27/03/2021
Why are Christians being anti-Christian & unbiblical?
In 2019, my wife & I were involved in VBS at our church. It was called “The Incredible Race” if I’m not mistaken. One of the major themes was that we are all of one race, the human race. And while we have different ethnicities and skin colors, and are from different parts of the world, we are all created by God and all His image bearers. And we are all loved & created by Him and so all worthy of love/respect. And ultimately we all come from the same earthly ancestors. From Adam, to Noah’s sons Shem, Ham & Japheth and their wives. As they spread out over the earth, we spread out. And eventually we came to where we are today.
Why is this such an easy thing to teach children, and have them understand, and yet seems so difficult for us adults?
Why are so many Christians perpetuating unbiblical thought? What I mean is, why have we been using very unbiblical anti-Christian categories? “Racial reconciliation” “racial justice” and the categories of “white” “black” and “brown” are unbiblical.
This is particularly frustrating for me when I hear pastors/preachers/teachers perpetuate this unbiblical thinking. Especially those with major platforms. I’m thinking specifically of the Matt Chandlers, David Platts, J.D. Greears etc.
Now hear me out, I’m asking the question, “Why are *Christians* being anti-Christian and unbiblical?” Fair? I’m not at all saying that our brothers & sisters in Christ are not Christian. That’s not what I’m saying. I didn’t ask, “Why are non-Christians being anti-Christian and unbiblical?” In fact, let’s be clear: we expect non-Christians to act & think/talk as non-Christians. No surprise.
So I’m not saying that using this worldly terminology places any Christian outside of orthodoxy; however, I am saying that it is unbiblical and so can quickly become a slippery slope that leads to a subtle moving away from biblical teaching, which can bring inside the church a divisive, unbiblical, and worldly teaching that can eventually lead some if not many astray. Some are currently doing this now, and I’m afraid they may not even realize it. We can end up placing ourselves and “social justice” at the center instead of Christ and the gospel. This is dangerous, and discernment is necessary. I am surprised that it would appear at least to me, that many fellow Christians have fallen into the hands of a wholly worldly & unbiblical philosophy, instead of running into the hands of our holy, just, biblical and true God.
Let me explain.
For starters, God created the human race (Genesis 1:27, 2:7-25, 3:20) At no point is it ever emphasized or even insinuated that there is somehow a multitude of “races.” As if we are separately created races and identified via our skin color. You will not find that in the Bible. Anywhere. It’s not there.
At the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11), we humans sinned, and wanted to place ourselves at the center, “make a name for ourselves” (Genesis 11:4) and disregard God’s telling us to “fill and subdue the earth” (Genesis 1:28). God gave us the freedom to choose to follow Him, but because of our rebellion, the consequence was that we were not only dispersed throughout the world, but that we no longer shared a common language. Different ethnicities were born out of this.
Different people groups (ethnicity) located in different areas, with different languages, and different cultures all spawned from here.
One race (mankind-human), with one problem (sin-Romans 3:23, 6:23) And one God (Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 43:11; 1 Corinthians 8:6; 1 Timothy 2:5 etc.) all sharing one world, and there’s one savior (John 3:16; Acts 4:12; 1 John 4:14).
All throughout the Bible there are distinctions made for different ethnicity. But it is never, not once, based on skin color, or “race” as it is referred to in today’s unbiblical terminology.
Moses was married to Zipporah, an Ethiopian (or “Cush*te”-Exodus 2:21; Numbers 12:1) I’m quite certain that her skin color would’ve been black or at the very least much darker than mine. But, the Bible never makes mention of that superficial aspect. It does however, mention her ethnicity. There is a difference between ethnicity and skin color or “race.”
In fact, the Bible does the complete opposite. It mentions Jews/Hebrews, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Gentiles, Midianites, Hittites, Canaanites, Philistines, Persians, Medes, Babylonians, so on and so forth. Presumably, some of these aforementioned people groups had very similar skin color. Yet, these groups are not distinguished by skin color! Neither are they distinguished as different races. They are referred to by their ethnicity.
To be clear, there are definitely distinctions made between people groups/tribes; likewise sometimes even distinctions are made within groups. For example, even within the people of Israel, there are different tribes, who served in different ways. Levites for example were a different tribe, and served as priests. There were 12 different tribes in Israel alone. None of this is surprising for the Christian, but again, it’s not biblical to use “race” or skin color, but instead ethnicity.
We are told to “go into ALL the world and preach the gospel to ALL creation.”(Mark 16:15) with my emphasis on “all.” Acts 1:8 makes distinctions by telling us we will be witnesses to peoples in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the end of the earth. It does not say skin color/race. As if “be witnesses to “black” “brown” “white” and/or different “races.”
Put another way, there is not a biblical category of “white” people. There are Germans, Italians, French, Russian, English, Australians etc. These are different people groups/ethnicities, with each their very own language & culture. Albeit they share similar skin tone. Let me say that again: Different ethnicity, different language, different culture, distinctions= yes of course. But a different “race” no. And grouped by skin color, no that’s not biblical.
And likewise there are Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Brazilians, Cubans, etc. No, they are not “brown people” that’s not a real category. There are Saudi Arabians, Palestinians, Israelis, Iraqis etc. No, they are not some category of “brown” people.
And no, there’s no such thing as “black” people. There are Africans, sure—but even among Africans, there are many different countries, and ethnicities with different languages, culture, and tribes. Kenyans, Zambians, Egyptians, Ghanians, Ethiopians etc. There are also Jamaicans and Haitians, and they are distinct from Africans, and yet have similar skin color. Saying all Africans are the same or even all “blacks” are the same, as if there’s a category of “black” is akin to saying all North Americans are the same. As if there’s no distinction between Canadians and Americans. It’s a bizarre way of thinking.
What about the different Asian ethnicities? Are they all the same? Are they “white?” Japanese, Chinese, North Koreans, South Koreans, Vietnamese etc. they’re all the same correct? 🤪
To deny that these are all different people groups/ethnicities is to either be completely ignorant or disingenuous. To wrongly place/divide these multiple ethnicities in the same group or “race” based on nothing else besides skin color, and to place a “white” “black” or “brown” or even “yellow” label on them is both extremely ignorant and wrong. And that’s very superficial. And sad. And it is a lie. For the Christian, I would even go as far as saying it’s sinful. They are not the same. Despite sharing the same skin tone. Christians should be color blind. Blind to different ethnicity-no! But blind to the superficial things such as skin color-yes!
Ultimately, the major distinction that is made that actually matters, at least for the Christian, is between those who know God, and those who do not. Indeed, for those of us who know Christ, none of these earthly distinctions matter—for, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28) This is the major distinction that Christians ought to be focused on. All else is superficial in comparison to eternal life vs eternal damnation. And for the Christian, there is no condemnation (Romans 8:1).
For Christians, ALL lives matter. Yes, this encompasses EVERY ethnicity. For Christ died once for ALL (Romans 6:10; Hebrews 10).
Why in the world are we as Christians falling for such a subtle yet deceptive and divisive lie? And I think therein lies the answer: subtlety. Lies are generally speaking not followed if they’re outright. There’s always just a small touch of truth or half-truth to them. There’s typically some subtlety when we fall for lies.
To my final points: It is wrong, and potentially even sinful to use these unbiblical categories in the way they are commonly used and referred to today. Can we please get back to being biblical and using biblical terminology and categories? Can we please get back to the biblical model of calling ALL people everywhere to repentance and faith in Christ? (Acts 17:30) Can we stop viewing things through the sinful and evil lens of identity politics? Can we please stop following the trends and our current culture of the day and instead be counter cultural? Can we?
Listen, I have no doubt that many Christians are very well intended. They have a loving mindset I’m certain of it. But we do need to evaluate our intentions. We need to check our motives, not “check our privilege.” I like what pastor Voddie Baucham says, that many Christians “believe in the “11th” commandment, “Thou shalt be nice.” Let’s remember this, that “friendship with the world is enmity with God.” (James 4:4.) Yes let’s listen and be friendly, sure. But not at the expense & sacrifice of truth. Listen...and then speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15).
Justice does not need a modifier. Something is either just, or unjust. We serve a just God. And if we are not right/reconciled with God, justice will be served. Either taken on/paid for by Christ at the cross, or by us with damnation. None of us can afford to pay for our sins, only Jesus.
We can call out injustice when we see it in this world, and we should. But let us do so in truth. And let us practice wisdom, patience, and discernment when making these judgments. Let us stop rushing to judgment, and making assumptions. Let us be slow to speak, quick to listen, (James 1:19) and let us wait for all the relevant facts of any given particular circumstance to come out before we judge.
The idea of “racial justice” is both unbiblical and silly. As if there are different “races” and even more—as if there is such a thing as a delegate or representative of “white” people who officially needs to reconcile with the official delegate of “brown” people. As if the one represents the whole. Even changing the term to “ethnic justice” what would that even look like?
Here, listen, I am responsible for me, and you are responsible for you. And we can hold each other accountable. And I don’t speak for all “white” people, and likewise nobody else speaks on behalf of “brown” people or “black” people. We are individuals, and can only speak on our own behalf’s. If any reconciliation needs to be made, it is between a guilty party and an innocent party. You cannot blame the entire group/ethnicity for a sin, and then “reconcile” those groups. I am not responsible for the sins of my father and neither are you for the sins of your father (Ezekiel 18:19-20). Instead we are responsible for our own sins. We will all give an account to God (Romans 14:12). And since we all have sinned (Romans 3:23) and stand guilty before God, we all need to be reconciled to God.
Ideas matter. Philosophy matters. Truth matters. These are the things of much more relevance and much more deep than skin color. Can we all agree?
**Quick side note on BLM- I’ve heard it said that “Black Lives Matter” suffers from semantic overload, meaning that those words have many different meanings. Of course the statement that “black lives matter” is itself absolutely 100% true. This is a fact, because all lives matter. No matter the skin color. If we are going to use worldly terminology, i.e. “black” then yes of course black lives matter. Utterly ZERO true Christians would say that they don’t matter. None. Not one. And I’ve not heard one single professing Christian in 2020 say otherwise.
However, BLM is more than those words, it is also an organization. Until recently, I’m certain that there are those who were unaware of BLM the organization. And the BLM organization is wildly anti-Christian. In fact, BLM is almost a religion itself. They’re Marxists. Which comes with it’s very own quasi-religious philosophy.
The BLM organization has their very own “what we believe” section on their website, as if they were a church declaring their beliefs. Among those beliefs are “disrupting the nuclear family” and fostering “a queer-affirming network.” No honest Christian can support such an organization.
If I am wrong about this, I genuinely would love to be corrected. I’m not looking for an argument. I’m not hostile, and I don’t bite. I sincerely would like to hear how I’m wrong. If I am wrong, I will happily change my mind. If you disagree, please say so and how/why. However, I’d like real, actual, tangible, biblical evidence. Prove it, in other words.
We can agree to disagree as Christians, (see Paul & Barnabas disagreeing about John Mark Acts 15) but what we cannot disagree on is our ultimate source of truth—God’s word. So, show me based on His word. 2 Corinthians 10:5 tells us, “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,”
Let’s do that together.
And I care about feelings, we are human and we all have emotions/feelings/perceptions. And there is obviously a place & time for consideration of those. But those are not solid ways of reasoning. Since we can have two different perspectives/opinions we must point to something objective that is outside of us. Specifically for us Christians, we must point to the Word of God. The Bible. I’ve spent some time thinking about this and done some due diligence and quoted scripture. So if you’re going to respond, please take the time to think about what I’m saying, and respond back thoughtfully and with scripture.
**I’ve listed below some usual responses to what I’m saying. In my own experience, these are what’s usually said responding to me about what I’m saying. Read these first, perhaps you have the same response I’ve already heard**
Common objections/typical responses:
1)“We are not blind; therefore, we see skin color. And so nobody truly is ‘color blind’.”— this argument is at best a misunderstanding of the phrase “I’m color blind” and at worst it’s a total & intentional mischaracterization.
When anyone says that they “don’t see color” or are “color blind” it ought to be obviously clear what it is they’re really saying. They are not saying “I’m blind.” What they are saying is that they don’t make superficial judgments based solely on appearance/skin color. They are saying that they love everyone and have a desire to treat all people equally, as fellow image bearers of God. Can we rejoice in the fact that God made us different? Yes. But God only made one you, and one me, and the ultimate diversity is the individual, not the identity group, since all individuals are made different, with their very own abilities. Not one of us is the same in every aspect. We are all individually unique & special and loved by God. And we all need to be forgiven by and reconciled to Him. One body, many parts (1 Corinthians 12).
2)”We have to meet people where they are. And in order to do so, we often have to adopt the common language/usage of worldly terms & definitions.”
While I agree that in order to share the gospel, we do need to meet people where they are. If they’re Muslim, we can talk about Islam and how it relates to Christianity and where we believe they’re wrong. If they’re Mormon, we can discuss why Joseph Smith is wrong, and “another testament” isn’t needed and is contradictory to the Bible. If they’re atheist, we can discuss the Big Bang, and why science points to everything being created at once and how it’s awfully similar to the Genesis account “In the beginning God created...”
But do we really need to adopt their definitions? Must we really use worldly terminology? Really? Do we use worldly terminology and definitions for any other topic? Take “gay marriage” for example. If you’re a pastor, and two men come and want you to perform their wedding. Are you not going to tell them it isn’t a wedding in God’s sight? And that groom and groom or bride and bride are not biblical categories? If parents come to you for counseling, saying that their 9 year old son believes he’s a girl and wants to be referred to as “she” and start hormone treatment and eventually have his p***s cut off, are you really going to affirm that? Are you now going to refer to the 9 year old boy as “her” and “she”?
For the Christian be it a pastor or not, biblical terminology and definitions matter. Because truth matters. For the Christian, truth is at the center, because Christ is at the center. And Christ is Truth (John 14:6). You will not find anywhere in the Bible “white Christian” or “brown Christian” or “black Christian” or “white church” “black church” any more than you would find “gay Christian” or “straight Christian” because these are not biblical categories. Isn’t the loving thing to do to tell the truth? And use biblical categories and definitions?
3)”On a practical level, we have to use skin color.”
This is correct. And I’d agree to an extent. Listen, if God forbid I’m at a bank, and a man comes in and robs the bank at gun point, and I have to describe him afterwards, I will say that he is either white/black/brown. Fair enough. But I will also have to describe his other attributes/appearance: tall/short/fat/skinny/bearded/shaved/long hair/bald/tattooed/no tattoos/clothing, piercings, etc. whatever else to give an accurate description. Right? So I totally get it, in certain circumstances we do need to use these terms/identifications.
But is this what defines us? As if we need to be identified as a member of these groups? Heck, we could go on from here until eternity playing the identity politics game, defining groups however we see fit—“tall Christians” “Short Christians” “red headed Christians” “Blonde Christians” “Near sighted Christians” “Balding Christians” “Stank breathe Christians” (okay that one I just threw in there to be funny) and on and on and on and I think my point is made. Why stop at skin color? There are so many other physical attributes & features that we could focus on and yet they are all superficial in God’s sight. And when you diversify people down as far as you can, you ultimately get to the individual. What matters for Christians is the heart, and the mind. Yes, our bodies matter too, but primarily in reference to behavior and what we do with our bodies, not how our bodies look to the naked eye. What matters is the individual, and whether or not that individual knows Christ.
4)”Why argue semantics? Isn’t it fair to simply use “black” “brown” and “white” in place of, or as a substitute for ethnicity?”
Nope. It’s not fair. Again, think about it like this: Germans, French, Italians, Russians, they are not all the same. Why group them solely based on skin color as “white.”
For Christians, our words matter. So, semantics matter.
And think about this: Jesus never said “don’t judge.” What he said was “don’t judge hypocritically.” (Matthew 7) and then Jesus explicitly tells us how to judge when we make judgments, He said “Judge with righteous judgment” and “don’t judge by mere appearance” (John 7)
So in other words, we are to judge, but not superficially i.e. by looks/skin color, and not hypocritically, but instead judge by truth.
4)”Isn’t it unwise to publicly call out other Christians?” No. There is a time and a place, and if folks are publicly making false statements or being unbiblical, it’s our duty to call them out. Jesus called out religious leaders, as did the apostle Paul. I believe we are well within our rights to follow them and do likewise.
