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...the Bible tells me so:
“Let’s Eat”: Jesus’ Answer to Racism
I am a baby-boomer, a member of the ‘70s generation. Even though I lived in
My schooling taught me that
Later in life, I learned about President Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society.”
Through massive welfare spending from the federal government, poverty in the
Currently, there are those, in the name of descendants of slaves, who seek reparations from some who profited from slavery. Will they never learn? No amount of money will ever satisfy the hurts caused by slavery. Relief will only come when they take responsibility for their own future. In doing so, they will recapture what they long for the most, their Dignity.
My spirit was crushed recently as I watched the movie, “Mississippi Burning.” How could Southern Negroes accept second-class citizenship so passively? “Second-class,” that overstates their place in that society. There were those in Southern White Society who used intimidation, violence and the law to keep the black man in “his place.” Mind you, that was law, not justice. Mind you, though they claimed to be Christian, that was anything but Christian.
Truly, what do African-Americans want? They want the same thing that every American wants: Respect.
I am thankful that in Christ, we all gain dignity and respect. In Christ, there is no difference: neither Jew nor Gentile (Romans 3:29) nor Greek, neither slave nor free (1 Corinthians 12:13), neither male nor female (Galatians 3:28), neither circumcised nor uncircumcised, neither barbarian nor Scythian (Colossians 3:11). Paul concluded that “you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28 NIV).
For the Jews, there were only two kinds of people in the world: Jews and Gentiles (that is, non-Jews; often called “Greeks” in the Bible), or the circumcised and the uncircumcised. For the Greeks, there were only two kinds of people in the world: Greeks and barbarians. “Barbarians” were simply uncivilized people. Our word, “barbarian,” means a war-like people. The ancients called them, “Scythians.” Obviously by gender, one was either male or female. By economic status of the Greco-Roman world, one was either slave or free.
The question of race was the first major problem that faced the early church. While the solution is found in the Scriptures, the problem sadly persisted throughout the history of God’s people.
What we would call “racism” in the early church first extended to the difference between Jews who lived in the Promised Land and those Jews who lived in the pagan world. Someone was neglecting to care for the Hellenist widows. The apostles appointed seven “servants” to tend to their meals (Acts 6:1-7).
Christians who held strictly to circumcision criticized Peter for associating with Gentiles (11:2-3). With the baptisms of Cornelius, the Roman Centurion, and his family (10:47-48), the church was no longer a “pure race.” Luke concluded Peter’s story by writing “[Peter said,] ‘So if God gave them the same gift as He gave us, who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could oppose God?’ When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, ‘So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.’” (Acts 11:17-18)
That same controversy resurfaced a few years later, after many Gentiles in
Peter said that God “made no distinction between us and them, for He purified their hearts by faith” (verse 9). Paul and Silas describe the work of God among the Gentiles (verse 12).
James concluded the meeting with two points. First, God fulfilled His Word as He reached out to Gentiles through the preaching of Peter and Paul. Second, instead of circumcision and Moses’ law, James advised changes in the lifestyle of Gentile Christians, lifestyle changes that would facilitate table-fellowship with their Jewish counterparts (verses 13-21). Specifically, he recommended that Gentile Christians give up ceremonially unclean foods and abandon marriage to close family members (see Leviticus 17-18).
There is no room for racism in the church. What one’s national or ethnic background does not matter. Jesus’ sin-washing blood matters. Paul, speaking of Jew and Gentile, answered this question that plagues us today. He said,
“For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in His flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in Himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which He put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.” (Ephesians 2:14-17)
Unity in Sealy is not demonstrated in how many white churches can meet together at one time, or black churches with other blacks, or Hispanic churches with other Hispanics. The real test of unity is how many white, black, Hispanic, Asian and Arab Christians can keep coming together to worship God, and stay together to eat. The real test of unity is your feeling welcome in my home, sharing meals with me as a fellow-Christian.
One preacher, whom I respect very much, once said, “We eat with our friends, not with our enemies.” If that is the case, then it might be said that those with whom we do not eat are our enemies. Please, come eat with me. Let’s be friends.
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