*In 2017 I gave a sermon called “Why Racism.” The goal was to define racism and consider why Jesus offers the best resources to combat it. I thought it would be helpful to quote an excerpt from that talk to give a framework for some people to talk about and process ideas around racism. Again this was a sermon with a lot more context and nuance that you won’t read here. Please know that there is nothing but love and respect for all people in my heart and words. I hope these few paragraphs can serve you in some way.
Let’s not ease in: racism is not just about disliking a person because of the color of their skin.
Racism (or systemic, institutionalized racial oppression if those words help you more) is intrinsically connected to the use and abuse of power as it relates to marginalized, impoverished, and powerless groups in society. Racism is about the social interaction of power. It is prejudice and power working together, creating and molding society. Prejudice by itself does not constitute racism. Neither does power by itself.
Everyone has prejudices, and anyone can act on those prejudices. Anyone can discriminate. But a people can only be racist when they have the societal power to do something about those prejudices on a systemic, macro, or institutional level. That is why there is racism all throughout the world, not just in America. It is impossible to find a continent, and dare I say country where racism hasn’t taken a toll. Sure, in America it has a black and white binary, but in Africa racism looks like a black group inflicting their power on anther black group. Americans must not be defensive about how racism looks specifically in our context.
When people and people groups use their position of power, be it political or institutional, to reinforce their prejudices and to enforce them so that as a result of their racial prejudices the life chances, rights and opportunities of others are limited, the result is racism.
Racism is about power. So we must ask what the Bible says about power. The Bible is clear, those who have power and resource in society are commanded by God to use their power and resources not to advance or protect themselves, not to subjugate or oppress those who are without power, but to use their power to elevate the cause of the poor, oppressed, and marginalized.
So does that mean to end racism in America we just need people who are white to no longer be in power? Dr. Caleb Rosado sums up an extremely uncomfortable point about this. He says,
“From a macro-perspective, only Whites as a group can be labeled as racist in [American] society, for the socioeconomic system is structured in their favor… This does not imply that given the reserve in a shift in power, that minority groups would not do the same, because in all probability they would. Thus, the problem is not one of race or ethnicity; the problem is the basic human condition, which God long ago described in the following words: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately corrupt; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). This is why Lord Acton declared: “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
-Rosado, Caleb. “The Undergirding Factor Is POWER Toward an Understanding of Prejudice and Racism.”
If racism deals with power, we would think that we just need to switch who has power. And in many ways spreading the power is a solution. But hear me when I say that the misuse of power leading to institutionalized racism is a condition of humanity’s rebellion. Misusing power is one of the first byproducts of our fallen nature. So to change what ethnic group controls the power in society does not necessarily solve the whole problem because it does not get to the core of the problem. As a Jesus follower I have to be willing to say that this is not just an issue of color, or privilege, or prejudice. The issue here is sin. Sin has corrupted the human heart. Sin impedes man’s ability to use power and recourses well.
The misuse of power is a condition of our rebellion and our fallen nature, but the misuse of power is also redeemed in the work of Jesus Christ.
People have asked me what I think the best solution for racism is. I truly mean it wholeheartedly when I give this answer: it is Jesus. I do not mean that in a Sunday School way. I am not trying to be cute or trite. And I am definitely not saying that non-Christians cannot be in the work of eradicating racism. Unfortunately, it seems like non-Christians are doing a better job than the Church is when it comes to racial justice. But let me tell you, our solution is not to be smart. Our solution is not to be savvy. Our solution is not just programs and policies and campaigns and commercials. I truly believe that the only lasting solution for racism in the world is the good news of Jesus Christ. Why?
Because racism is about power. Because sin is real and it debilitates us from using power well. And what other resource is there to use power well?
Why would I give up my power to benefit someone else? Why would I take away my resources from those who are like me and give them to those who are not? Why would I not use my force and my power and my will and my systems to make sure me and my world are taken care of? Sure you may be nice and want to help someone who is not like you, but let’s be honest, you cannot do that every time for your whole. If it is between you and your family going to college or someone who doesn’t look like you going to college, you will always choose you and your family. If it’s between you and your family eating and someone else, you and your family are going to eat. If it is between the superhero or the barbie looking like me and my family or someone else, I am choosing my own. That makes sense. That is logical. That is natural. If racism really is about power, what resource is there that transforms people who only know how to use power for their own self and people?
I have noticed that secularism awakens (woke) people to what is happening in the world. Secularism gets people roiled up and posting on social media. Secularism gets some action and change happening for the oppressed, but secularism also becomes filled with pride for all the good it does. Secularism often becomes elitist because it has finally figured out the true way to life.
I’ve seen secularism care for the oppressed but it often does that as it fosters hate for the oppressor. I’ve seen secularism make people woke and active, but I have rarely seen secularism actually make people deeply loving. If you love the oppressed and hate the oppressor, if you care for the oppressed and beat the oppressor, have you really become more loving or have you just changed who you love? If we still harbor hate for our fellowman, even the oppressor, are we not just setting the stage for more oppression? I want to be better than constantly changing loves. I want the society that my kids grow up in to be better than that.
What resource is there that can enable me to truly love the oppressed and not demonize oppressors?
The gospel.
Because in Jesus Christ, God Himself has taken all power and authority and used it to serve those who were not like Him, me and you. God actually uses His power to serve His enemies, me and you. He uses His power to serve and love and benefit those who are destroying His world and His creation, me and you. God, in Jesus the Christ, even dies to care for His enemies, me and you.
“The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10).
Kings would give a ransom to gain something that they wanted, but King Jesus gave up His life as a ransom to offer something that His enemies desperately needed. Jesus is the ultimate expression of power and authority used in service to others. That isn’t just an example for you to try to live up to; it is a reality that deeply changes you.
In my experience, it is only when we encounter Jesus, God in flesh - who has all power and authority, giving up His power and authority for His enemies that we are enabled and, dare I say, liberated to give up our power and resources for others. It is when we really experience the love of Jesus that we are liberated to love both the oppressed and oppressor.
The power of sin has corrupted the human heart’s ability to use power well, but in Jesus Christ, ultimate power has been used and sacrificed to meet the needs of the powerless.
It’s a historical fact that when Christians really began to experience the true Christ, their hearts were changed. In America we have seen white Christians who were oppressors repent and work to fight racism. In America we have seen black Christians who were oppressed become bastions of love for the oppressor.
So what do we do?
We as followers of Jesus must encounter the reality of Jesus Christ: God, who gives up His power for those who are not only different from Him, but are actually His enemies. Christians must become aware of their powerlessness to save themselves and remember how God, in Jesus Christ, gave up His power to meet their deepest need. We must not fear losing anything. What is there to lose when we are in Christ? Are there experiences or houses or lands or treasures or riches or travels or pleasures that we will miss out on if we are in Christ? The answer is no. So why not live for the benefit of others as Christ did for us? Why not give and love and sacrifice at our own expense? Has Jesus really met every one of our needs or do we need to hold on to our power and resources?
There is no need to hoard power and recourses because all of our needs have been met in Jesus Christ.
We must join Christ’s mission to attend to the marginalized in society. True religion, as James, Jesus' brother, describes it, translates into caring for the widow and orphan, who I would argue in our society is the African American. God identifies Himself as the Protector of widows and orphans. He cares for the marginalized and exercises His power to help and elevate their condition; the Church must continue that work of redemptive, empowering reconciliation.
May we as followers of Jesus experience liberation from sin’s destructive power. May we be empowered by His Spirit to live out that liberation in our communities and into every part of the world. And may we be about Christ’s work of liberating people, creating just societies, and caring for widows and orphans until He returns.
