Church of God News

History was made last November when voters chose Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States. Considered a longshot at best when he began his campaign in 2007, few observers at first expected Senator Obama to mount a serious challenge to Senator Hillary Clinton and other candidates seeking the Democratic nomination. Yet the junior Senator from Illinois defied expectations throughout the campaign, and energized millions of voters with his call for hope and change.
Now that the U.S. has chosen a President with a black father and a white mother, some are suggesting that barriers have been broken and racism in the U.S. has largely come to an end. Obama’s victory, some say, proves that long-standing American social prejudices against blacks are mostly a thing of the past, and that the visible increase in minorities’ political and economic power is tangible evidence that old concerns about racism can for the most part be put to rest.
But are political and economic measures the true standard by which we should judge? After all, in the early years of America’s civil rights movement, many activists considered racism primarily a moral and spiritual problem, from which political and economic consequences followed, rather than the other way around.
At its core, is racism a moral and spiritual problem? What does the Bible say?
God’s standard of right and wrong—His word and His divine law—has been largely rejected by modern society. It has been replaced by a secular value system that may shift from year to year, depending on the moral fashion of the day. Many people reason that they must choose their values to fit their changing circumstances. But the Bible presents timeless laws and principles that God reveals as both right and good. As a result, we should desire to understand how the Bible explains the human condition.
Over the millennia, some have tried to use the Bible to justify racial oppression. In doing so, they could not be more wrong. Far from justifying racial hatred, the righteous principles of Scripture are the foundation upon which many modern notions about equality have been built. However, because many have misunderstood what the Bible actually teaches about racial hatred and equality, it is well worth taking a closer look…

A Radical Approach?

By the time of the Apostles, Jews were living side-by-side with non-Jews throughout the Roman Empire. In this environment, did Christ and the Apostles counsel any one group to feel superior to another? No! In fact, the Apostle Paul taught plainly that all races and peoples share an equality before Christ. “There is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all (Colossians 3:11). “For there is no respect of persons with God” (Romans 2:11, KJV). Through Jesus Christ, God has revealed, “the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel” (Ephesians 3:6). The Apostle Peter taught, “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him” (Acts 10:34–35).
God does not change, so when He inspired the Apostles to write those words, they were not inventing something new. Yet these teachings on human equality had a profound impact on the thinking of the first-century Church. The equality Christ taught was truly a radical idea in the ancient world. Certainly, Christians understand that there are physical differences between people, and that we all have different strengths, given by God to help us prepare for our future as eternal members of His family. But we must never try to use those differences to oppress others, or as a lame excuse to deny the worth and human dignity of any human being. God’s plan involves every human being, and no matter what our physical circumstances may be in life, our Creator is ready to come to our aid. As the Apostle Paul wrote: “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For ‘whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved’” (Romans 10:12–13)…
Abraham Lincoln said, “As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master.” Does that sound familiar? The ethic from which Lincoln derived his statement comes from the Bible: “Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them” (Matthew 7:12). Lincoln’s political views were shaped and guided by his understanding of an ancient Judeo-Christian ethic.
The Civil War put an end to the system of slavery in America, but oppression, unequal treatment and lack of opportunity persisted through the enforcement of segregation and “Jim Crow” laws. What was the force behind the civil rights activism of the 1950s and 1960s, which called for the end, once and for all, of injustice and inequality in the United States? First and foremost, it was the force of moral outrage born from the nation’s African-American churches, where leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. decried racism as morally wrong—using the Bible as the source of their moral judgments!…

Racism Poisons the Racist

In the last few decades in secular society, a morality has developed in which God’s definition of right and wrong has been rejected. People reason that as long as an action does not hurt others, then “if it feels good, do it.” Or as long as one’s sin is not illegal, why not do it? But God said that when we sin, we hurt ourselves as well as others. Just because we do not see or feel that hurt at the time, does not mean that the damage is not done. As the Apostle Paul told the Church in Corinth, “Flee sexual immorality…. he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body” (1 Corinthians 6:18). The Apostle John wrote, “Whoever hates his brother is a murderer” (1 John 3:15). This means that if you hate someone, you have broken the commandment, “Thou shall not kill.” Racial hatred is sin. Racism poisons the racist, because sin poisons the sinner. This holds true for all races, because God is no respecter of persons. Hate is murder committed in one’s heart, and racism is a form of hatred that injures not only the victim but the perpetrator as well. Among the damage is the isolation it brings—from God and from other people. If you are uncomfortable dealing with people of another race, or if you feel superior to people of another race, you will not be able to interact positively or productively, and you will retreat more and more into your own limited associations. As you do so, you will also be isolating yourself from God’s way of life, which commands loving, outflowing concern for all those around you. The Bible explains that mankind has brought misery and calamity upon itself by rejecting God’s way of life and the commandments He gave “for your good” (Deuteronomy 10:13). As we defy Him, we harm ourselves both physically and spiritually.
Different races, peoples and individuals have not all suffered equally over time. We should always be sensitive to how others feel—especially since various racial and ethnic groups have suffered profoundly as a result of racism and its consequences. We should not hesitate to speak out against the sin of racism. But God cautions us that we must be careful. God has set a principle—that we are judged by the standard by which we judge. Paul writes again, “Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God?” (Romans 2:1–3).
Is racism in America a thing of the past? Whatever your answer—and no matter what progress may have been made nationally—we need to remember that God also looks at each heart. Can any of us honestly say that we truly treat all other people the way God wants us to treat them? Keeping His standards in mind, we have a long way to go, nationally and individually. But with His help, obeying His word, we can—and must—keep growing toward perfection (Hebrews 6:1). FULL story at Racism in America: A Thing of the Past?