Colorblind

Paul, writing to the collective body of Christ at Galatia, reminded them of their unity with one
another in Christ. In chapter 3, we can read:
26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

The Church has an incredible opportunity to demonstrate to the world how we are called to love one another.  But, the enemy is dedicated to keeping us divided and rendering us ineffective in setting the standard for love and unity.  We can recognized our shared identity in Christ and not allow race, culture, and background to be tools that can be used to divide; rather, we can appreciate our differences, yet recognize that the power of Christ and love for one another can bring us together.

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On this day set aside to remember the preacher, orator, and civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.; as it has been pointed out, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, we can consider his words and the principles he taught.

Let's go to Scripture; Acts 17:
26 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,
27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;
28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also His offspring.'

Dr. King's words in the "I Have a Dream" speech speak powerfully, and I would dare say Biblically, to how we are to relate to one another. He said: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."

One could make the case that we are to develop an attitude of colorblindness in the arena of human relationships; that we should not make judgments of people (or people-groups) based on collective stereotypes, but based on what's the inside.  That, to me, stands in contrast to the prevailing philosophy among many that certain groups are to be characterized and generalized in society today.

I came across an interesting article at the Wall Street Journal website, by a student at Columbia University named Coleman Hughes; now I don't know what spiritual perspective he possesses, but he has a few nuggets to consider about handling racial matters. Hughes states:

For critics of identity politics on the left and right, King’s appeals to common humanity over racial division are a rebuke not only to white supremacy but also to the racial ideology of today’s progressives. In this view, King’s dream of a colorblind America—where the content of our character matters more than the color of our skin—is hampered by progressives’ focus on checking white privilege and stoking black grievance.

Hughes also follows up with this later in the column, writing, "With regard to the role that racial identity should play in politics, King was unequivocal: First and foremost we are human beings, not members of races...Even when fighting explicitly racist policies, he deployed universal principles rather than a tribal grievance narrative."

And, I think therein lies a key to healing the racial divide within the body of Christ and in humanity in general - we all belong to the same team.  We are all unique individuals created in God's image, for sure, but we have to recognize as believers that we should be flowing together as one - our struggle against a fallen world is a shared one.  

It is unfortunate that race relations among Christians were  set back less than a year ago in a conference held to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Dr. King's death.  White Christians were accused, based on their shared history, of putting Jim Crow before Jesus and evangelicalism was characterized as being aligned with white supremacy.  The message was not healing, but division. 

 John MacArthur, writing at the Grace to You blog, states:

Americans’ contempt for racial bigotry is now so acute that even accidental cultural or ethnic insensitivity is regularly met with the same resentment as blind, angry racism—and even a simple social gaffe is likely to be treated the same as bigotry. There are people—increasing numbers of them—so obsessed with this issue that they seem able to find proof of racism in practically everything that is said or done by anyone who doesn’t share their worldview.

I understand when fallen, worldly people filled with resentment lash out at others that way. I don’t understand why Bible-believing Christians would take up that cause. I thought the evangelical church was living out true unity in Christ without regard for race. That has certainly been my experience in every church I’ve ever been part of, and it’s also what I have seen in the wider evangelical world.

Fact is, there are massive fault lines in the racial universe, but Christ's power alone can bring healing.  In fact, Dr. King said, according to Hughes:

“Let us be dissatisfied until that day when nobody will shout ‘White Power!’—when nobody will shout ‘Black Power!’—but everybody will talk about God’s power and human power.”

Well, I would say that human ingenuity doesn't bring about human unity, but if that power is fueled by the Holy Spirit, God will do amazing things.  But, we have to be careful not to buy into divisive language that assigns blame, points fingers, and elevates certain "woke" people who hold to a certain ideology.

In an article linked to the Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel website, Samuel Sey, who is also African-American, traced the Marxist principles that influence much of today's social justice rhetoric.  He writes:

When the Bible commands us to “hate evil, love good, and establish justice” (Amos 5:15), it isn’t instructing us to eliminate disparities in society. Instead, it instructs us to identify evil and oppressive laws in society, so that being led by compassion and conviction, we would work to protect human rights for all. In other words, we should be like or support people like William Wilberforce and Francis Grimké, who identified slavery and segregation, respectively, as violations of human rights and worked tirelessly to establish liberty for all.

If we can identify objectively evil and oppressive laws against members in our society today, then we must name these laws. We should not, however, be distracted by perceptions of privilege and disparities. Otherwise, we will sow division into society and division into the church, and thereby threatening work to establish human rights and threatening work to advance the gospel.

He also wrote in the article, about early purveyors of social justice, from the Frankfurt School in Germany, that:

They believed privileged members of society and underprivileged members of society make up the oppressor and the oppressed. Therefore for them, justice—social justice meant eliminating disparities between groups in society. They concluded that justice is when a society implements a system that produces equality of outcome for groups, instead of equality of opportunity for individuals.

So, today, we consider practical strategies on how we can come together as one body - in Christ, releasing the power of God rather than the power of our individual groups.  That involves listening, which requires proximity.  And, it involves talking, as we are willing to share our unique stories of God's work in our lives.

Another strategy is to avoid typecasting; i.e. "such-and-such" must be like this because he or she is a (fill in the blank).  Each of us has something individually to offer to the other, and through conversation and compassion, we can learn how to regard one another as not only fellow human beings, but if we are Christians, as believers in Christ.  1st Corinthians 13 tells us to believe the best in each other.

Finally, we should follow the Biblical directive in James chapter 1 - being quick to listen and slow to speak.  The rule of the game in social media is to be slow to listen and quick to speak.  After all, since what we have to say is so important, we just have to speak it out.  React, react, react - that doesn't build consensus and leads to division rather than build unity.  As we remember Dr. King today, we can be encouraged to shun identity politics and embrace our shared identity in Christ.