Last week, an old recording was revealed. Ronald Reagan
(then the governor of California) described people in African nations as “monkeys”
and added: “Damn them—they’re still uncomfortable wearing shoes!” We might want to dismiss such statements as
outdated ideas from decades ago, but racial and ethnic slurs are still heard in
our cultural climate today. And now
there’s more than a war of words. Ugly
violence and murder has occurred. Over
the weekend, a young man posted a hateful manifesto online, complaining of a “Hispanic
invasion of Texas.” He then went to a Walmart in El Paso, where he killed
twenty-two people and wounded many more.
As people who live by God’s grace and under his direction,
our attitudes are guided by his Word.
This seems a fitting time to review Bible lessons on race relations—on how
we relate to all of our fellow human beings.
Episode one: “Miriam
and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married;
for he had married a Cushite woman” (Numbers 12:1). “Cushite” means Ethiopian. Miriam instigated the animosity against this
woman from a different ethnic background.
Miriam’s prejudice did not please the Lord. In response, the Lord afflicted
Miriam with a visible and painful leprosy for a period of seven days. That was
a real case of being “unclean” or unhealthy. Skin color differences are not problems or
impurities.
Episode two: A proud religious man asked Jesus, “Who is my
neighbor?” Jesus responded with a parable: A Jewish traveler was robbed and
beaten and left half-dead by the side of the road. Two prominent Jewish men
came along … and each of them walked by without helping the man. Then a
Samaritan man came along, and “he was moved with compassion” (Luke 10:33). He
helped the man, bandaged his wounds, and took him to a place where he could
recuperate. Jesus asked, “Which of these
three do you think seemed to be a neighbor to him who fell among the robbers?”
(Luke 10:36). The proud teacher of Jewish law had to admit it was the man who
showed mercy. Bear in mind, Jews of that era typically despised the people
across the border, the Samaritans. Jesus’ story illustrated that true human
compassion knows no boundaries.
Episodes three and four: Christ’s apostle Peter was called
to the home of an Italian Regiment commander. Prior to the request from the
Roman centurion, Peter had been given a vision to show him that “God doesn’t
show favoritism” (Acts 10:34). God accepts people from every nation. And yet,
on a later occasion, Peter didn’t show that same attitude. He didn’t stand up
to Jewish purists in a congregation where there were many Gentile members. The
apostle Paul challenged what was going on and called it hypocrisy to favor one
group over another in the church (cf. Galatians 2:11-14).
Episode five: The
scene opens in heaven, and we see the countless multitude of the family of God.
Where did they come from? “Out of every nation and of all tribes, peoples, and
languages” (Revelation 7:9). There is no racial tension or discrimination in
heaven.
There is also no room for racism in a godly heart on this
earth. There is no room for disdain toward others, of any race or culture. If someone says, “’I love God,’ and hates his
brother, he is a liar. For he who doesn’t love his brother whom he has seen,
how can he love God whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20)? Our brothers, our sisters, our neighbors, our
friends are the other members of our common human family.
The children’s song written by Rev. Clarence Herbert Woolston
(1856–1927) states the simple truth:
Jesus loves the little children,
All the children of the world.
Red and yellow, black and white,
They are precious in his sight,
Jesus loves the little children of the world.
All the children of the world.
Red and yellow, black and white,
They are precious in his sight,
Jesus loves the little children of the world.