Racism. It's a pretty nasty accusation, more so today than ever. And it should be. In fact, racism is probably hated a lot less than is should be.
If it is so detestable though, then why is it still so common.
I am a white (well, whitish...American mutt to be exact) middle class American. So, I know that I haven't seen a lot of racism, at least not directed at me. Still, I have seen more then my fair share. I've seen it directed from all races, towards all races. I've seen it in small ways, and in huge doses. I've seen a lot of things that were not racism called racism, and I've seen a lot of racism simply shrugged off.
I've seen enough to begin to wonder if everyone maybe has a bit of racism.
In fact, I think some of the worst racists are the one who deny it the most; who say they are color blind or that they don't "see color." Its a worse injustice I feel (and please share your feelings on this) because it says, "I don't see you are who you are, I see you as I want to see you." .
God created race. He created the beauty of each race: of each minute shade and difference, and of each human. What He did was perfect, it was beautiful. It is beautiful. Diversity is one of the churches most desirable assets and nothing delights me more than true unity in diversity in a church.
Now, having started this way, I don't think race is the only thing that should be addressed when talking about discrimination. And I don't speak from a place of perfection. I know I have judged based on race before. Just as I know I have judged based on gender, on body build, on religion the list goes on.
When I was working as a camp councilor I remember a young man who came to camp. He was huge. He towered over everyone else there, and he was built like the hulk. My first reaction: to judge him based on his size. Surely he would be trouble. Of course, I noticed I was doing it, but kept my reservations. Turns out, he was one of the sweetest kids on the campus that week. I felt so ashamed and guilty.
Later, while working in day care, I remember being informed that a certain child was going through a rough situation at home. Her parents were getting divorced...actually their second go around. The father was a youth leader at the church that ran the day care. I remember becoming so judgmental, thinking the church should have fired him. That He shouldn't have been allowed to be in ministry if he was leaving his family like that.
Turns out his wife had cheated on him. They had tried to work it out, but it had happened again. I had judged him based on my opinion that men hurt women, woman don't hurt men.
I had to apologize to my husband (at that time my fiance') for that. That was hard.
Why is this so common. What is it underlying in almost every human soul? Racism, Class-ism, Ageism, the list goes on...and probably doesn't even name them all.
The Bible doesn't tell us not to judge. It says Judge not, that you not be judged. For with the judgement you pronounce you will be judged. (read Matthew 7:1-5) In John 7:24 it is even more clear "Do not judge with appearances, but judge with right judgement". We have to judge, in order to protect ourselves, protect our family, protect our churches. We are told to cast out wolves. To be wary of false teachers. However, the Bible says we will experience that judgement with which we judged. I definitely don't want to be found guilty for being a woman, or for being 6 ft tall, or for being white. Yet I have judged others based on those reasons.
God hates shallow judgement. He HATES racism. Why? I think there are four reasons. Three are rather obvious, the final one kind of shocked me.
1 God Hates Racism/Bigotry Because He called His Creation Good
The Bible says that God called his creation good. It was beautiful. It was just as he wanted it and race was a product of creation, not of the fall. If someone showed me a picture of a child with downs' syndrome and said "this child is beautiful." I would agree, the child is beautiful, the down-syndrome is not. The down-syndrome is a result of the fall. Despite the fact that here on earth God has used this to create a beautiful person who may love with a deep capacity, may be brave, may be strong; despite the fact that we should love that child just as he is; I am sure you would join me in praying that in the face of God's glory in heaven that child will be healed to worship God forever in holiness and perfection.
Race is different, even more so than a lot of other forms of bigotry. It is especially evil to hate based on a form that God created as an original perfection. The races of this earth: every one, were created with the same words the created the great natural beauties of the world. To hate a race is like hating the grand canyon, a sunset, the ocean. It is evil because these things are the handiwork of God. (P.S. all these points could also be used to argue against hating yourself...just putting that out there)
2 God Hates Racism/Bigotry Because He Created Us in His Image
No matter how you read into this: physical attributes (less likely as God is spirit) or Spiritual attributes. The fact is, God created our bodies and called them perfect. God created our Spirits and called them perfect. God created the ability for us to form culture and though it is not perfect, it is a beautiful thing. ( as long as the "Christian" culture transcends in the life of the church)
To Hate what God created in His image is to hate God. To look upon the perfect handiwork of God (marred as it may have become by sin) and say " I am better" is to spit in the face of the creator and judge ourselves to be better than Him, How DARE we.
3 God Hates Racism/Bigotry Because We are Taking His Place as Judge
The Bible tells us that God judges the heart. (1 Samuel 16:7) By hating people based on race or other similar factors, we are adding to the law of God, a offense He is none to fond of. (Deuteronomy 4:2) Remember, Satan means "accuser" and even he can only accuse based on God's law.
By judging we are often times being more brazen then Satan himself. We are trying to set ourselves up as judge over man. (sometimes we wrongly judge people, but based off of real sin, like "homophobia" or other such examples) This is thoroughly detestable. I wouldn't want to be in Satan's position when God gives justice to Him for all that he has done against God and the people He loves. Yet so often I set myself up for that very judgement.
4 God Hates Racism/Bigotry Because it Defames the Name of Christ and His Gospel.
Here it might get confusing (and long) stick with it. I don't think lack of education (yeah whole other rant there) or even pride are the cause of racism. Might they contribute...sure.
I believe the cause is simply this: we think that Christ's sacrifice is not enough for us. This is true even for the unbeliever. I think at the heart of every hateful thought, be it towards another for their sin or towards another about race, is the need to build ourselves up. In order to make myself better I need to be better than you. Instead of holding ourselves up to God's standard we fabricate our own. Girls, we do this all the time: girls that are heavier than us have no self control, while the girls who are prettier are vain. The girls who accept male attention are loose, while those who turn them down are arrogant. The list could go on forever. In order to create a standard by which we feel superior we will grasp at any straw we can find. We will justify ourselves by some of the most wild ideas.
"I'm better than them because...." That is why Racism is so huge. That is why racism exists among the most elite and the most downtrodden. That is why the poor hate the rich and the rich pity and despise the poor. That is why the most outspoken advocates of "tolerance" are usually those carrying about the most hate.
All this is because God has placed eternity in our hearts. We know that we will stand accountable to a higher morality some day. Most religion tries to define that very feeling. We know that we will fail. We create these hatreds based, I believe, mostly on the desire to make ourselves better. we try to reach the top by stepping on the heads of those who get in our way. The easier it is to beat them down, the faster they fall under our feet so we can reach our "goal". We want to make ourselves better in our own sight...
In doing this we are saying that what Christ did on the cross is not good enough. We are trying to take glory from God. Christs death on the cross was for all mankind. We cannot take what is His without incurring His wrath.
So what do we do. If there is a little bit of this bigotry in us all, where to we run. We run to the cross. Only there is the wrath of God absorbed, and the justice of God met. Only there does the love and forgiveness of God run down on us. The key to overcoming guilt is not to lessen the offense, but to overpower it with forgiveness given at great cost. There at the cross, as we kneel in humility to Christ, we kneel alongside men and woman from every tribe, every tongue and every nation. We are all equal because we all need our Savior.
Please share your thoughts? Do you agree? Do you have any stories you would like to share to help illustrate? What did you disagree with?
