As we all know, we are all unique, yet made in God’s image. And so, as Christians, we are all meant to love each other. Sadly, we don’t always do that. We also live in a world full of people who reject God. Not only that, but many of us even reject each other. A lot of people hate each other because of the country they come from, even the colour of their skin. We live in a country that even institutionalised divisions based on race and skin colour. Even to this day, we have problems with xenophobia against fellow Africans who come from beyond our borders.

 

Now, I am sure every one of you agrees with me that racism is stupid. Why would I even bring it up? Well, it is still a part of everyday life. Many people still discriminate against others. Many Christians have some racial feelings or are just simply out-and-out racists. Some religions even preach racism. Some who claim to be Christian wrongly claim black people have the Mark of Cain:

 

Genesis 4:15: And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.  And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.

 

That doesn’t even vaguely refer to race! Yet in the past, white people have been killed because they fell in love with black people.

 

As for Christianity, racism should not be an issue at all. The Bible does not mention skin colour at all. Nowhere in the Bible does God tell us “Thou shalt use the K-word”. But even though the Bible doesn’t mention racism, it does tell us how we should look at our fellow brothers and sisters:

 

Genesis 1:27: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

 

Acts 17:26: And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

 

I think those verses are pretty clear. Every single one of us was created by God; each unique, yet created in His image. And thousands of years after the Creation, we are still family of each other, we are all equals. Whereas other religions clearly speak about racial superiority, the Bible speaks of total equality. Amen!

 

The Bible doesn’t tell us exactly why there are people with different physical appearance or different skin colour. The best theory is that this happened at the Tower of Babel. Despite this, God doesn’t love particular races any less, and neither should we. The Bible says:

 

Deuteronomy 10:17: For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward:

 

Acts 10:34-35: Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.

 

In other words, God does not discriminate. So why do we? Well, there are a few particular reasons. Firstly, people generally fear the unknown, and do not make the effort to understand their brothers and sisters from other cultures. Secondly, all men and women are sinners, as well as proud. The Bible says:

 

James 2:4: Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?

 

We all generalise. Living in different countries, I can say that it is natural for us to generalise. Sometimes we can do this; for example, after living in Durban I can say that almost all Indians I knew loved curry. That’s not a problem. It is definitely not a reason to hate Indians! But what most of us are guilty of is using something bad to generalise an entire race or culture. For example, many blacks hate white people because of the way certain whites acted during Apartheid and so they believe that all white people are racists – that in itself is racist! White people who hate blacks usually use crime as a reason. They believe that all black people are criminals, and they all want revenge for Apartheid. I have found that when I speak to people who have such hatred for people of other races, their hatred comes from a bad experience they had.

 

Sometimes I have a really hard time with my fellow white people. A lot of them are good people, but some are still very racist. But I don’t keep quiet. When they are talking badly about other races, I get back at them. I ask ‘Are you a Christian?’ They reply ‘Yes indeed!’. Then I tell them that in Genesis 1:27, it says that God created us all in His image. They say ‘Yeah, so what’s your point?’ So I tell them that God created us all in His image – all – that includes Whites, Blacks, Indians, everybody. All created in God’s image. ‘So sir, if you hate people of other races, then basically you hate God!’ That doesn’t always go down very well! Normally, none of them break down and cry; they still stick to their racist words. See, we are proud people and hate to admit when we’re wrong. The best result so far for me is ‘You are right and I feel guilty. But I still hate them!’

 

One other main cause of racism is the society we live in. Politicians and governments fuel racism with their ideologies, and South Africa is a good example. In South Africa, both old and new governments use race as a way to keep people racist. So there is resentment among people of different skin colour/race, yet the main reasons were political rather than racial.

 

But what also happened was that the old Apartheid government wasn’t the only group to cause racial divisions. The Dutch Reformed Church was also using the Bible to keep Apartheid alive! People who went to that church during those times will testify that there was less preaching and more political indoctrination. They twisted parts of the Bible that speak of segregation; they used Bible verses that tell us not to get involved with people of other religions, in case we end up following their religion, and claimed that this was the Bible telling us that blacks and whites must be separated!

 

But a big cause of racism is the evolution theory. The idea that whites were superior to blacks, that idea comes straight from Charles Darwin. The founder of Apartheid, Dr Hendrik Verwoerd, studied in Nazi Germany and learnt evolution. That is where he got his ideas from. So the church preached creation but the justification for Apartheid was based on evolution. If you think about certain white racists who call black people monkeys; where do you think they got the idea from? Evolution of course! Sadly, the ANC believes that teaching evolution instead of God’s creation will unite us racially, when actually it will do the exact opposite. The evolution theory is the best tool that racists can use!

 

Why is it important to know about racism? Well, racism is also a way to put people off receiving the Good News, that God loves us all and gave us all His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. There are black people who think Jesus is a white man’s God, because of the idolatrous drawings depicting Jesus as white. Mahatma Gandhi learned to love Jesus but was put off from getting saved because he saw the horrible way that white “Christians” treated non-white people. He rejected Christ because of the racism that he saw!

 

So now we know why racism happens, what do we do as individuals? Well, read the Bible of course! As Christians, we should love everybody just as Jesus loves us all:

 

John 13:34: A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

 

Ephesians 2:14: For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;

 

Finally, as I am sure most of us, if not all of us, have suffered from racism, or maybe still have some racism in us. Either way, racism will make you a hateful, bitter person. That will make you suffer, and will make people around you suffer. So again, read the Bible:

 

Ephesians 4:31-32: Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

 

That is the message I want to share with you all. God does not discriminate, so why do we? Amen!

Author: Matthew Dean

Note: This is a shortened version of the sermon “The Bible vs Racism” which you can find in full, with more detail, on http://deanministries.page.tl/The-Bible-vs-Racism.htm

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