Biblical Anti-Racism

Racism as a problem…and why it matters.

From the beginning, our world has been marked by pervasive evil and the struggle of sin. This year has proved no different. In fact, our problems seem to have become more pronounced and pressing. We have observed rioting in the streets, and even when we don’t have physical violence, we have experienced an uncomfortable tension and unrest in many social circles.

One area that has garnered particular focus is racism. Racism is the belief that a particular race or ethnicity is superior to another. It is prejudice. It is sin. And it contradicts the Word of God. Anything that is a sin problem has to be addressed from a spiritual standpoint. But instead of searching for a Biblical solution, our culture has taken a much more shallow and tactical approach through various “anti-racism” methods, many of which have created more confusion and division.

As Christians, we are called to faithfully love others, condemn sin, and fight for justice. So where there is racism, we must address it. But we have to do so in such a way that deals with the root problem and not just the symptoms. Many of the current, faulty approaches—CRT (critical race theory), BLM (black lives matter), etc—have become popular and have been subtly infiltrating major systems of influence such as culture, government, academia, and even certain churches. These approaches are unbiblical. We need to make sure we understand the dangers of these secular world views and the implications of their adoption.

God is always just and perfectly righteous. He places value on the poor and oppressed. He seeks the welfare of the marginalized and the undervalued. So we should do the same. But we also have to “destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5) So while we are the hands and feet of our Savior and help the oppressed in physical and tangible ways, we wisely apply methodologies that align with Christ’s character.

There is a difference between social justice and Biblical justice. The former leads to pithy media clips and cute t-shirts, but the latter leads to lasting unity and peace.

But this critical question remains…how? How do we know if the messages and solutions we hear from our pastors, influencers on social media, best-selling books, and grandma Dorothy are right, helpful, and most importantly, biblical?

We’re here to talk about the latter and why it is so important to God.

The world’s answer…and why it’s unbiblical.

In the mainstream media, two of the more popular “anti-racists” resources are “How to be an Anti-racist,” by Ibram X. Kendi, and “White Fragility,” by Robin DiAngelo. Both books have been on the New York Times Best Seller List for over 40 weeks. Even in the Christian subculture, books like “How to Fight Racism,” by Jemar Tisby and “Be the Bridge,” by Latasha Morrison continue to gain popularity. All of these authors point to the problem of racism and offer a variety of solutions, but under the surface, much of what they recommend has a strong anti-Biblical sentiment, founded in critical race theory (CRT).

CRT is the modern framework being used for social change that developed out of critical theory and Marxism from the 1930’s. It attempts to understand and formulate answers to social problems through the lens of power structures. CRT has become exceptionally popular and for many has become the framework from which they approach racism. Terms such as “white privilege”, “white fragility”, and “intersectionality” have all been spun out of CRT.

Unlike the Christian worldview which believes that all people are sinful and can be saved by grace through faith in Christ, CRT believes that only those in power are sinful. And they can’t be saved. The end goal of CRT is an egalitarian utopia of societal justice through the priority of equity in outcomes, not just a commitment to equal opportunity. And this can only be accomplished through the dismantling of social power structures.

But CRT is not just limited to racial prejudice and policies—it attempts to reach into all spheres of perceived oppression. CRT divides society into social binaries such as race, class, gender, sexuality, and religion. A person will fall in the category of either the oppressed or the oppressor group, and that is their immutable social location. The more oppressed groups one falls into (intersections), the more oppression points will be awarded.

In CRT, it is common for words to be redefined or twisted to have an entirely new meaning. As an example, the term “whiteness” no longer refers to a lack of melanin in the skin, but is defined as a system of oppression, power structures created to exert power. These structures are not necessarily explicit and obvious, as in the days of chattel slavery and Jim Crow. They are now more subtle. A person in a state of “whiteness” will fail to recognize the biases. And if they don’t see and admit to them, they remain in a state of “white fragility.”

According to CRT, the new “racism” is no longer about coercion and violence against another ethnicity. But rather implicit ideas that may suggest oppression display racism that is deeply embedded within and shapes our society. In other words, racism is not merely a sinful attitude of the heart that results in harmful actions, but is a product of “whiteness,” the unchangeable social location and the system of power and privilege one was born into due to the color of one’s skin and DNA.

“Whiteness” is deemed the cardinal sin, a state of racial advantage that must be divested, removed, and repented of. An urgent and immediate need to be “woke” and liberated from these internalized, oppressive beliefs and behaviors that are often unstated, undefinable, unnamed, and unmarked cultural practices then arises.

What’s most dangerous is that only those in the oppressed group have the conscience awareness to act righteously. Only the oppressed can be the voices of reason, the voices to be heard, the voices to heeded, and the voices to acknowledge. This belief that the oppressed have a unique insight into the problems and thus possess the only corresponding authority to speak on these issues is known as “ethnic gnosticism.” Everyone else has to just listen and learn.

As Christians, we do not hold to these false beliefs. We believe that all people have value and can have insights to make the world better. We do not believe that just because a person is marginalized or part of a minority group they have become infallible interpreters of Scripture or the only holders of truth. We should recognize, acknowledge, and value the different and lived experiences of all people, not just of those in one oppressed group. We are all made in the image of God.

Another monumental difference between Christianity and CRT is the definition of truth. Unlike Christians who believe that the truth is immovable and firm, CRT holds the post-modern view that truth is subjective and determined through the personal experience and perception of the oppressed. Objective facts, science, or statistics, are simply seen as oppressive systems that favor “whiteness” and complicit with a racist culture.

Ironically, when an oppressed person does not agree with a strongly-held CRT viewpoint, they are “internalizing their oppression” and should thus be rejected as unreasonable.

And in CRT, all individuals must agree to do the work of anti-racism to dismantle the systems of power. It is not enough to not be a racist. One is complicit if not actively fighting against it.

So what should we do?

At first glance, we may agree that the fight against racism is Biblical and good. But we have to keep in mind that the term “anti-racism” is twisted in our culture. According to Kendi in How to be an Antiracist, anti-racism is defined where “privilege” is the original sin, “systems of power” are the enemy, “activism” is atonement, and “equity” is the new heaven and earth. Anti-racism isn’t simply the deeply rooted and destructive problem of sin or the need to apply Biblical principles of justice to broken laws and policies, but about institutional power structures needing a complete reformation. Christian concepts such as sin, redemption, forgiveness, and grace remain significantly dismissed.

So as Christians, we do have to fight against racism, but we have to do so through the lens of sin and redemption, not through the lens of the oppressed and oppressors.

Who am I, and what is my identity?

According to anti-racism, we are either an oppressor or the oppressed. According to Christianity, we are a person made in the image of God, a sinner in need of a Savior, a child of God who has been adopted as a son or daughter and into the family of God (Genesis 1:27).

What is gender?

According to CRT, gender is fluid. It’s what a person decides it should be or desire to become. In Scripture, we see that God created man and woman, male and female (Matthew 19:14). Our gender is determined at birth and not subjective to the latest cultural fad.

What is truth?

With anti-racism, truth is based on your social location. A person is either woke or blinded depending on the group within which one falls. On the other hand, Jesus said that he is the truth, that no man comes to the Father apart from him, that the truth of the Gospel is what sets one free (John 14:6, John 8:32).

We know that the Bible does not give specific commands regarding political parties, policies, or philosophies. However, we should certainly reject all ideas that conflict with a Biblical worldview, which anti-racism clearly does.

Many Christians believe they are rejecting the secular and political framework of CRT, but continue to embrace a similar spin-off approach known as social justice. As noted before, the social justice gospel aims to create unity around the dogmatic ideas and solutions of anti-racism and CRT instead of the central theological truths of the gospel.

It is impossible to apply CRT principles to Biblical Christianity, though many churches try to implement aspects of this framework as a compassionate solution to racism and injustice. In fact, some churches would go so far as to say that any ministry unwilling to adopt a social justice ministry that involves these anti-racism techniques is not preaching the “true” gospel. These churches are dangerously adding to Scripture by suggesting that “whiteness” is a unique sin that one must be “woke to”, intentionally and constantly renounced, and continually repented from. Stand firm against such teaching. It is not the gospel at all, but a new form of moralism.

The gospel answer…and why it’s necessary.

The sin of racism is real, and it’s an abhorrent sin against another image bearer of God. Racism has caused unimaginable pain and injustice in this world and in our country. And there is much more spiritual and physical work to be done as followers of Christ. But it starts with the Bible and not new philosophies constructed by culture warriors.

As Christians, we know that we are culpable for our sin, not our skin. Sin is a spiritual problem in need of a spiritual solution. First and foremost, we need to be reconciled to God. Second Corinthians 5:17-21 reminds us that believers have been given the ministry of reconciliation:

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

The catalyst of reconciliation begins with us reconciling to God through Jesus, not with one another. When we have Biblical unity with Christ, racial reconciliation is the outflow of our relationship with God. Our vertical relationship with the Almighty affects all of our horizontal relationships.

When we receive Christ’s perfect righteousness on our behalf, we become restored to God and have positional righteousness with the Father. This positional righteousness becomes practical righteousness as we become more and more like Christ through the process of sanctification.

We are transformed through the power and fruit of the Holy Spirit as he progressively renews our minds through the Word of God. This natural transformation happens as the gospel impacts our lives.

As we follow Jesus, we repent of sin, including the sin of racism and prejudice. God changes us from the inside out. We will have new desires to advocate for the poor and marginalized, sacrificially share resources, help the oppressed, and seek justice.

This is much different than a forced power structure reversal, wealth distribution, or a tyrannically induced equity of outcomes. It is the natural movement of generosity and love that flows from the bottom up and inside out, not from the top down and the outside in.

The gospel is anti-racist, but it is not “anti-racism” in the modern sense. It realizes that racism is an individual heart-problem and seeks to make those changes through a relationship with the Creator.

We need Jesus and his blood to forgive us. We can rest assured that his work on the cross is sufficient to cover our sin and reconcile us with the Father.

Our restored and right relationship with God should cause us to love others well, seek justice for the oppressed, and provide for the suffering, the poor, and the outcast. We love because he first loved us. We give because he has given. We comfort because he has comforted. We share our resources because we know they are not ours in the first place.

God does not separate us by whether our skin has color, but whether our sin has been covered. He sees us as redeemed or unredeemed. He doesn’t accept us based on the melanin in our skin, but by the atonement of our sin. If “whiteness” must be continually repented and made reparation for, then the cross is inadequate.

There will never be unity apart from the gospel, only continued confusion, frustration, and division. Forced love is not real love. It’s not sanctification and Spirit-led. It’s manufactured tyranny.

The gospel acts…and how it works.

If the gospel feels inadequate, it’s not because it is, but because we have done such a poor job of applying it to our lives. We see little transformation in our world because we have little transformation in our hearts.

If you want to be on mission for Biblical unity, start by becoming reconciled to God. The Scriptures say that if we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sin and purify us of all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). When we trust Christ as Lord and Savior, he becomes the provision on our behalf and payment for our sin.

We must also search our own hearts and take self-inventory. Psalm 139:23-24 declares, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. And see if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Secondly, it is important to recognize, confess, and repent of any and all sinful attitudes and actions that may be the result of racism or prejudice against another ethnic group or a person who looks or acts differently. We should actively engage in difficult conversations and develop relationships with those who are different than we are and have different perspectives and lived experiences. We should be open to their feedback and opinions, serving and giving preference to others in all things (Romans 12:10), aiming at all times to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace out of love (Ephesians 4:3).

Thirdly, we should act on our beliefs and values. If there are policies or laws that should be changed to align with Biblical values, we should take the steps to advocate for them. We should be motivated to share our resources and look for opportunities to engage with disadvantaged communities and schools, through our local churches and neighborhoods, sports teams, and work opportunities.

As the Spirit works within us, the outflow should be a life ready to give and respond in love and good deeds. We do not need to reverse power structures and force equity of outcomes, but to be the hands and feet of our Savior.

As we have been reconciled with God, we aim to bring others into that same restored relationship and live peacefully on mission with one another. That is the essence of Biblical unity and our greatest hope for change.

Unity is impossible through the methods and mandates of political parties, leaders, or policies of this world. It’s only possible through Jesus Christ:

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28

Only at the foot of the cross, are all genders, all nationalities, all ethnicities equally sinful and equally loved. And only in Jesus do we have the capacity to love, serve, and live out the impossible and undeserved love that allows unity to become a reality.

Want to read more?

Check out our post from last week on Biblical Unity.