What Does The Bible Say About Racism?

What does the Bible say about Racism?

— Tony Uddin

“Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. ”

-- Ephesians 2:12-22 (NIV)

In Christ There Is Unity

I believe God's Word has a lot to say about racism, but also about how people can work together, how in Jesus Christ, people of different cultures can be brought together. Jesus is the one that reconciles us and the church ought to be a place where racism shouldn't exist. Unfortunately and sadly, it does. In too many places, 10:30 on a Sunday morning, as people gather for church, is one of the most segregated times of the week. That really troubles my heart.

But also, the Church of Jesus can be an incredible place where people from different races and cultures, different backgrounds, different life experiences, come together and share life together as part of a vibrant and intercultural community. I think about my experiences of travelling in places that have suffered significant racism and been marred by it, experiences of being in Balkan countries and seeing churches building reconciliation across ethnic lines when no one else is.

Why Do People Have A Hard Time With This Issue Of Race And Ethnicity?

It's important that we do talk about racism. I don't know what hearing a sermon on it makes you think about. For some of us, it may fill us with dread. For others of us, we might think, "Great, finally someone in church is going to talk about it". But we have to because it's such an important thing, and it affects so much of the world in which we live.

If you say I don't really see race, well, that's a really privileged position to be in. But the reality for most of us, is that race and racism has played a huge part in our experience of life. It's a big issue particularly for us here in the UK because in one sense we're a very diverse culture, a very diverse society. We've got people from all kinds of backgrounds, very different ethnicities. Where I'm from in Tower Hamlets in East London, is incredibly, racially diverse. It's often celebrated for that, and yet somehow, that just skims the surface of it because the reality is those communities are often just existing side by side without any real interaction.

So sometimes our idea of how we deal with racism, and just getting on actually just resorts to people living separated lives. I believe the Bible presents a compelling, beautiful, and life-changing picture that the church can be a place where people come together, and share life and life in all of its fullness. The reality is, for most of us, we see elements of racism in so many different aspects of our lives. Maybe it's not the overt racism of the Klu Klux Klan, but the subtle kind of racism, the kind of internalised prejudice or decision making, that doesn't really wear the tag "racist", but is often coming from that same place. I believe, as a church leader, my heart is to grow vibrant intercultural church where people really cross barriers.

I'm passionate about racism because of my background. I'm half Bangladeshi, half Scottish, 100% English, and racism has played a part in my life. So whoever you are, I think the Bible has some relevant things to say. In the passage that was read out earlier from Ephesians, we see the way in which Jesus not only reconciles us to God, he doesn't just break the dividing wall between us and God, but actually, he breaks the dividing wall between different races, between different ethnicities. The idea is that Jesus creates one new creation, humanity in Jesus. The dividing wall between man and God is broken, but also between different races as well.

Racism And The Bible

There's a really interesting example of racism in the Old Testament in Numbers 12. We read there,

“Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had married a Cushite woman); and they said, “Is it a fact that the Lord has spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?” And the Lord heard this. (Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any person who was on the face of the earth.)”

-- Numbers 12:1-3 (NASB)

“And the anger of the Lord burned against them and He departed. But when the cloud had withdrawn from above the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow.”

-- Numbers 12:9-10 (NASB)

It's really interesting, it seems like a lot of the difficulty Moses was facing in the criticism was on account of his wife who was Cushite. It's highly likely that she was black. And in fact, Cushite people were famed for their dark skin. It seems like somewhere along the line, what is driving these people's criticism of Moses isn't just his decisions as a leader, but actually, it's the fact that he was married to a black woman. Interestingly, God judges their actions. One woman who criticised Moses actually becomes white with leprosy, a skin disease. It's almost like God is saying, "well if that's how you want to play it". We see examples of racism in the Bible, and we see that God is a God who confronts it.

God's People Are One Race - The Human Race

In Ephesians 2 we see that God in Jesus deals with what divides people from one another. Verse 13 says,

“But now in Christ Jesus, you who were once far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ, for He Himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and who has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility... ”

-- Ephesians 2:13 (NIV)

What that's speaking about, is the difference between Jews and Gentiles, Jews and non-Jews. We see that Jesus tackles that sense of division. In the Old Testament, in the temple, we see that people were divided from one another, the Holy of Holies was curtained off, and the priests could only go once a year. We see in the outer courts and the courts of priests, priests divided from people, men divided from women, the Court of the Gentiles kept the Gentiles from the Jews - people divided. And it says there,

“by setting aside in his flesh, the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace. ”

-- Ephesians 2:15-16

In other words, through his own sacrifice, through dying on the cross, Jesus breaks what divides people from each other. Humanity as one new creation.

Racism Is A Sin

How do we deal with racism? I believe that ultimately, we realise that each of us have tendencies towards it. Racism isn't just a problem for one race. There's something about human nature that's inherently selfish, and inherently causes us to think more about ourselves than we should and less of others than we should. It devalues human life and it is that which is at the heart of racism. Jesus, once and for all defeats it on the cross. As we are made new in Jesus, God forgives us our sin and makes us new from the inside out, not perfect, but forgiven. He deals with the problem of our sin, which divides us from God, and gives us the hope of eternal life with Him, but also makes it possible to deal with our sin, which divides us from each other. Those who are far off have been brought near. One of the amazing things about the cross is that for somebody like me who's not a Jew by background, I am included in God's blessing that was previously only on his people, the Jews.

When we think of others, do we think of ourselves more highly than we should? Do we think of others lesser than we should? Do we think of the world in terms of me and my people, and other people? Jesus breaks the dividing wall. In Jesus, we have the prototype of all reconciliation, but it's only ultimately through Jesus.

The Church Is God's Answer To Racism

Peter, one of Jesus's disciples, also has a really interesting story when it comes to sleep in difficult times. It was during the time after Jesus had ascended to heaven that this blood-thirsty, maniacal leader of the day called Herod decided he wanted to kill the Christian leaders of the time and increase the persecution against the church. So, he has Peter arrested. Now, Herod wasn't arresting Peter to have a one-to-one with him, so he could talk about donating funds to the church roof project. No. Instead, Herod has Peter thrown into prison, and the plan is to bring him before the crowds on Passover. The Bible tells us that when Herod had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover, to bring him out to the people. So Peter is arrested, thrown into prison, he has four squads of soldiers to guard him. The next day, like I said, he's gonna be brought out to the crowds, which is the same crowd that has a habit of crucifying people they don't particularly like. This is a situation that would cause anxiety in me, that's for sure. Peter is in a genuine life-threatening situation. So what happens?

I believe on the back of that, the church is a visible sign. It declares the wisdom of God, that God can take people who wouldn't even sit around a table together. If you imagine the divided culture that the New Testament was written in, where Jews and Gentiles wouldn't eat at the same table, they wouldn't go to one another's houses, and in the midst of that God calls a people from both of those cultures. God calls Jew and Gentile together.

The truth of the New Testament is that God called slaves and free people together, saying that in Christ they are one. They are all created in God's image. Another dividing wall broken. God calls men and women together, old and young, rich and poor. God is the one who breaks walls that divide, and the church of Jesus ought to be a visible sign. In 2 Corinthians 5:17 we read,

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.”

-- 2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV)

So that means that as Christians, we don't get to live divided lives. We don't get to build segregated communities. We shouldn't have any form or any part in racism. We shouldn't be spending our lives erecting walls which keep people apart. Actually, our job as Christians, is to be ministers of reconciliation. That means that because we've been made acceptable to God through what Jesus has done, because we've been brought back to him, because the dividing wall between us and God is broken, God wants to break down dividing walls between us as people. That's part of the church's job, to say that we have been given the possibility to be agents of change. In verse 16 of that passage, 2 Corinthians 5:16 says,

“...we regard no one according to the flesh. ”

-- 2 Corinthians 5:16 (ESV)

In other words, we are not judging by physical characteristics or skin color. I love that in our local church, there's a rich mix of cultures, of backgrounds, young and old, rich and poor, different nationalities, different ethnicities, different social classes, and it forces me to confront the prejudice of my own heart. Because the reality is that each of us has prejudice. And I want to say that whoever you are, what are the prejudices in your lives? What are the things that keep you divided from others? What are the things that cause you to think too much of yourself, of your own culture, of your own race, and to think lesser of other cultures and other races? Why do you see them as inferior?

The gospel, the good news of Jesus confronts that. Let's not pretend that racism is something others have to deal with. As Christians, we should be at the forefront of racial reconciliation. That means owning, accepting, confessing our sin where we've done wrong. It means that we don't just look at racism as the problem of somebody else, but we recognise where there are elements of thinking like that in our lives. We ask for God's forgiveness, we seek to change and we seek forgiveness from others. This is something that God loves.

The Work Of God Brings Change

He can change the things about us that actually are what generates racism and prejudice in our life. I think that's really important because our culture and our world window dresses. We want to deal with the symptoms of racism. We want to have an equal society, and that's brilliant. But unless we drill down to the cause, which is the human heart, we'll never change it. We'll never change problems of racism by just barking at others to change. I think it's beholden on each of us to say, yes, we want to affect structural change. Yes, we want an equal society. Yes, social campaigning is important, but also are we going to be brave enough to look into our own hearts, and see where there is darkness?

Be The Change You Want To See

So how can we work some of this out practically? Well, firstly, I think on a very basic level we can choose to spend time with people who are different to ourselves. In our church, we have a culture where we specifically ask of our leaders that they be people who are intentionally building friendships and sharing life with people of different cultures. I think there's something dehumanising about a church in a multicultural area like London or Liverpool, if people are living monocultural lives. The way we begin to address some of that change is we intentionally share life with people who are different. We intentionally build friendships, we intentionally invite, we intentionally get to know. We want to really be people who are proactive in living the change we want to see. This means that we choose not to judge people based on their race or ethnicity, and that means even in the subtle things.

For some of us, if we saw a black person in scrubs in a hospital, we'd assume that they're an orderly or a nurse, rather than a surgeon. That's a form of racism right there. We might assume that people act in a certain way because of our prejudices which exist. What we have to do is we have to choose, as far as is possible not to judge people, or to predict their actions based on their race or ethnicity.

As a church, it means we pursue what unites us, and not what divides us. It means that if there are things that we do that we know make it difficult for other people, of other cultures to share life with us, then we try to address those issues. In the book of Romans there's this principle of pursuing what makes for building up one another. Paul says, basically, if what you eat or drink, or how you view what days are special is causing others to stumble, then actually back off it because you don't want to be responsible for causing division. In a very real sense, we're intentionally building an intercultural community. That means we are prepared to look at what are my behaviours that cause issues?

Lastly, we choose not to assume that we are better than others, or that our way is right. On the live stream, we're going to just be able to unpack some of this, and go through and really talk this stuff through. It's so important that we do, because actually, I think that that inward work of asking, what are my assumptions? What are my prejudices? What are the things and attitudes and actions that pervade my life? Those are the things we want to talk about. I think if we look to live and be change in our own lives, then I think we start to see change.

Philippians 2:3-4 talks about humility.

“...value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests, but each of you to the interests of the others.”

-- Philippians 2:3-4 (NIV)

The good news of Jesus confronts our selfishness, and the good news of Jesus challenges that selfishness and challenges us to a life of self denial that sees others as better than ourselves, and looks to live and esteem others. So I want to challenge you. What would God put his finger on in your life?

God bless you!

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