A Christian Response to Racism

By: Rebekah Hargraves

Photo Courtesy Of: Omar Lopez

“Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” Genesis 1:26-27

“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,” ~Acts 17:26

“…where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.” ~Colossians 3:11

Unfortunately, as we have seen again just over the past couple weeks, racism is still alive and well in our country, though we would sometimes like to sweep the issue under the rug and choose not to believe it.

As we see in the passages above, no matter what the color of our skin may be (which is a ridiculous thing to base someone’s inherent worth on, anyway!) – all have a common father, Adam (Acts 17:26). Likewise, we were all made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27) and when we are saved, we each become a member of the body of Christ and of the Family of God, are all one in Him, and have Christ in each of us. Do we have different skin color? Yes. Do we have different cultures and practices? Yes, and they are equally beautiful in their complexity. Do we have different histories and preferences? Yes. But our inherent worth, our very dignity itself, does not stem from any of those things. Those are all merely secondary, outward characteristics. At the end of the day, we – each and every one of us who walk the face of the earth – have been made in the image of God and that is what gives us our inherent worth, an inherent worth which is deep, ingrained into our very being, and completely equal in all of us.

This truth is beautifully illustrated in the book of Revelation:

“And they sang a new song, saying:

“You are worthy to take the scroll,

And to open its seals;

For You were slain,

And have redeemed us to God by Your blood

Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,” ~Revelation 5:9

“After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands,  and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” ~Revelation 7:9

Heaven is going to be this amazing conglomeration of people from every kind of background imaginable, each of whom the Lord died for, redeemed, sanctified, and glorified. I think that’s pretty awesome! And you should, too. Cling fast to this truth, believe it, and shout it from the rooftops when you see cases of racism running rampant. Because the truth of the mater is, we need God's truth - perhaps now more than ever.