What God Says About Racism

 
Thinking About Prejudice 
Living here in Southern Orange County, where most of us look a lot alike, you may not find yourself thinking much about prejudice as it relates to racism. It’s usually when several different races are forced to live in proximity with each other that tensions rise and our differences seem to take center stage. I can tell you that as a police officer, I have had to come to grips with the realities of racism in our society. There is rarely a contact between police and any minority group when racism is not considered or presumed. The offender may feel like he or she was selected through a racist lens to begin with, and officers are often presumed to be racists before the contact ever begins.

Prejudice is More Than Racism
But you need to understand that Racism is just one small form of prejudice. While many of you may claim that you are not racist, you all hold prejudice toward some part of our population, and this prejudice is preventing you from living the life that God intends for you to live. There are entire groups within our society that have experienced prejudice. They have experienced this prejudice from you and I. There are all kinds of people that we don’t give the time of day. We may not be mean or rude, but we deny their existence by ignoring them altogether. And these people are just like all the rest of us. They are looking for meaning and acceptance.

The search for acceptance is an extremely powerful, natural God-given drive. There are many practical examples of this desire all around us every day. Regardless of how you may feel about Michael Jackson, for example, you will see over the course of time that he has undergone more and more plastic surgery to recreate himself in a form that he desires. And these surgical procedures have pushed him across racial boundaries. Why would someone do this? Is it possible that he is struggling to fit into a society that still continues to prejudge its members based on their race? Michael Jackson certainly seems to feel this tension.

You may not feel as though you have a hard time accepting people. And you may not feel as though you are judgmental toward a particular group. But if you really think about it, there are some groups in our country that we, as a society, have no problem vilifying. Thanks about Muslim-Americans for example. If you saw a young Muslim male in line with you at the airport, don’t you think you would begin to wonder about his intentions? To fully understand the depth and power of prejudice, we have to see it in our own lives.

Prejudice by Definition
Let’s take a look at the dictionary definition of prejudice. Webster defines it as “an adverse judgment or opinion formed beforehand or without knowledge or examination of the facts. A preconceived preference or idea.” The key words here are ‘judgment’ and ‘preference’ we are prejudiced when we PRE JUDGE others based on what we PREFER. Prejudice and bias occur when we focus on what we like and are familiar with. It doesn’t always have much to do with race. Sometimes it may just be a matter of taste! As an example of this, I want you to understand that it is our nature to be judgmental and believe that our way is the best way. Even if we could remove every other race from the surface of the planet, we would find other ways to divide ourselves and judge others. My in-laws are German. They live in southern Germany, very close to the Austrian border. If you were to look at the culture and people of Southern Germany and Austria, you would see that it is virtually impossible to see any differences. The folk music is the same, the people look and talk alike, the architecture and geography is virtually identical. Yet when I mentioned once that my on-duty weapon was an Austrian made Glock model 21, my German relatives were horrified that I would carry anything Austrian. They saw Austrians as inferior and deficient. Even though the border line for Austria and Germany has changed many times over the years, and the people and cultures are nearly identical, these two groups have found ways to divide themselves. And we are no different. If the only thing that was different about people was something as simple as hair color, we would find a way to separate into nations behind this difference! We always find something to separate over.

Prejudice is the Pursuit of Preference and Pride
In simple terms, prejudice is simply the pursuit of what we prefer. And this is clearly the product of our pride. Do you have any idea where pride can lead? Your world view has a lot to do with how you see others. If you are willing to humble yourself to the possibility that God created us and is our common ancestor, you will quickly develop one attitude toward the people in your world, regardless of how they may look or talk or dress or behave. If on the other hand you believe that PEOPLE are responsible for their own origin and evolved from a myriad of locations at the same time, you may find yourself in the prideful position of thinking that all the races are in competition with each other, striving to find their place in the world. This approach is bleak and pessimistic at best, and has been adopted throughout time by people who sought to advance the fortunes of their own race, at the expense of others. Hitler took this kind of worldview as his own, and had he been allowed to advance his ideologies, the world would have suffered the annihilation of millions more than were lost in World War II. It shouldn’t surprise us that when we are able to easily deny the existence of God, we are also able to easily deny the importance of others.

Faith and Racism
So in our world today, how many of us actually believe that we all came from a creator God? You might be surprised to find that 82% of people surveyed in our country believe that we all come from the same creator God, or that He at least had SOMETHING to do with our origin. Well I’d like to report to you that the country we live in, based on the fact that so many of us believe that God is our creator, is virtually free of racism or prejudice, but this is obviously not true. Some would argue that this is simply the product of a long history of racism in our country that we have inherited from our forefathers. But the scary truth is that racism is often at home in the Christian Church. Our country is still home to a number of organizations that claim Christian foundation or heritage and still find a way to manifest the most radical racism. Many people would like to believe that hatred and homicidal racism are only the tools of radical Islam and that there is no Christian parallel, but you need to know that this is simply not true.

There are a large number of fringe groups in America today that claim to be based in Christianity (or are even posing as Christian Churches). On the list are Christian Bible Ministries, Christian Crusade for Truth, Christian House Ministries, Christian Israel Church, Christian research, Christian Separatist Church, Church of Christ in Israel, Church of God, Church of Israel, Church of Jesus Christ and Crusade of Christ, but there are dozens more. These organizations are little more than fronts for racist hate groups that have twisted scripture to fit and support what their fallen hearts want to believe to begin with. They do not represent God’s view, but have found several creative ways to twist scripture and support racist agendas. Don’t be fooled. God seldom, if ever, describes people by anything more than region or language. You won’t see God describing people by the color of his or her skin.

The Human Race
God does recognize race, but when it comes to people, God recognizes only one race, the HUMAN RACE. So how do these hate groups call themselves Christians? Well they start by finding reason to pre-judge. And they mistakenly look for these reasons in the pages of scripture. Many of these groups look to Genesis Chapter 4:

 
Genesis 4:10-16

The LORD said, "What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth." Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is more than I can bear. Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me." But the LORD said to him, "Not so; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over." Then the LORD put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. So Cain went out from the LORD's presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

 
The racist Christian groups claim that the mark placed on Cain was that of dark skin, arguing that Cain was the first of a cursed race of dark or black skinned people. But clearly there is nothing in scripture that says this at all! In addition, the area to the east of Eden is still far north of Africa. Let’s take a look at WHY God marked Cain to begin with. Was it so that he (along with his descendants) could be subjugated and persecuted for the rest of their lives? No, it was so that Cain would be PROTECTED. This certainly seems to fly in the face of the intentions of racist groups who want to use this passage of scripture to harm dark skinned minority groups! Another passage that is often quoted by racist Christian groups is found in Genesis Chapter 9:

 
Genesis 9:18-25
The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) These were the three sons of Noah, and from them came the people who were scattered over the earth. Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father's nakedness and told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father's nakedness. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father's nakedness. When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, he said, "Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers."

 
These groups claim that this is proof that the descendents of Ham, the sons and daughters of Canaan, are destined to be slaves forever and can safely be treated as such by other God-fearing Christians. They would like us to believe that all black skinned people are these descendents of Ham and Canaan.

Canaanites Were Caucasians
But there is a problem with their thinking in this area. The Canaanites are not black. In fact, they have historically been recognized as a race of Caucasians, occupying the territories that we presently call Lebanon and Syria. Scripture, in this single isolated and misconstrued passage, is not recognizing or condoning the oppression of black people into slavery. So what does scripture REALLY say about the issue of race and origin? Well, first we have got to look at the truth about where God says we all came from. When you think about this issue, you may recall the story of Adam and Eve, and it is true that all of us can point back to these two people as our original parents. But don’t forget that God started anew at the point of the flood! Remember that God started all life anew from the three sons (and daughter-in-laws) of Noah. After the Flood, God made this family a promise in Genesis:

 
Genesis 9:7-11

As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it." Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: "I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you — the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you — every living creature on earth. I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth."

 
Genesis 11:1-9
Now the whole world had one language and a common speech.As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth." But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other." So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel — because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

  
The DNA Difference
From this simple account, it’s pretty clear that God recognizes the fact that if we are left to our own devices, we will cling to people who are like us, and do our best to advance our own cause. We are so prideful, that we don’t want to reach out to people who are not like us. It truly took an act of God to get us to obey His simple command to fill the earth with humans! It should also be obvious that we come from the same six people, the offspring of Noah, and although we spend a lot of time trying to exaggerate our differences, we really have vary little that differentiates us from each other. In fact, if you were to look at our DNA you would find that the differences in DNA that actually account for race are only .012% of the total DNA information. That means that all humans, regardless of how different they may be racially are 99.988% the same from a DNA standpoint! Even the best of us may have problems accepting that truth, and even Peter, the man who helped to form the early Church, needed to be reminded that God does not recognize people according to race:

 
Acts 10:1-36
At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, "Cornelius!" Cornelius stared at him in fear. "What is it, Lord?" he asked. The angel answered, "Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea." When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier who was one of his attendants. He told them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa. About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air. 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." This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven. While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon's house was and stopped at the gate. They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there. While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, "Simon, three men are looking for you. So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them." Peter went down and said to the men, "I'm the one you're looking for. Why have you come?" The men replied, "We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to have you come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say." Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests. The next day Peter started out with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa went along. The following day he arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. But Peter made him get up. "Stand up," he said, "I am only a man myself." Talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. He said to them: "You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean. So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent for me?" Cornelius answered: "Four days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me and said, 'Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor. Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, who lives by the sea.' So I sent for you immediately, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us." Then Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.

 
Babel to Pentecost Video Slide
Peter, of all people, should have known that God does not care about race. Peter was present on the day of Pentecost when the spirit of God descended on the apostles and believers, enabling them to speak the dozens of languages that were present in the city of Jerusalem at the time. Don’t forget that Pentecost would draw people from all over the kingdom and these people spoke a number of languages. On Pentecost the Holy Spirit descended and allowed the believers to speak in tongues so that they could share the Gospel. Peter then preached to the crowd and 3000 people came to faith in a single day. Do you see the connection here? Thousands of years prior, God dispersed a world of people by confusing their language. In a single act He was able to populate a world and defeat the growing pride of a species. The sin of a people (pride) caused this dispersion. Then, thousands of years later God reunited his people in the Christian Church by crossing the language barrier he first established. The power of God reunites mankind through the saving power of Jesus Christ. This dual event, Babel to Pentecost, is a picture of the story of mankind, dispersed as the result of sin, reunited as the result of a loving God who offers his Son as the centerpiece of a new world.

God does not see race. In all of us who have accepted His son as Savior, He SIMPLY SEES HIS SON.

God Does Not Want You to Marry Just Anyone
Now before we move on; we need to address an issue that gets talked about a lot. What does God think about inter-racial marriages? Many people have looked at God in the Old Testament and seen that He places STRICT limits on the nation of Israel when it comes to marrying outside the nation. God warns them again and again that they are not to associate with or marry the nations that they will someday conquer. Isn’t this a prohibition on inter-racial marriage? No, it is not. God tells his children not to marry these people for a single and simple reason. It’s not because they are of another race. Most were nearly identical racially and were only different from the perspective of nationality. God prohibits his children from marrying people of other FAITHS! He does not want us to marry outside of our belief system because he knows that it will turn our attention from HIM.

God does not care about what you look like. He does not care about the color of your skin, the shape of your eyes, the size of your lips, or the curl in your hair. God simply cares about what you worship. He is concerned about the condition of your heart. God does not see the color of our skin. That varies from person to person and makes us different. He sees the color of our SIN, and that fallen reality is what unites us as a world that has an equal and unifying need for Jesus. It’s not the color of our skin that matters to God. It’s the color of our SIN.

Step Out of the Bubble
God had a plan in that initial separation at Babel. God wants us, as Christians, to live ion a world of diversity, not a world in which we are all the same. That’s why I believe that America has a special role to play in God’s plan. I do believe that America is a nation that has been created and ordained by God. And I think that one of the evidences of this is the fact that we are a melting pot that embraces the nations of the world in a way like no other country in the history of mankind, founded on Christian principles and still populated by people who at least call themselves “Christian”. God wants you to understand His love for His children. God want you to understand His nature. And curiously, the only way you are ever going to understand this love is reach out and love the people who are not like you. When we love those who are different than us, we get a small snapshot of what it must be like for God to love a created people that are so different from Him. And here in Southern California, you have perhaps the best opportunity to reach out to people who are nothing like you.

The largest influx of immigrants to our nation continues to be the Mexican immigrant movement across our borders. It has created an environment here in Southern California that is unique to our nation. We are surrounded by people who are very different from us in some ways, and we have unlimited opportunity to EXPERIENCE our faith by loving like God loves. So what are we waiting for? It’s time for us to step out of our comfort zone, to break out of our Christian Bubble and do the work that God has designed us to do. We are not so different after all.