Racism & Christianity

It seems at the moment that the entire world is bubbling with social unrest and protest after the horrendous killing of an American man at the hands of Police.  Although this crime happened half a world away, our nation is grieving too; we are lamenting the violent actions of some in authority, as well as the cultural racism and systemic oppression which has been vividly unmasked.  

I don’t think I need to prove the utter absurdity of the racist position.  Racism (and it’s ugly “ism” cousins) in simple terms claim that some arbitrary biological or other attribute, (skin colour, ethnicity, gender or physical ability) rates some people as either inferior or superior.  This thinking is the “Open Sesame” of social acceptance and privilege, rendering some in and some out.  As a nation we would like to believe that we have grown beyond this, but racism is a problem entrenched in our society which we can no longer ignore or run away from.  It has been an issue throughout history and it continues to be  an issue today.

• In the first century Foreigners (and even women and children) were regarded as property.  That was racism.
• It was racism that produced the horrors of the Holocaust.
• It was racism which produced the ugliness of the Ku Klux Klan
• It was racism that gave the world apartheid
• It was racism which saw the wholesale and often systematic slaughter of Australian Aborigines during early white settlement, and the removal of their children until much more recent times.  
• It is racism which sees athletes booed, children taunted, young adults mistrusted, communities unable to find work or access education and healthcare and whole families deported.

The Bible teaches a categorically different mindset than that proffered by the racist worldview.  What decides a person’s worth is not some random attribute, but the truth that every single person is created in the image of God:  To treat anyone as if they were less than this is not just shameful and evil as a culture, or simply painful for the victims;  but it is sinful, immoral, unbiblical and unchristian.  Desmond Tutu once wrote “Racism opposes God”

When Jesus commanded us to “go and make disciples” he didn’t finish with just so long as they look like you or speak like you: He said all nations!  If you were not born Jewish, then like myself you are a beneficiary of this command, and of the Bible’s teaching that is no longer any segregation in Christ Jesus.  In Christ we are all in the place of acceptance and privilege.

As His representatives (the Church), we have the opportunity to share how the life-changing message of the Gospel creates a healthy relationship with God and healthy relationships between people, no matter who they are.  So, as we strive to be increasingly Christ like in thought word and deed, as we strive to live out the Great Commission, as we seek to make disciples of Jesus, we must address and shift the intrenched racism, classism and sexism inherent in our society; not to do so is simply disobedience to God.

The message of Jesus is clear; We all belong with God - no separation, no difference. 

​So let’s go out and make disciples of all nations!

Grace and Peace
Jen