary divisions in the church was between the Jews and the Gentiles. Some of the Jews who had converted to Christianity were allowing their long-standing racist views of non-jews to force Jewish ritual and religious views on them. They had the opinion that to be a good Christian, they had to do all the right religious activities, namely the Jewish ones.
Rather than telling Christians to ignore this discrimination, Paul faced it head-on: "For there is no distinction between Jew or Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all." (Romans 10:12 ESV)
I am a southern white man. And in my past, I have said and done things that I am NOT proud of but I have repented those things and left that point of view and behavior behind, nailed to the cross. When I finally gave my life over to Christ, I realized that I was wrong thinking and that the differences I perceived weren't right. I realized they were simply an avenue for sin in my life and it was an opportunity for the enemy to divide me from my brothers and sisters in Christ. If I can change, anyone can change. No one is out of the reach of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus Christ and His teaching are contrary to this type of thinking. Other people and their views don't determine the value of man, God does. God brings peace where there once was strife and kindness where there was once hate. God absolutely cares about how we treat each other because we were ALL created in His image. He makes absolutely NO DISTINCTION between races. He only sees us the way He designed us. The one true race: The Human Race!
In my forty-one years, I have only found one thing that will draw everyone together...God. The Gospel doesn't just bring us closer to God it can also bring us closer together as a people. People from all sorts of backgrounds and ethnicities. Only God can restore our relationships and bridge the gaps caused by man. He is the only one that heals the wounds caused by years of hate, mistrust, and injustice. It is only through reconciliation and the removal of prejudice that the necessary restoration of relationship to a healthy understanding and appreciation for each other.
Our God is a God of reconciliation. And the Gospel is a message of ultimate reconciliation. God can bring us peace where there was once hate. God can bring kindness were there was once animosity. He saved me from my former life and my former point of view and He can do it between us and our neighbors.
I am praying for the family of Ahmaud Arbery. He didn't deserve what happened to him a little over two months ago. I am praying for quick and swift justice for the parties involved. But I am also praying for the people that hear this story in the media. My prayer is that rather than being inflamed by anger and bitterness, they are inflamed with the Holy Spirit and that they use their platforms for positive change rather than for bringing more division. It is only when we unite under the common bond of Jesus Christ that we will finally put this division exactly where it needs to be...nailed to the cross.
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