Racism and Christianity should not appear in the same sentence. There has been a history of segregation in the Christian church and this must not be condoned. We are supposed to be the children of the light to show the world how to treat all God’s children.
Unfortunately, we are living in a fallen world. Some of us who are supposed to be mature are still babies in the faith and are drinking milk instead of eating solid food.
Are all people created in the image and likeness of God?
Do we pay lip service to this and in our hearts believe and expect the contrary?
What makes anybody think they are superior to others?
What makes anybody believe they are inferior?
It takes the person who believes they are superior and the one who believes they are inferior for this toxic virus of racism to spread. This toxic virus is fueled by fear. The Scripture declares that we have not been given a spirit of fear. Can the church stand up and be light and salt, instead of a country club?
I know I have asked too many questions and will not answer them because we should not be asking these questions in the first place. If you have read the book carefully, you must have the answers by now. Nobody in the body of Christ should feel that they are superior or inferior. We are all one in Christ, and this is not a suggestion, it is a fact. Anything else is not sanctioned by Scripture.
Unfortunately, some of the Christians have allowed fear and societal pressure to tell them how to relate to other people. This is not correct because our marching orders are from God and are spelled out in Scripture. If we insist on doing our own thing and forming churches that do not reflect the diversity in our communities, then we are setting up country clubs, not churches. The church is the body of Christ, and if your community has people from different ethnic groups, the churches in that community must reflect this reality.
Some people say this is a diffi cult thing to do because people are more comfortable with their own kind and they like to do what comes naturally to them. Humanly speaking, this makes a lot of sense, but we are the people of God and have not been called to do what comes naturally to us. We are called to be the hands, feet, and eyes of Christ and to carry our cross and follow Jesus Christ daily. I had already touched on this issue of being called to carry our cross daily in one of the previous chapters, and it is being restated here because the idea of being comfortable permeates our society today and has invaded the church.
We should not be afraid to belong to the same church with people from different ethnic backgrounds just because we are afraid that our children may intermarry and we will lose our social status. There is more to following Jesus Christ than maintaining our cultures and social status. Jesus did not die for us to preserve our culture.
Many people claim they are not racist, but their thoughts and actions betray them.
When you hear their private conversations about other ethnic groups, you will be shocked. These same people do not have friends from different ethnic groups because they do not trust people who do not look like them.
I am not only writing to the Christians in the west. This is for Christians all over the globe. I mentioned what the popular Kenyan law professor and advocate for the eradication of corruption in Africa said,
“The blood of ethnicity among the African Christians is stronger than the blood of Christ.”
This is a very sad reality that must change. The church can and must do better because the world is looking up to us to lead the way. Now is the time to tear down the barriers that we have set up and open the church up to other people. We need to learn about other people, visit them, invite them over to have meals at our tables. While it is great to meet in the church building, it is greater to meet at home over a meal and listen to each other.
You cannot practice Christianity and racism at the same time. If you think this is possible, you are still in your spiritual diapers, and it is time for you to grow up. We are one in Christ and should act as such.
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