Applying a Christian Worldview to Race and Racism
Dr. Rex M. RogersThe tragic death of George Floyd, May 25, 2020, at the hand of a police officer and resulting nonstop social unrest plaguing American cities have created a milieu in which it is almost impossible to conduct a deliberative conversation about race, racism, police brutality, and police actions.So much angry momentum fogs the air that anyone questioning the wisdom of what's taking place does so at risk of reputation, maybe employment, and in some cases personal well-being.
That is, the risk is there if one disagrees with the accepted narrative being endorsed by much of Big Media, Big Social Media, corporations, various celebrities, and other cultural opinion elites.
You can test my observation empirically. See if it stands up.
This said, I am not suggesting there are no issues, i.e. no racism, no police brutality, no room for police reform. I am, however, suggesting that much of what's become accepted mantra does not bear up under objective analysis.
But my point here is not to argue politics as such, much less to be partisan, which I studiously try to avoid.
Rather, I want to recommend that this is a moment for us all to better understand and to work to apply our Christian worldview to life and culture.
I cannot defend partisan or ideological talking points as the answer to all our problems. I cannot defend party or ideological leaders as the inerrant source of answers to all our problems. Reason is, they will always fail us.
So, I am back to my Christian worldview, i.e. my understanding of biblical theology and the philosophy of life God commends and commands. Perhaps I may misinterpret, or I may still be learning, or I see through a glass darkly and always will because I am not omniscient, but I can trust the Sovereign God of the Bible and His Word, and I can labor to apply the Word as we are commissioned to do in the Cultural Mandate (Genesis 1:28).
And besides, if you or I are going to discuss racism or the idea of systemic racism or White supremacy or White fragility or racial stereotypes or critical race theory or Black Lives Matter the organization or Black lives matter the slogan or movement or civil rights or defacto vs dejure segregation or justice and liberty for all...wouldn't our perspective be all the better and more trustworthy if we worked to base it upon an avowedly Christian worldview, rather than mere partisanship or ideology?
Where does our Christian worldview lead us in this, or as Dr. Francis A. Schaeffer put it years ago, "How shall we then live?"
• God created every human being "in his image," and as such each person is temporally and eternally significant, possesses dignity, and is the highest order of creation (Genesis 1:26-27).
• All human beings, whatever their gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, or any other demographic, is who they are because the Sovereign God created them for his purposes: "From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands" (Acts 17:26).
How Black, Brown, Red, Yellow, White People Are Alike
o Created by God in His image.
o Time, place, demographics appointed by God, all nations from one man.
o Uniquely gifted, individually significant with ultimate value.
o Endowed with reason and moral responsibility, thus freedom and accountability.
o Mandated to develop culture.
o Fallen, deceitful hearts.
o Need salvation by grace through faith in Christ.
o Blessed fulfilling God's purposes via faith, family, fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace), free enterprise.
o All races, ethnicities represented in Heaven, the most diverse community ever.
o No individual reducible to race, for while part of the beauty of Creation, this characteristic is not the sum of existence. While demographics are important, they are not the ultimate definition of a human beings' character or value: "There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28).
• God loves all, we are to love our neighbors, so racism has no place in God's design.
• Racism exists. It will always exit, because it lies in the deceitful, sinful heart of all human beings. Racism is not just a "White problem." All people whatever their race can be or may have been guilty of racism at some time. Racism will always be with us. But this does not mean we should ignore it, much less advance or excuse it. We work to remove and eliminate it because we are to "love our neighbor as ourselves."
• I see no reason why, realizing that many Black Americans have struggled or suffered the effects of racism, that the American people should not discuss this problem and take reasonable actions to change the social system. To do this is simply caring for our fellow human beings even as we recognize that someday we will likely need them to care for us.
• With Abraham Lincoln, I would say, "With malice toward none with charity for all with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right let us strive on to finish the work we are in to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan ~ to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."
Race is part of the variety, indeed the beauty, of God's creation. Race is a gift of God.
Racism is sin, no matter who expresses it. Substituting one racism for another and re-segregating America is not the answer. Loving our neighbor is the answer.
We are called of God to live justly, to love our neighbors, to bless and do no harm, for one and all.
Dr. Rex M. Rogers, President SAT-7 USA,
www.sat7usa.org, www.rexmrogers.com,
www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers/
