Slow Down

Racism is alive and well in our world, in our hearts, and in the church. Let me be very clear: racism, at any and every level, is sin. It’s an evil lie Satan has been spreading for millennia to turn image-bearers of God against each other, disrupting the perfect unity God designed for us to live in. This lie has resulted in hatred, pain, injustice, and death. But this was not part of God’s perfect plan for His people. Did you notice a theme in today’s Bible passages? God tells Abram, the father of Israel, that He would use him to bless all the people groups on earthnot just some of them. Decades later, when God calls His people out of Exodus, a mixed crowd of Israelites and Egyptians respond to the call (Exodus 12:38). The nation of Israel, which was called to be a picture of God’s goodness and plan of redemption, was made up of people from many different ethnicities and cultures. In fact, the Promised Land itself was located at one of the most well-traveled crossroads of the time. God deliberately placed His people where they could come into contact with people of all nations and tribes and countries, so they could share His good news with them. We see this multiethnic plan brought forward even more in Acts, when the Holy Spirit tears down language barriers (undoing the language separation from the Tower of Babel) so that the good news of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection could be preached to people of different nationalities. And, in Revelation, we get a glimpse of what the church is supposed to look like now and what the world will look like when Jesus returns and God’s plan is complete. We see that different languages, cultures, and ethnicities will still be present, and we as Christians will all be united around praising our perfect God, who created all of us in His diverse image. As a people who live in this story of God’s redemptive, unifying love, let us pursue unity with everything we’ve got. Let us stomp out every trace of inequality, prejudice, and racism. Let us celebrate the fact that God saw fit to create different, beautiful cultures and skin tones that all reflect His image. And let us look to the Middle Eastern Man on the cross, who died and rose again to unite us with Himself and each other. Taylor Eising Racism, like all sin, is sneaky. It can hide in our hearts and in our minds without us really noticing. Take some time to pray for the Holy Spirit to reveal your sin, and rest in His forgiveness and healing. When one racial group oppresses another, it leads to generational hurt. Damage usually remains even decades after the oppression is over. How can we, as the church, seek to heal some generational hurts? Why do you think God created different ethnic groups? How do you think these ethnic groups reflect His image? Does it matter that there will still be different ethnicities after Jesus returns? How do you think that unified diversity will work? How can we get a glimpse of that unity now? After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb! Revelation 7:9-10 (CSB)

Read Verses:

Matthew 11:28-30; Luke 10:38-42