The times that we are living in are troubled to say the least. Not only are we continuing to navigate a global pandemic unlike anything that any of us have ever seen, but it also seems like there is so much hatred, anger and animosity between people that evil is winning. While there is division that runs along political party lines, there is no way to ignore the fact that our nation and our society is experiencing racial division on the same level as that of the Civil Rights era.
Not only can we not ignore that, but we shouldn’t ignore that. The Bible is all about people. People who looked different from one another, people who were raised differently than others and people who had a different ancestry than the people they interacted with. The Church cannot ignore racism. In fact, since we are called to “love our neighbors like we love ourselves” (Matthew 22:39), the Church is called to confront racism and the hatred that it is rooted in and produces. While there are no Bible verses that say “you shall not be racist,” there are lots of verses that talk about how we are to treat other people regardless of their race, nationality or any other identifying factor.
Here is a look at # truths from the Bible that show us how to handle racism today.
Truth 1: We Are All Made in the Image of God
Genesis 1:26 (ESV)
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
God made Adam in His own image. Similarly, he took a rib from Adam’s side and created Eve in the same image (Genesis 2:21-22). The first two humans on the earth were made directly in the image of God. The fact that they were made in His image and that all of humanity descended directly from that first union completely destroys the idea that any one race is superior to the other. That dangerous ideology is at the root of racism.
God told the prophet Jeremiah that He knew him before He formed him in the womb and already had a beautiful plan in place for his life (Jeremiah 1:5). The same could be said about every human being who has ever or will ever walk the face of this planet. Regardless of skin tone or national origin, God created all of us in His image and has a glorious plan for our lives. The fact that all of us are handcrafted by God means that every form of racism should be rejected by God’s people.
Truth 2: Every Human Is of Equal Value to God
Acts 10:13-15 (NIV)
Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.” “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.” The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”
In the earliest days of the New Testament church, the Gospel was only taken the Jewish people. There was a variety of reasons for this fact, and it’s worth pointing out that one of them was the fact that Gentiles (non-Jews) would often react violently to the Gospel, even killing the people who delivered it. In Acts 10, we find Peter faced with a tough decision: take the message of Christ to the Gentiles or keep it among the Jewish people.
God spoke to Peter in a dream and showed him a large sheet that was full of all types of animals. Some of them were clean according to the Law of Moses and some were unclean. The voice told Peter to kill and eat, to which Peter said that he had never defied the law and eaten unclean animals. The voice then told Peter to never call what God had made clean unclean. What does any of that have to do with racism?
The animals were an analogy for the way that God was blending the Jews and the Gentiles into one big family. Peter had been chosen by God to take the message to the Gentiles who were considered “impure” according to the law. However, God told Peter to never refer to anything as unclean that God has called clean, and Peter went, delivered the Gospel to the Gentiles and they received the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:34-38).
God made it clear that every human was of equal value in His eyes. Everyone is deserving of the love of God and God views everyone as a candidate for salvation.
Truth 3: Jesus Tackled Racial Barriers
John 4:9 (ESV)
The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For the Jews have no dealing with the Samaritans.)
John chapter 4 tells a beautiful story of Jesus’s one-man attack on racial barriers. For thousands of years, there had been a divide between the Jews and the Samaritans. History teaches us that the disdain between the two groups stemmed from the fact that Samaritans were biracial: a combination of Gentile and Jewish parents who had come together during one of Israel’s captivities in Assyria. The hatred between the Jews and the Gentiles was rooted in racism.
That’s what made it so surprising to the disciples when Jesus told them that he “had to go through Samaria” (John 4:4). There would have been nothing good that could have come out of this trip into Samaria, the two groups had nothing to do with each other. But Jesus came to confront the social norms of the day, including the racial tensions that had led to centuries of hatred.
Jesus sat down on a well and asked the first woman that He saw for a drink of water. Her response? “Why are you talking to me?! Your people hate my people!” The conversation continued and Jesus eventually wound up revealing His identity to her. Through His determination to tackle the racial divide of the day, He led her to admit that she had been divorced five times and was now with a man who was not her husband (John 4:17-18)
Jesus didn’t turn away because of their racial differences or because of her story. Instead, He presented her a road to forgiveness! She was so moved by the grace that Christ showed her that she dropped her water pot and ran back into the city saying, “come and see a man who told me everything I’ve ever done. This has to be the Christ” (John 4:28-29). A crowd of Samaritans came back with her. How would they respond to this Jewish man who had showed up in town and declared Himself the Messiah?
John 4:40-41 (ESV)
So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word.
Because of Jesus’ willingness to tackle racial division, the Gospel was taken to an entirely new people group. This situation which had the potential to be volatile turned out to be a three-day revival where many people got saved. Why? Because Jesus refused to accept the racial divisions that had become the norm in the society.
The Bible is very clear about racism: there is no room for it in God’s Kingdom. Our Savior did not die for one particular race of people. God did not call us to spread the Gospel message only to people who look like us, were raised like us and have the same background that we have. Instead, we are called to make sure that the Gospel is preached in “all nations” (Mark 16:15). Make no mistake about it, racism is sin. We are only called to love, and that love is not contingent on the skin color of its recipient.
Paul summed up God’s view on racial division in his letter to the Galatians:
Galatians 3:28 (ESV)
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.
A Closing Prayer:
God, help me to be a beacon of light in a world that has turned so dark with racial division. I cannot change the minds of everyone, but if I can show Your love to the people I come in contact with, I believe that this world will be a better place for it. Your Son confronted racial division, and I ask that You give me the opportunities and the boldness to do the same. Help me to love everyone just as You loved me. In Christ’s name, Amen!