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There is an old cleavage in America that is emerging as a critical factor in the 2008 election—the matter of race, especially the candidacy of Barack Obama. Geraldine Ferraro, several weeks ago, stated that “If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position.” The Ferraro fiasco demonstrates that Obama, as the first African American with a real chance to become president, has exposed an ugly racial divide in what was supposed to be a colorblind Democratic Party. Further, the incendiary language of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, pastor of Obama’s church. Shockingly, he does not want God to bless America, but God to damn America! The US is the “US of KKK-A.” Wright has ignored the message of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and introduced a new generation to the politics of hatred! Obama has attempted to explain Wright’s anger as typical of the civil rights generation, but that will not wash. We remain a nation divided and race is one of those clear dividing points.
Consider these facts: In the recent Mississippi primary, where the number of blacks and whites in the Democratic Party were even, Obama won 92% of African-Americans and lost whites by 3 to 1. In the Ohio primary, Obama won 90% of the black vote. The worst scenario possible is that this kind of infighting with all the racial overtones could continue right up to the Denver convention in August. Obama is enjoying overwhelming black support and relatively affluent Democratic support, while Clinton is enjoying lower, working class and overwhelmingly white male support. The key constituencies of the Democratic Party are evenly split. Emotions are high and raw! Neither bodes well for the Party in the fall election. As Christians, it is important that we review the biblical teaching on race.
America has a history littered with ugly manifestations of the sin of racism. Principally, the United States institutionalized chattel slavery that was fundamentally racist in its orientation; it centered on the enslavement of Africans. It took a bitter and costly Civil War (1861-1865) to destroy this monstrous evil. Today, more than forty years have passed since the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965 that freed African-Americans from legalized segregation, denial of voting rights and blanket discrimination in the labor market. Blacks now vote without hindrance and the African-American representation in the House of Representatives is approaching their proportion of the total population. Although as a group they are far from economic parity with whites, blacks have attained high positions in government, the military, business, and education.
Nevertheless, almost everyone agrees that something remains wrong and that the dream of Martin Luther King, Jr. for an integrated society in which people would be judged by character rather than color, has not been realized. Racism in all its ugliness still remains a part of American civilization. What does God’s Word say about race? How should we view people of different color? What is the biblical solution to the ongoing remnants of racism that remain in America? There are several critical biblical passages that must form the center of Christ’s mind on the subject of race:
- 1 Corinthians 1:18. The Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:18 establishes that from God’s viewpoint there are only two groups of human beings: those who are with Christ and those who are without Christ; in other words, those who have trusted Jesus Christ as Savior and those who have not. The Bible does not allow for racial differences as a basis for discrimination or ranking of humans. Jesus’ death on Calvary’s cross was for all of humanity, not simply the whites, the blacks or any other group of color.
- Genesis 9:20-27. Historically, this passage has been used to justify the enslavement of the black race that occurred in the United States after 1619. Since some of Ham’s descendants populated Africa, then Noah’s curse must therefore apply to all those who are from Africa. Many in the southern part of the United States prior to the Civil War used this argument to justify racial slavery. Unfortunately, today there remains this perception about Noah’s curse. The behavior of Noah after the flood provided the occasion for Ham’s sin. There is a remarkable contrast between Noah’s conduct before the flood and after. Noah, who walked in righteousness with God, planted a vineyard, became drunk and lay naked in his tent. Unfortunately, the Bible never approves of drunkenness or nakedness. They do not bring joy; rather, they are the origin of personal slavery and decadence! Noah’s actions induced Ham’s sin. Verse 22 states that he “saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers.” Despite many interpretations, there is no clear evidence that Ham did anything other than see his father’s nakedness. As Allen Ross makes clear, “Nakedness in the Old Testament was from the beginning a thing of shame for fallen humankind. To Adam and Eve as sinners, the state of nakedness was both undignified and vulnerable. . . To be exposed meant to be unprotected; to see someone uncovered was to bring dishonor and to gain advantage for potential exploitation” (Creation and Blessing: A Guide to the Study and Exposition of Genesis, Grand Rapids: Baker [1988], p. 215). By stressing that Ham entered and saw Noah’s nakedness, Genesis depicts Ham’s looking as a moral flaw, a first step in the abandonment of a moral code. In the words of Ross, “Ham desecrated a natural and sacred barrier. His going to tell his brothers about it without covering the old man aggravated the act” (p. 215). But Noah’s curse in verses 25-27 was on Ham’s youngest son, Canaan, that Canaan would be a “servant of servants” (i.e., slavery). Noah’s curse anticipated in Canaan the evil traits that marked his father Ham and so judged him. The text prepares the reader by twice mentioning that Ham was Canaan’s father, signifying more than lineage. To the Hebrew mind, the Canaanites were the most natural embodiment of Ham. “Everything the Canaanites did in their pagan existence was symbolized by the attitude of Ham. From the moment the patriarchs entered the land, these tribes were their corrupting influence” (Ross, p. 217). The constant references to “nakedness” and “uncovering” in Leviticus 18 designates a people enslaved sexually, reminding Israel of the sin of Ham. These descendants of Ham were not cursed because of what Ham did; they were cursed because they acted as their ancestor did (Ross, p. 218). In conclusion, it is simply impossible to see any justification for slavery or any other aspect of inferiority from the curse on Canaan. It is a gross distortion of God’s Word to do so. Furthermore, as Charles Ryrie affirms, “it is [also] irrelevant today since it would be difficult, if not impossible, to identify a Canaanite” (You Mean the Bible Teaches That, p. 60)
- Acts 10:34-35. The point of this extraordinary passage is that the salvation God offers is to all humans everywhere, regardless of racial background or characteristics. Peter learns that “God does not show favoritism, but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what it is right.” Racial hatred or discrimination is impossible when one sees people the way God does.
- James 2:1-9. The story is told of Mahatma Gandhi’s search for truth and harmony for his people of India. Raised a Hindu, Gandhi did not believe that Hinduism offered the solution to the horrendous discrimination and rigid caste system of India. As he studied law in South Africa, he believed that Christianity might offer the solution to India’s problems. Hoping to find in Christianity what Hinduism lacked, he attended a church in South Africa. Because the South African church embraced the system of racial segregation called apartheid, the usher offered him a seat on the floor. Gandhi demurred, I might as well remain a Hindu, for Christianity has its own caste system as well. What a tragedy! James 2 will have none of this. James decries the typical situation of the early church where the wealthy were given a place of privilege and honor in worship, while the poor were only permitted to sit on the floor. Such discriminatory practices violate God’s royal law, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” To show favoritism is sin; it desecrates God’s standard of love.
The church of Jesus Christ should therefore model the supernatural impartiality that refuses to discriminate. The church should model reconciliation of all races and ethnic groups. It should cut the radical path for all of society, for it alone sees people the way God sees them: Whatever race or ethnic background, all need Jesus Christ and all bear His image. The church has the radical solution to society’s struggle with racial and ethnic differences. It is a supernatural solution: Disciples of Jesus Christ who have experienced His salvation and who love one another with the supernatural love of their Savior. The entire world needs to see this radical solution lived out in the church. Dr. King put it this way: “I’ve seen too much hate to want to hate myself; hate is too great a burden to bear. I’ve seen it on the faces of too many sheriffs of the South. . . Hate distorts the personality. . . The man who hates can’t think straight; the man who hates can’t reason right; the man who hates can’t see right; the man who hates can’t walk right.” Only Jesus can deal with the hate—the hatred of whites toward blacks and the hatred of blacks (like Rev. Wright) toward whites.
See Robert Novak, Washington Post (17 March 2008); Michael Gerson, Washington Post (19 March 2008); and James P. Eckman, Biblical Ethics, pp. 74-77. |
