Racism and The Gospel

Ferguson, MO; Baltimore, MD; Dallas, TX; Charlottesville, VA. Recently these great American cities have been in the headlines because of the racism, protests and riots that have erupted in their streets. I don’t know about you, but doesn’t it seem like 2017 looks and feels more like 1967? All the bloodshed, profane picketing, and removing of Civil War monuments has reopened the America’s old wound of racism. Indeed, it does seem that Jesus’ end-time prediction is coming true before our eyes, “And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another…And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold” (Matt. 24:10, 12).

Did you realize that the real answer to America’s race problem is not political or social, but spiritual? The Gospel is God’s way of dealing with our hatred and prejudice. In fact, consider these biblical principles as they relate to race:

·         All of humanity was created in the image of God, with equal value in the eyes of our Heavenly Father (Gen. 1:26). God is color-blind in this respect, because each soul is His handiwork. 

·         --The Bible does not even use the word “race” in reference to people, but it does describe all human beings as being of “one blood” (Acts 17:26). Terms such as these emphasize that we are all related; the descendants of the first man and woman.

·         --God loves every culture and color on Earth. Just look at the cross, God sent His Son to die for their sins (John 3:16). I read a church sign once that summed it up beautifully, “Jesus died for our sin, not our skin.”  

·         --The Church is the solution for racism, because it is the place where everyone is united under the Gospel banner. “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” (Gal. 3:28).

·         --There won’t be any racism in heaven. God’s ultimate plan of redemption is to remove the sin of prejudice totally from the heart of man. In Rev. 7:9-10, John sees the church worshiping Christ, “I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”  

-DM