Racism in America from a Christian Perspective

Since racism is dominating the news, I want to address the issue straightforwardly from what I consider to be a Christian perspective. Here is what I believe:

 

1.     If everyone in the world was righteous except for black people, Jesus would have come to die on the cross to redeem black people from their sins.

2.     If everyone in the world was righteous except for Asians, Jesus would have come to die on the cross to redeem Asians from their sins.

3.     If everyone in the world was righteous except for white people, Jesus would have come to die on the cross to redeem white people from their sins.

4.     Almighty God loves us, all of us. Because no human being is righteous on his own or her own, not even one person, Christ had to die for the sins of us all, making the lyric from the children’s song absolutely true. “Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight.”

5.     That this is true is what makes the Gospel good news. Points one through four are foundational truths for Christianity. To deny them is to deny the core value of the Judeo-Christian worldview.

6.     Therefore, if Almighty God loves someone enough to sacrifice His own Son for that person, which is exactly what happened on the cross, who am I to place myself above God and say that I am better than that person?

7.     Because I cannot justifiably do this, I must conclude that racism in any form, whether it be white racism or black racism, is sinful and un-Christlike.

8.     Further, if my thinking is flawed, my behavior will follow. If my attitudes and behavior are racist, regardless of who I am or how I try to twist the truth to justify my position, I cannot do it—not if I want to walk in the light with God. I must call it what it is—sin. If my attitudes, my behavior or both are racist, I must repent of them.

9.     Nevertheless, this does not make me responsible for the behavior of others, especially for events that occurred generations before I was born.

 

God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin (I John 1:5b-7, NAS).