To Encourage You

Colossians 3:9-11 “you have . . . put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.  Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.”

Racism.  We hear about it all the time.  It seems every day we hear words and phrases that point to it, such as white supremacist, black lives matter, affirmative action, and neo-Nazi.   It’s not good, but it’s a part of humanity because of sin.  Unfortunately, it’s deeply engrained in the human heart and the evidence is clear throughout history.    The Bible points to it over and over again including when Jesus walked on earth. At that time the Jews despised the Gentiles and vice versa, and worse than all were the half-breed Samaritans.  What a rebuke to the Jewish Pharisees when Jesus spoke to them about the good Samaritan. 

Among believers in Christ, there should be an increased sensitivity to just how ungodly racism is.  The verses above speak to it by declaring that the believers’ relationships with each other is first and foremost a relationship rooted in Christ.  Indeed, Jesus dwells in the heart of every believer, so to have a prejudiced attitude toward a believer of a different race or social class is to show a hatred towards Christ himself.  That’s a sobering thought and should be evident to those who claim to know that Christ is “in all” believers.  Not only should a believer not have racist views towards another believer, they should recognize that as members of the body of Christ, all the members need each other, regardless of race, income level, sex, or social standing.  To not recognize, acknowledge, and embrace this truth does nothing but bring harm to the body of Christ and the individual members of the body.   

May God help us to truly “in humility count others more significant than yourselves,” (Philippians 2:3) including when those others are of a different skin color or any other God-given human characteristic on which this world is so ready to discriminate.