Biblical Worldview and Race

Can we all admit that race is a touchy subject? Here in America, it is one of those subjects that many people would just rather forget, but as the author and playwright James Baldwin says, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” If we have any hope of making peace, then we cannot be afraid to look the problem square in the face.

I want to start with a realistic look at what we want to accomplish. If we don’t start there then we all have different ideas of the solution and nothing gets done. It is only in a concerted effort towards a particular goal that progress can be made.

You may ask where I get off as a middle-class white man claiming that I get to set the agenda and define the goals, but you misunderstand me. The ideas and purposes that I propose are not my own. They are rooted in a biblical worldview. I will not apologize for my belief in the Bible and the divinely-inspired inerrant word of God. If you have problems with that, then we need to have a different conversation before we talk about race because one of those conversations is foundational, the other is not.

Creation

I guess we really do need to start at the beginning when we talk about race. I don’t mean the beginning of the civil rights movement, I mean the beginning, creation. There were (and probably still are) some depraved individuals who falsely claimed the name of Christ and twisted the word of God to build up a case that blacks were an inferior race. However, this is nonsense when placed alongside the biblical account of creation.

The one God that created the heavens and the earth also created mankind’s first parents, Adam and Eve. These aren’t figurative or poetic characters, but real flesh and blood creations of God. The first man and first woman. If they are not, then we have to throw the entirety of Christian faith into question because as it says in the New Testament in Acts 17:26, “[God] made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth…”

There are massive consequences to believing this, and I would wager that most don’t truly believe it and from that disbelief springs many of our issues. Theologically and biblically, there is no fundamental difference between the white “race” and the black “race.” These are social constructs with long histories.

I will be the first to say that the Bible does not feature any white people unless you want to count the Romans. Adam and Eve, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Paul looked like people that would likely get stopped for a “random” check at the airport if you know what I mean. So the idea of the superiority of the white race from a theological perspective is just preposterous. In reality, the idea of racial superiority did not come from theology but from evolutionary science.

True biblical Christianity sees all humans (“red and yellow, black and white” to quote the children’s song) as precious in God’s sight. We have intrinsic and equal value based upon our creator. Evolution, on the other hand, sees humanity as descending from the trees will readily consider some humans as more valuable or more evolved than others. Consider this chilling quote from Dylan Roof the deranged racist murderer who killed nine peaceful worshiping Christians inside their Charleston, South Carolina church.

Anyone who thinks that white and black people look as different as we do on the outside, but are somehow magically the same on the inside, is delusional. Negroes have lower IQs, lower impulse control, and higher testosterone levels in general. These three things alone are a recipe for violent behavior.

These are not the words of someone citing biblical arguments for racial superiority, but of sick pseudoscience that is used to confirm one’s already problematic biases. So biblical Christianity flatly denies the basis for discrimination because we are all brothers and sisters, quite literally, regardless of our race, creed, color, or nation.

Fall

Secondly, biblical Christianity sees humanity as fallen. That is to say that we have broken ourselves with our sin beyond our capability to fix the situation. Biblically, the origins of race would come after the flood when people disobeyed the second cultural mandate given by God (Genesis 9:1) and chose instead to built a tower to showcase their own abilities (Genesis 11:3-4). God hates this kind of pitiful fruitless religion and so in his love, he confused their speech and forced them to divide so that they would obey his command to fill the earth.

If you are a liberal “Christian” keeping score, that is right, I believe in a literal Adam and Eve, I deny the theory of evolution, and I believe that both Noah’s worldwide flood and the Tower of Babel are actual historical events just as they are communicated in the book of Genesis. I know that in doing so, I have shown myself to be an uneducated simpleton, but at least I am consistent, and I would be happy to discuss it more with you.

As people lived in this post-flood separation, they developed cultures and adapted to the changing climates in different parts of this drastically different world. This led to physical changes in groups of people with some humans developing lighter tones and others darker based scientifically on the amount of melanin in their skin. Race was therefore created by God, in love, so “that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is not actually far from each one of us.” (Acts 17:27)

Race may have been created by God, but racism is an evil constructed by the pride of the human heart, and the reality of the fall means that we cannot just talk about racism and expect it to end through a social program. The problem is deeper than a handful of bigoted neo-nazis. It is a problem at the heart of every person who has breath. We all look in the mirror and worship what we see. Idolatry is our spiritual default in a fallen world, and that leads us to divide from others in unhealthy ways as we selfishly seek our betterment over others.

This means that from a biblical perspective, while racism towards blacks, latinos, or any minority, whether overt or through quiet microaggressions, is sinful, so also is the prejudiced desire to see the majority culture fall and minority culture to take its place. In this way, I can proudly say that black lives matter as I weep with victims of a shooting, but I will also be the first to condemn violence against police in retaliation or looting a shop as a message of a new world order.

Because of this tension, biblical Christians are often caught in the middle and those fighting for equality call us cowardly and intolerant while the bigots fighting to hold onto their power call us social justice warriors and socialists. It’s a hard line to walk, but no one said it would be easy. There is sin on all sides, including those who are committed to biblical Christianity. So what do we do?

Redemption

Recognizing that prejudice and inequality lie at the heart of everyone, it should be clear that the solution doesn’t start out there with everyone else. It must first begin with me, and you. So long as I am shouting for equality while I fashion a crown for my head or hide behind statements like “all lives matter” when my brothers and sisters are hurting, nothing will change.

However, “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14 emphasis mine). I firmly believe that this is a three-step process to salvation and healing from societal ills like racism, the coronavirus, and more.

It begins with humbling ourselves. This is the opposite of our sinful pride. It is impossible apart from the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. I pray that God would humble his people. I pray that he would put a dam on the flood of our self-esteem and pride and crush us under the weight of our sin. I pray that he would break our hearts for what breaks His. Once we are properly brought low then we will be in the correct position to move forward. But it will only happen on our knees.

We must pray and seek God’s face. This is good news, and it starts with prayer. We are all called to seek God’s face. That face is not an idol of our own making. He is a person. Colossians 1:15 says that Jesus Christ “is the image of the invisible God.” Verse 19 of the same chapter says, “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.” Jesus himself told the Jewish teachers, “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” (John 8:19).

Christ came to put an end to the separation and pain of the curse of sin. Racism and prejudice is a sin because it denies the glory of God in a whole group of his image-bearers. It elevates self above God and denies his supreme authority. Coming to Christ is laying down your personal agendas and struggles and pride and taking up the cross and following Jesus to die to self and live in him alone. No one will be saved by their own righteous works, they are only good enough to condemn us.

Once we have come to trust Christ alone in faith for our salvation, then the work of turning from our wicked ways will take us the rest of our lives. No one is perfect on this side of heaven except Jesus alone. We look to Him as our salvation and our model, and we should seek to lead lives of holiness as we call others to lay down their arms of rebellion and embrace Jesus in humility and fear.

Practically, this means that Christians should be wholehearted supporters of advocating for the poor, disenfranchised, and helpless. Jesus came and died for me when I was in profound rebellion against him, and we are called to emulate this kind of love that lays its life down for an enemy. However, we don’t believe that either side is righteous. Both must come in repentance to the throne of Christ. Only in humility to him will peace ever be made. This peace will come one day when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father. I would pray that you do it now in worship rather than doing it then in terrible fear.