Responding to Racism — A Biblical Perspective

Irrespective of who we are, we all have the ability within us to indulge ourselves in every possible evil under the sun, given the right situation and circumstance before us. It is only by the grace of God, and for no other reason, we are who we are today.

When starting to prepare this topic, I felt that it was an open and shut case of “Whhhhaaaaattttttt?” The word race does not even appear in the Bible except with reference to the act of running a race. At best it speaks of kinsmen. However, as I started to research it, I realized that there was so much to unpack that it really warrants prayerful consideration.

I had a thought-provoking conversation a few weeks ago. During that conversation, an old school friend of mine made an interesting comment and question. He said there have been many atrocities against black people in the past, what makes this cycle of events so different that has caused this prolonged worldwide attention? My answer to his question was summed up in one word, “time”.

We cannot escape the heart or run from our own selves. Jeremiah says: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jer 17:9) To varying degrees, we are ALL guilty of prejudice, though we may deny it openly. We must, therefore, be brutally honest with ourselves and confront it with the Word of God, which alone is the foremost source of all wisdom. Let us, then, look at examples within the Scriptures to see whether there are lessons for us to be learned in confronting this evil disease of racism.