Racial Segregation: Sin in the Church, pt. 2
God loves diversity; no two things are created exactly alike. Before sin entered the world, He called his creation “good,” and when He created humanity in His own image He called it “very good.” It was God’s plan from the beginning to create, from one couple, all the ethnic groups of the world. Paul affirmed this in Acts 17:26 when he said to the Athenian philosophers, “And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place…”
When God became a man in the person of Jesus, he became a Palestinian Jew. He was a direct descendant of Abraham, who was from the region of what is now Iraq. Contrary to the picture of a blue-eyed, blond-haired Jesus that hangs on the wall of many of our churches, Jesus most likely had dark eyes and dark skin. However, we quickly discover in the Gospels that Jesus was not just interested in saving his own race (thankfully, since most of us would not qualify). In the Gospel of John (3:16), Jesus reveals the reason for his coming to earth: “For God so loved the world [all nations], that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” After his death and resurrection, and directly before his ascension, he gave the church its marching orders: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations [ethnic groups], baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…” (Matt. 28:19). God’s kingdom will consist of a remnant of all the nations of the world.
The Apostle Peter, in spite of his own racial biases, learned this lesson well. In Acts God showed Peter in a vision that no race should be considered “unclean.” As he entered the house of a gentile, Peter said, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean” (Acts 10:28). Peter then said, “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality…”(Acts 10:34). The Apostle Paul concurred when he wrote, “For God shows no partiality” (Rom. 2:11).
The theme of the Gospel is that God’s kingdom transcends all racial, social, and economic barriers and that God loves all nations exactly the same. Because of this, God assures us that heaven will consist of individuals from “every tribe, language, people, and nation” (Rev. 5:9). But if the church is to represent the kingdom of God on earth, and Jesus taught us to pray, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” why do Christians still show partiality? Why are churches still divided racially? Christians have failed to fully understand the heart of God. We have missed the opportunity to be a witness to the truth that God’s kingdom transcends all cultural barriers, making all nations one in Christ.
Next week we’ll take up the question of cultural differences.
a pdf version of this entry is available here
When God became a man in the person of Jesus, he became a Palestinian Jew. He was a direct descendant of Abraham, who was from the region of what is now Iraq. Contrary to the picture of a blue-eyed, blond-haired Jesus that hangs on the wall of many of our churches, Jesus most likely had dark eyes and dark skin. However, we quickly discover in the Gospels that Jesus was not just interested in saving his own race (thankfully, since most of us would not qualify). In the Gospel of John (3:16), Jesus reveals the reason for his coming to earth: “For God so loved the world [all nations], that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” After his death and resurrection, and directly before his ascension, he gave the church its marching orders: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations [ethnic groups], baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…” (Matt. 28:19). God’s kingdom will consist of a remnant of all the nations of the world.
The Apostle Peter, in spite of his own racial biases, learned this lesson well. In Acts God showed Peter in a vision that no race should be considered “unclean.” As he entered the house of a gentile, Peter said, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean” (Acts 10:28). Peter then said, “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality…”(Acts 10:34). The Apostle Paul concurred when he wrote, “For God shows no partiality” (Rom. 2:11).
The theme of the Gospel is that God’s kingdom transcends all racial, social, and economic barriers and that God loves all nations exactly the same. Because of this, God assures us that heaven will consist of individuals from “every tribe, language, people, and nation” (Rev. 5:9). But if the church is to represent the kingdom of God on earth, and Jesus taught us to pray, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” why do Christians still show partiality? Why are churches still divided racially? Christians have failed to fully understand the heart of God. We have missed the opportunity to be a witness to the truth that God’s kingdom transcends all cultural barriers, making all nations one in Christ.
Next week we’ll take up the question of cultural differences.
a pdf version of this entry is available here
Labels: racism, segregation
posted on Friday, August 03, 2007 |
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