Saturday, May 8, 2010

Is God racist?


I'm going to answer this one right now: no, God is not racist. God loves, cherishes, accepts, and saves people from any nationality, with any skin tone, speaking any language.

The emphases in the following verses is mine:

Acts 10:34-36, NIV, says, "34Then Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right. 36You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all."

Revelation 14:6, NIV, says, "6Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people."

Revelation 5:9, NIV, says, "9And they [the people in heaven] sang a new song:
'You [Jesus]...were slain,
and with your blood you [Jesus] purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. '"

Revelation 7:9-10, NIV, says, "I looked and there before me [in heaven] was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10And they cried out in a loud voice:
'Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.'"


Galatians 3:28, the Message version, says, "In Christ's family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal."


Even in the Old Testament, we see examples of God's faithfulness to people regardless of their nationality:

Noah lived in a nation of wicked men. When God flooded the earth, however, He saved Noah because Noah followed Him.

Lot lived in a city with people who acted like criminals. When God destroyed the city, however, He saved Lot because Lot followed Him.

Abraham tried to start the Jewish nation through Hagar, but was unsuccessful. Though Hagar was the mother of a nation that would later cause problems for the Israelites, God watched over Hagar and her son.

Rahab was a Moabite living in the Moabite city of Jericho, which God destroyed. When God destroyed Jericho (and other Moabite towns), however, He saved Rahab because Rahab followed Him.

Ruth was a Moabite who married into an Israelite family. When her mother-in-law Naomi went back to Israel, Ruth wasn't rejected because of her race; instead, she was accepted as a follower of God.


Jesus' life, too, was intercultural:

When God planned Jesus' lineage, He didn't work to create a "pure" Jewish lineage. Instead, God included people from a variety of nationalities in Jesus' heritage, including both Jews and Moabites. You might say Jesus was "mixed."

Jesus was born in Bethlehem (an Israelite town), then grew up in Egypt (a "gentile" or non-Jewish town).

Jesus ministered to the Samaritan woman at the well, even though the Samaritans and Jews experienced racial dislike toward each other.

Jesus healed the demon-possessed Samaritan girl, despite the racial tension between the Jews Jesus lived around and the Samaritans.

Jesus healed the servant of the Roman official. Once again, there was racial tension between Jews and Romans (mainly because the Romans took the Jews captive); however, because the Roman official believed in Jesus, Jesus healed his servant.

Jesus told a parable about a Jewish man who was helped by a Samaritan (this is where we get the term "good Samaritan"). In the parable, Jesus explained that the Samaritan was better than the two Jewish people in the story, because the Samaritan stopped to help the Jewish man by the road without paying attention to race. Throughout Jesus' life, we see these examples of Jesus' stepping across racial boundaries as if He didn't even notice them. Jesus realized that a person's skin tone or race has no impact on their character.

In addition, as you can see from the verses I quoted above, in heaven we'll get to meet people from all different races.


I'll repeat my above point: God is not racist. And you know what? We shouldn't be racist, either.

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