The flag is not the problem!

"Racism isn't a bad habit; it's a sin. The answer is not sociology, it's theology." Tony Evans

 

  There’s a huge public outcry to remove the Confederate flag from the State House in South Carolina. Removing the flag isn’t going to cure the disease of racism. Our culture loves to focus on external and symbolic change, rather than the heart and true change. Eradicating all symbols of the Confederacy won’t end racism in our country any more than taking the label off a bottle of poison makes it non-toxic.

  Racism isn’t new. It goes back to Genesis and the Fall. It’s not an American problem, or even a white versus black problem. A basic study of history and contemporary culture reveals that this horrible sin crosses borders and time. All of us are familiar with the white Aryanism that Adolph Hitler and the Nazis were obsessed with. Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, though Asian, persecuted ethnic Chinese.

  There is only one race—the human race. Caucasians, Africans, Asians, Indians, Arabs and Jews aren’t different races. Rather, they’re different ethnicities of the human race. All human beings have the same physical characteristics (with minor variations, of course). More importantly, for a Bible believer, all human beings are equally created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26-27). God loved the world so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, to lay down His life for us (John 3:16). The “world” includes all people groups.

  God doesn’t show partiality or favoritism and neither must we. James 2:4 describes those who discriminate as “judges with evil thoughts.” The Bible instead commands us to love our neighbors as ourselves, making no distinction of ethnicity or people groups. Racism finds its roots in the diabolical sin of pride. All forms of racism, prejudice, and discrimination, whether ethnic, economic, educational, gender-based or intelligence-based are an affront to the sacrifice of Christ on the cross for all people.

  Anyone who is racist, prejudiced or discriminatory need to repent. It’s a sin. There’s no rationalization or justification for it. Jesus commands us to love one another as He loves us (John 13:34). If God is impartial and loves us with impartiality, we must love others with that same high standard. When we treat an individual or people-group with contempt, we’re mistreating image-bearers of God. Even if it’s only in our heart, we’re abusing someone whom God loves and for whom Jesus died.

  Racism, in varying forms and to various degrees, has been a plague on humanity since the beginning. As a racist needs to repent, the Bible commands those who are victims of racism, prejudice or discrimination to forgive. Ephesians 4:32 clearly commands us, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Racists may not deserve forgiveness, yet each of us deserved God’s forgiveness far less.

  Since we’re all of one race, the human race or what Scripture calls Adam’s race, we all share Adam’s story. This includes the broken condition into which Adam and Eve fell when they rebelled against God. When our first parents rebelled, it was attributed to us – in a real sense, we rebelled along with them. Original sin means Adam’s sin brought on us both guilt and a fallen nature. Adam brought us guilt in that he represented us. When he sinned and died spiritually, we died in him. Because Adam is our ancient biological father, we inherit his sinful nature.

  The good news and our only hope is that God has addressed the issue of sin — including racism — in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus succeeded where Adam failed; Jesus succeeds where we fail. By faith, we place confidence in Jesus as our true and final representative and have peace with both God and our fellow human beings. Because of salvation we can overcome sin and death through Christ. Someday we will be free of both.

  Scripture teaches very clearly that the Gospel brings an end to interracial squabbling. Our common humanity supersedes our national and ethnic distinctions. Delusions of cultural superiority have absolutely no place in Christ’s kingdom. At salvation we become one Body, one Church, one entity in Jesus Christ. But because of our natural condition, which the Bible calls sinful, we still experience racial strife, even within the Church. This is an enslavement from which the Gospel sets us free but we must choose by God’s grace to live in the liberty that was purchased for us on the cross. One day the Church, which supersedes all ethnic lines and cultural barriers, will meet before God in eternity and worship Him together in one glorious voice forever. It’s already happening right this very minute.

  The problem with someone who is a racist is not fundamentally that they are racist. The core issue is that racists and racist comments only reveal the spiritual deadness of ungodly spiritual heart and the need for God through Christ and by His Spirit to resurrect and transform one’s spiritual heart from the dead. When someone is perceived to be guilty of racism, there’s usually an outcry for them to be banished from the public square. Somehow we foolishly believe that solves the evil problem of racism. It doesn’t and never will. Instead, racism only hides or goes covert.

  As Bible-believers, we must understand and share that there is only one hope, there is only one solution to racism – the Gospel! If a racist trusts in and follows Jesus Christ by faith, the One who died on the cross and was resurrected from the dead for all types of sins and for all types, races, and kinds of sinners, then and only then can he/she truly be liberated from racism. If a racist chooses to become a Christian, the Gospel promises that he/she will go to heaven, a place filled with many sinful Christ-followers—even liberated racist Christ-followers.

  Do you struggle with racism? Are you partial to your own group? If we’re honest, we have to admit that most of us are. Sadly, that’s because we’re foolish enough to rank people by standards the all-wise God of creation does not. Imagine for a second what it might look like to fully recognize that we stand before God utterly by grace, when wrath is in fact deserved. Would you and I still show preference to persons who share our skin color?

  Often Christians, depending on their political persuasion, simply read from the culture's favorite scripts. But shouldn't those who have been born-again sound different from those who are lost? Shouldn't we be reading from a different script, one based on a biblical worldview, rather than an unregenerate world one? Peter calls black, white, Asian, Hispanic Christians together a “chosen race” (1 Pet. 2:9). Shouldn’t this reality affect the look and feel of our church? Our attitude toward those who are “different”? Even how we feel about ourselves?  

  In the church alone we can simultaneously affirm two points: God created people as both different and good. Those differences hold absolutely no weight in our standing or rank relative to one another, since our worthiness depends on something outside of us—on the worthiness of Jesus Christ. So here’s a radical, real world idea – let’s “outdo one another in showing honor,” as Paul puts it (Rom. 12:10). Ask God for wisdom and grace on how you can personally, in very practical ways, outdo members of other ethnic groups in showing them honor and grace, as you have been shown honor and grace by our gracious God!
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