RACISTS AND BIGOTS AND BIAS, OH MY!
The death of George Floyd brought the problem of racial injustice to the front burner again. This time it seems like the protesters are not letting up until there's at least some level of reform. Although there may be a need for that, the underlying problem is much deeper and broader. What does God's word say about things like racism, prejudice and discrimination?
1) Prejudice.
The NIV doesn't use the word prejudice but you can see it has the prefix pre followed by j-u-d, the first three letters in the word judge. In essence, if I'm prejudice, I'm pre-judging someone or a situation.
That might not have anything to do with a person's race. You can be prejudice without being a racist. I might be prejudice against women or foreigners or people of a certain class or status. However, if I'm a racist I will be prejudice. I'm prejudging you based on your race or ethnicity.
One of the words associated with prejudice is narrow-mindedness. I think of a specific class of people and view them all in a certain light. We see a black person we immediately categorize him as ghetto or a gangster. We see a white person and we see them as uppity or snobbish. All middle-eastern people are a terrorist and so on.
But what causes us to be prejudice? Sometimes it happens over one instance. If I get mugged by a black guy suddenly all black men are thugs. If a white person mistreats me suddenly all white people are racists. When we put a whole class of people in a category because of one or two incidents then we are no longer looking at people as individuals; we're judging them as a whole.
Another pair of words connected with prejudice are preconception and predisposition. My preconceived notion about you fuels my disposition towards you. I've said at various times that before it's an act it's a thought. In order to act insultingly toward you I must first have offensive thoughts about you.
Sometimes being prejudice isn't due to hatred but ignorance. My assumptions can fuel my prejudice. This is what happened with Samuel. When God sent Samuel to Jesse to pick a replacement for King Saul, he had a preconceived notion of what God's criteria would be to select a new king.
1st Sam. 16:6-7, "When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD'S anointed stands here before the LORD.” But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
And therein lies the problem. Whether innocently or maliciously, we can tend to judge by what we see. If a teen-aged boy has long hair he's a rebellious troublemaker. We see a girl with tight clothes she's automatically a slut. But we don't know their story; we don't know their heart.
Just because we see a black person driving a Cadillac it doesn't automatically mean he's a drug dealer. That may be true in some cases but not all of them. And since we don't know anything about the person we have no business pre-judging them. We might draw conclusions based on preconceived ideas and notions.
What are kinds of people are you prone to categorize? Who are those you tend to judge by outward appearance? Is the woman with no teeth and bad grammar using her food stamp card automatically a low life? Is the white man in a nice suit walking downtown automatically an arrogant SOB?
Is the homeless man a dirty scumbag or are they a human being created by God? Is the ex-con a forever loser or are they someone who needs the love of God shown to them? What about the drug addict or the prostitute? What about the rebellious teenager or the skinhead? Are all these people worthless pieces of trash and a waste of space?
Or could some of them have a good heart? Could some of them have the potential to do better things with their lives if someone gave them a chance? A chance to see beyond their exterior and get to know the person inside.
These people have met too many people who are prejudice against them. They need to meet some Christians who would act differently toward them; people who would show them the love of Jesus.
2) Bigotry.
Another word that is sometimes connected with this topic is bigot. However, as someone who's prejudice isn't necessarily a racist, the same is true of a bigot. They can be a racist, but the definition of a bigot is, somebody with strong opinions, especially on politics, religion or ethnicity, who refuses to accept different views.
A bigot would be seen as dogmatic or intolerant; an extremist. This can be a little tricky, though. When it comes to religion, we need to be uncompromising. However, to be bigoted might look like someone who feels a true Christian only reads the KJV or if you're a Baptist you're not a Christian because your doctrine is different than mine.
That doesn't mean all religious beliefs are the same and that we should accept them all as being okay. I'm just saying we can be too extreme and narrow-minded when it comes to religion, politics or perhaps other sensitive issues.
A bigot would be seen as someone who felt the only way you should see things is his way. And if someone had a different opinion they were wrong. This stems from pride. I know how things are supposed to be and don't try to tell me any different. God is the only one who knows how everything should be. He's the only one has it all figured out. The rest of us need to be open to input and correction.
Regardless of our disagreements, we need to honor Phil. 2:1-2, "If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose."
Being like-minded and being one in spirit and purpose doesn't mean that everyone has to agree on everything. But in regards to the foundational aspects of the faith like salvation through Christ and the authority of the bible, we need to be in agreement about such things.
If we look ahead in Phil. there are a some places where we can see why Paul wrote this. One is in 3:15, "All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you."
A view of what things? It could go back to the beginning of the chapter when he talked about those who opposed him and the gospel, talking about circumcision, like I talked about last week. Paul taught about not putting any confidence in the flesh. The mature in Christ should agree on this and those who didn't should go to God and ask him to make things clear to you.
That's how we should be. If someone doesn't see eye to eye with us about something, instead of brow-beating them about it or say, 'I'm right, you're wrong and that's all there is to it', we should be mature and suggest the matter be taken to God. If we're humble, we'll know that as strong as we feel about something we should be willing to have God educate us if there's something we're missing. [Mormon resident who challenged me to pray about what he was presenting.]
Another reason Paul wrote what he did in chapter two was because of something that was going on between two sisters in Christ. 4:2-3, "I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you, loyal yokefellow, help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life."
Whatever the issue was between these two, it obviously became known throughout the church and made its way to Paul. And it's clear that it hadn't been resolved before the writing of this letter. Paul pleads with these sisters to resolve it and he appeals to the rest of the church to get involved and help.
When a disagreement between church members becomes public it's a church matter. Because when it becomes public you start to have people taking sides. This causes divisions and strife and it needs to be dissolved. I don't know if there was a prideful, bigoted spirit with these ladies but the bottom line is you can't live out the things Paul talks about in Chapter two if you're dealing with bigotry.
Paul would say, "If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if you have any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by putting an end to your narrow-mindedness and unwillingness to accept anyone else's opinion but your own.
Put that ego aside and be unified with your brothers and sisters in Christ and accept them despite their different views. Do we compromise on the truth? No. But are we sure our opinions line up with the scriptures and not own preferences?
Do we accept people's different views on debatable topics? Yes. We don't have to agree with them on everything, but we agree to disagree and pray that discernment and wisdom be given to all involved.
3) Bias.
Another word the NIV doesn't have is bias or biased. To be biased means I'm showing partiality and treating someone unfairly because of certain factors. This stems from having a predisposition towards someone. I can have a bias towards people for different reasons. It can be because of their color or ethnicity.
It can also be because of the length of their hair or the clothes they wear. I don't like their style or image. My bias is usually a result of personal preference. If I don't like something then I don't like anyone who does that certain something or has an appearance I disapprove of.
The bible may not have the word bias, but it does have something to say about partiality and favoritism. Lev. 19:14-15, “ ‘Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the LORD. “ ‘Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly."
God is addressing an unfortunate reality-cursing the deaf and putting a stumbling block before the blind. In a broader sense God is admonishing anyone who would take advantage of any disadvantaged person. Sadly this type of thing happens all too often. The handicapped person doesn't receive the same attention as a typical person.
It's easier to mistreat those who don't have the power to do something about it. If I show partiality I favor, defend or advocate for those I like or who I think matters and push all others aside. If I'm biased it doesn't bother me if the ones I have a low opinion of are mistreated.
We're called to be impartial. So whether a person is handicapped, poor or disadvantaged in some other way, to treat them unfairly is a disgrace to God and he will deal with it. Notice he tells those who might do such things to fear him. If we choose to mistreat people, whom God has created and loved, then watch out.
A few verses later God tells us to, "love your neighbor as yourself". If we wouldn't like being pushed aside and forgotten because of our handicap or financial status, if it would frustrate us if someone was cruel to us because of the way we looked or because we weren't in the right class of people, then we need to make sure we're not treating anyone else this way. Put yourself in their shoes and treat them the way you would like to be treated.
James 2:1-4, "My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?"
James makes it clear-if you're a follower of Jesus there's no room for bias; no room for discrimination. And if there's no room for it in the church then there's no room for it in your heart or any part of your life.
And again, just like in the Leviticus passage, a few verses later James says, "If you really keep the royal law found in scripture, 'love your neighbor as yourself', you are doing right." If love rules your life then you are doing right. There's no room for prejudice, bigotry, racism, bias or anything like it in the heart and mind of the one who is attached to Jesus.
4) Unity, peace and love.
The Jews' were prejudice against the Samaritans and Jesus went straight after it. The Jews had issues with the gentiles until Jesus showed the Apostles that they too were included in the family of God through faith in him.
In Acts 10 Peter had his vision about the unclean animals and God told him to kill and eat and Peter said, 'no way' and then the visitors from Cornelius' household came for him. When it was clear that these Romans had been born again, Peter came to a realization.
Acts 10:34-35, "Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right."
No separation; no divisions-just unity in the faith. If I'm prejudice, a bigot or biased, chances are I'm going to discriminate. I won't be friends with you because of your color, race, gender or some other reason. I won't hire you, sit next to you or even talk to you.
To discriminate is to separate or classify. Because I don't like you, I've put you in a different classification. You might be qualified but because you're black I won't hire you. You may be a really nice person but because you're white I won't be friends with you.
If I'm friends with a white person I'll be labeled as an Uncle Tom by my peers. If I'm a white man dating a black woman we're going to be attacked by both sides.
So, what do we do about that? Cave into the pressure of those around us or stand up for the cause of unity, peace and love? That's what Dr. MLK Jr. was about. Some activists and protestors want to segregate and divide; others strive to end the color and racial barriers and erase the hate. Hating others, for any reason, is not the godly way. Treating others as less than is not justified in the eyes of God.
And having improper reactions to injustice is not justified, either. Two wrongs don't make a right. Looting and rioting is not the right response. Peaceful protests, okay, sure-vandalism, stealing, violence-no way.
Col. 3:15, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” If the peace of Christ rules in my heart then I won't let my emotions take control, I will set out to accomplish change through peace and integrity.
People like Jackie Robinson dealt with a lot of hatred and injustice but he handled it with dignity. He stayed strong and fought his battles with integrity and tenacity. And change happened because of it.
One sports writer wrote of boxer Joe Louis, "He was a credit to his race...the human race". That's what it should really be about. I might be white, you black, she oriental, he middle-eastern. But we're all human; and that's the only race that really matters. For God so loved the world that he gave Jesus. Everyone matters to God. Red and yellow, black and white they're all precious in his sight. Everyone deserves the same opportunity to hear and respond to the gospel and be saved.
Our differences should not divide us; they should unite us. Gal. 3:26-28, "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."
The Jew isn't more of a Christian than the Gentile is. The man isn't closer to God than the female is. The privileged one isn't more favored by God than the impoverished one. They are all equally Christian, equally loved and equally able to grow in the faith. My color doesn't matter, my ethnicity doesn't matter. What does matter is my heart, my integrity and my love.
Psalm 133:1, “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!” How good and pleasant indeed. If we want to see true reform take place, it needs to start with us. Let's go make a difference with the love of Jesus.
