There is absolutely no place for racism within the body of Christ. Even new believers understand that the Bible, the Christian faith and the character of God are in direct conflict with the culture of racism. We were all made in God’s image. Jesus died for the entire world. And we are commanded to love our neighbor just as much as we love ourselves. In fact, in the parable of the “good Samaritan”, Jesus purposefully chose a Samaritan to challenge the Jews because Samaritans were thought of as “unclean”and “less than”. So in subtext of the parable, Jesus was saying that even a Samaritan can be a good neighbor. And in Acts, we learn that it doesn’t matter who you are, what skin color you have, or where you were born we all the same because all of us came from one man. It says in Acts, chapter 17, verse 26:
“From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.”
From this we learn that there is only one race; the human race. From one man God made every nation of men. So if you claim to be a believer I want to challenge you to examine your prejudice. Is there anyone you might consider “less than” because of their race, gender, sexual orientation, economic status, age, weight, education, or any other variable? Remember, we were all made in God’s image and Jesus died for everyone. And in Acts we are reminded that from one man God made every nation of men. If you think about it, being prejudice really doesn’t make any logical sense, because it is only by God’s hand that any of us were born where we were. We didn’t choose our parents, our skin color, or our neighborhood. God did. So I would encourage you to remember that we are all equal in God’s eyes. And if that is true, and we are to take on the likeness of Christ, then we should also agree with this concept as well.
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Some biases that were ingrained in us a child are difficult to change. You may have been taught that Ford makes better cars that Chevrolet. I may have been raised to believe that the Detroit Lions are better than the Chicago Bears. Though these biases are not harmful, there are some that are. Prejudice can not only hurt those who are being discriminated upon, it can also hurt those who are doing the discriminating. It can hurt our relationship with God, because it is a form of sin, and it could hurt our relationship with our fellow man of whom we are taught to love. So if you harbor any form of prejudice in your heart, I would encourage you to ask the Holy Spirit to eradicate it. Allow him to show you where you pre-judge others. And remember, the Bible teaches us that we are all equal, God loves us all, and we all came from one man.