You CANNOT Be THIS and Go to Heaven
- Noah Olson
- Apr 29
- 3 min read
“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.” After a discussion with a Gentile in his own home (something the Jew would never have done), Peter affirmed that “God is no respector of persons” (Acts 10:34). Literally, He does not “lay hold on a face.”[1] Truly, God values character over color (cf. 1 Samuel 16:7).
Jesus is many things—but He is not a racist. He preached many truths—racism was not one of them. Racism is defined as unfair treatment to others based on race (specifically skin color). Racism is an ancient sin and likely a result of the dispersion at Babel (Genesis 11:4). Men began to depart and create families of their own, eventually looking quite different from each other. Eventually, people began to discriminate others with unfair scales. Skin color, nationality, or heritage became considerations for acceptance of judgement. Biblical racism resembled more of nationalism. Examples include:
Haman (Esther 3).
Jews and Gentiles (Luke 9:51-53).
Egyptians and Hebrews (Genesis 43:32; Exodus 1).
Jew and Samaritan (John 4:9; Luke 10:25-37).
Miriam and Aaron against Moses’ wife (Numbers 12:1).
Nathanael and Jesus (John 1:46).
Grecian widows (Acts 6:1).
Peter and the Gentiles (Galatians 2:11-14).
Racism is not confined to the Biblical timeline; it extended far more along the years of history. The Civil War was fueled by racism. Some studiers of science were racists. Evolutionary scribe Charles Darwin blatantly confirmed his views on racism when he wrote: "At some future period, not very distant as measured by centuries, the civilised races of man will almost certainly exterminate, and replace, the savage races throughout the world. At the same time the anthropomorphous apes, as Professor Schaaffhausen has remarked, will no doubt be exterminated. The break between man and his nearest allies will then be wider, for it will intervene between man in a more civilised state, as we may hope, even than the Caucasian, and some ape as low as a baboon, instead of as now between the negro or Australian and the gorilla (p. 521, emp. added)."[2] Thomas Huxley, Darwin’s friend similarly concluded, “It may be quite true that some negroes are better than some white men; but no rational man, cognisant of the facts, believes that the average Negro is the equal, still less the superior, of the white man.”[3] Earnest Hackel believed Europeans were the higher, favored race.[4] These “scientific” conclusions fueled the fire for Hitler’s racist plights against the Jews during World War II. Racism in America persisted, only to be pressed down by courageous souls like Rosa Parks, Jackie Robinson, and Martin Luther King, Jr. While racism is less common today, some still are prejudiced.
Due to the harms of years ago, people still blame the opposite color for the violent treatment. While the slogan “Black Lives Matter” is true, other lives matter too, like yellow ones, white ones, and red ones. It is wrong to blame today’s people for yesteryear’s crimes (Ezekiel 18:20)[5] In a search to stomp white privilege, minority superiority is spread. Critical Race Theory is taught which only fuels the fire of racism instead of taking it away. No social justice group, law, or educational decision will eradicate racism; only the Gospel can do that.[6]
It is sinful to be racist (Matthew 5:43-48; 1 John 3:15; 4:20-21). Jesus broke the racist wall (Ephesians 2:14-15). Jesus urged people look at hearts, not faces (Matthew 7:15-20); motives, not appearances (John 7:24). May all Christians be like the little boy who returned from school one day and told his mother “‘mamma, I’ve found a new friend.’ ‘What color was he?’ She inquired. His pure response was, ‘I forgot to ask.’”[7]
Endnotes
[1]Vine.
[4]Richard Weikart, Darwinian Racism, Discovery Institute Press, 2022, 11.
[5]Glenn Colley, Ben Giselbach, Hiram Kemp, and Melvin Otey, Its There in Black and White, Plain Simple Faith, 2020, p, 42.
[6]Glenn Colley, Ben Giselbach, Hiram Kemp, and Melvin Otey, Its There in Black and White, Plain Simple Faith, 2020, p, 5.
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