23 Aug Why Racism is Anti-Gospel
With the recent tragic events that have taken place in Charlottesville, VA I want you to know where we stand as a church and as a part of The Southern Baptist Convention. We believe racism is antithetical to the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. There are many reasons that racism is antithetical to the Gospel, but here are two that stand out.
God gives every person equal worth
Man is the crown of God’s creation, made in His image. Our worth is connected to our Creator. If God is of great and inestimable worth, then human beings made in His image must have immense value too. In Genesis 9:6, God reminds Noah that man is made in God’s image: “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.” What this verse is stating is that “To attack a person is to attack God through His image bearer.” Even though all of humanity is tainted by sin, sin does not eradicate the doctrine of the Imago Dei. Every person is made in God’s image and therefore is of equal worth.
Christ died for people of every color
Christ died for man; therefore, every person of every race possesses full dignity and is worthy of respect and love. The Scriptures make it clear that all of humanity is alienated from God. There are only two categories of people, those who have been saved by the grace of God through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus and those who have not. And we, by the mercy of God, who have been brought into the family of God, want those who have not to be reconciled to God. Evangelism eradicates racism because the focus is not the outward appearance, the social status, or ethnicity, but rather on their spiritual status before God and their need for salvation from God’s wrath.
Our thought and perspective of humanity should be driven by this truth. If it is, then we are thinking biblically. A passage that should shape our living and give us gospel vision is Ephesians 2:13–22:
“13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” (ESV)
Albert Mohler, the president of Southern Baptist Seminary, states that we must see these claims of white superiority as heresy:
“But Christians must see much more than the lessons of history, though we dare not miss them. We must see claims of racial superiority–and mainly that means claims of white superiority–as heresy. That is not a word we use casually. Heresy leads to a denial of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the eclipse of the living God as revealed in the Bible. A claim of white superiority is not merely wrong, and not merely deadly. It is a denial of the glory of God in creating humanity—every single human being–in his own image. It is a rejection of God’s glory in creating a humanity of different skin pigmentation. It is a misconstrual of God’s judgment and glory in creating different ethnicities. Most urgently, it is a rejection of the gospel of Christ–the great, good news of God’s saving purpose in the atonement accomplished by Christ. A claim of racial superiority denies our common humanity, our common sinfulness, our common salvation through faith in Christ, and God’s purpose to create a common new humanity in Christ.”
Albert Mohler – Article, August 13, 2017 – Letter from Berlin: The lessons of history and the heresy of racial superiority
A good, concise, biblical treatment on racism is Kevin DeYoung’s article: 10 Reasons Racism is Offensive to God. I encourage you to read it and then search your own heart to see if there is any racism that needs to be eradicated from your heart.
In closing I want to bring to your attention part of the SBC resolution that took place at the SBC Convention this summer addressing this crisis:
“RESOLVED, That the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention, meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, June 13–14, 2017, decry every form of racism, including alt-right white supremacy, as antithetical to the Gospel of Jesus Christ; and be it further
RESOLVED, That we denounce and repudiate white supremacy and every form of racial and ethnic hatred as a scheme of the devil intended to bring suffering and division to our society; and be it further
RESOLVED, That we acknowledge that we still must make progress in rooting out any remaining forms of intentional or unintentional racism in our midst; and be it finally
RESOLVED, That we earnestly pray, both for those who advocate racist ideologies and those who are thereby deceived, that they may see their error through the light of the Gospel, repent of these hatreds, and come to know the peace and love of Christ through redeemed fellowship in the Kingdom of God, which is established from every nation, tribe, people, and language.”
In His Image,
Pastor Ken