Bible Stories

The central Christian view of race is that there is only one race: the human race! As the apostle Paul said to the Athenians, ‘God created every race of men of one stock to inhabit the whole earth’s surface.’ At the pivotal points where God dealt with humanity -when he created us, when he re-created us in Christ — humankind is presented as indivisible in terms of race or colour.

Race today is not thus understood. Groups of human beings are divided today into superficial ‘racial‘ categories: black, brown, white, red, coloured, The Bible uses other categories: nation, culture, religion and clan. This shows that the important differences in humanity are cultural, not biological. Physical characteristics are simply an- unimportant — fact of life. (’Can the Ethiopian change his colour … ?’) Racial differences are part of the variety and goodness of God’s creation.

One people

God’s purpose is to bring a new humanity into being. To Abraham was given the promise that through his descendants all the nations of the earth would be blessed. In Jesus, the wall of hostility between peoples was broken down, making them one people.

Reconciliation is the life-style of the new humanity. The church is called to show it. ‘Reconciliation‘ is not the same as ‘integration’, which usually means making racial minority conform to the cultural expectations of the dominant racial group.

‘God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself … and has committed to us the work of reconciliation,’ wrote Paul. This is a call to turn belief in reconciliation into daily political, social and economic reconciling. Early Christian communities took this seriously. The leadership of the congregation at Antioch, comprising Africans, Jews and an aristocrat, reflected its multiracial, multi-cultural and multi- class composition.

Racial injustice and tension have not just happened, they have been generated by the actions and attitudes of people and societies. Racism expresses itself most effectively and disastrously through the structures of society, affecting its entire fabric. Apartheid in South Africa; continuing injustice toward black, brown and red people in the United States of America; the denial of justice to the original peoples of Canada, Australia and parts of South America, are all expressions of sinful structural racism. The Bible teaches that the church is to resist such structures, mainly by living as a reconciled community, but also through speaking out and taking action.

One city

In the Bible, liberation and reconciliation belong together. When the Israelites were liberated from Egypt, they were made into one nation. By his death and resurrection, Jesus freed us from all evil forces that make for division, and reconciled us to God and to each other.

God enters the experience of the racially oppressed, breaks down the hostility of racism and liberates them. At the same time, he comes in judgement on structures of racial oppression and those who benefit from them. If reconciliation between races is ever to happen, those who discriminate need to repent and those discriminated against must be set free. Reconciliation and liberation, love and justice belong together. And reconciliation is costly.

The Christian hope is of one city, the New Jerusalem of justice and peace, of liberated and repentant men and women in reconciled relationships, from every race, tribe, nation and language. Those who share the hope of this city will practise its value now. When they do, their cities may be changed.

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