SINCE THE DEATH OF GEORGE FLOYD in May of 2020, accusations from the proponents of Critical Race Theory have inundated the United States. America, they claim, is systemically racist, and therefore our law-enforcement personnel and essential social structures are all inherently racist.
Social change and turmoil never occur in a vacuum. They affect the church. Most pastors are sincere. They oppose oppression. They hate racism, and they want to treat the members of their church sensitively. This is especially true for those who lead mixed-race congregations. But pastoral sincerity, coupled with cultural pressure, can quickly morph into the fear of man, motivating us to apply different standards to different races.
God wants us to listen to our larger culture sensitively and then interpret and apply their ideas through a biblical worldview. God richly blesses the leader who dissolves the fog of cultural confusion with a clear and compassionate proclamation of biblical truth. This means a different CRT—Christian Race Theory. I will use four Rs to explain it—Repent, Reject, Rejoice, and Remember. They are biblical, and they are counter-cultural, but their application builds up, encourages, and unifies God’s people.
“Does the fear of man motivates us to apply different standards to different races?”
Repent
First, repent! Original sin, not racism, is the United States’ systemic problem. Pride is its foundation, and racism is one of pride’s symptoms—looking down on another because of their skin color. Because Original Sin is systemic, no race has a corner on this evil. Caucasians, Africans, Native Americans, Jews, and Asians are all tempted to be racist. No one gets a pass. This means that racism will always be a problem in our culture and in your church. Nevertheless, we should do everything in our power to resist it.
Reject
Second, reject the lie that American racism is systemic. Although Original Sin motivates many individuals to be racist, it is not systemic to our culture. Robin Di’Angelo, author of New York Times bestseller, White Fragility, argues (without any supporting evidence) that all whites are racist, and that their racism is systemic. “Systemic” means that racism is embedded in the warp and woof of our social institutions. According to Di’Angelo, attempts by white individuals to deny this just prove that they are racist and, yup, that their racism is systemic.
However, the facts do not support systemic racism. In fact, the facts support the opposite. It is easy to argue that, although racism exists in North America, no culture has ever been less racist than the United States. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan once observed an irony. The accusations of human rights violations happen in direct proportion to the freedom a culture enjoys to celebrate human rights.[1] That is because only free countries have the luxury of human rights, and only free nations have the luxury of complaining when their rights are threatened. The current complaint about systemic racism is a good example.
“God richly blesses the leader who dissolves the fog of cultural confusion with a clear and compassionate proclamation of biblical truth.”
In his book, Fault Lines, Voddie Baucham, an African American pastor, argues eloquently against systemic racism. If you want the stats, read his book. In the meantime, consider this. Since the mid-sixties we’ve considered racism the great cultural sin.[2] The best way to insult someone is to call them a racist. With this in mind, is there any sin an American would be less likely to commit?
Consider politics. We just elected a black president for two terms. His first term was ineffective by most measures, yet we were so happy that we had a Black president that we re-elected him for a second term.
Consider the media. Although African Americans only comprise about 12% of our population, they dominate our TV ads, magazine ads, and advertising brochures. An outsider watching our marketing would think white males didn’t exist. In addition, our ads, movies, and TV series increasingly spotlight mixed-race couples. We have also experienced fifty years of affirmative action prioritizing racial minorities in college enrollment and hiring. Individual racism? Yes! Systemic racism? Hardly!
Rejoice
Third, rejoice in the gospel. Identity politics increasingly divide America. But the gospel does the opposite. It is God’s great unifier. When we step into the waters of baptism, we permanently check our racial and sexual identity at the door. We become new creatures in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), children of the Living God (Ephesians 1:5). This is our new and eternal identity. It is no longer black, white, male, or female. As the apostle wrote, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). Were Paul were alive today, he would add black nor white. Our new identity in Christ is the ultimate cure for racism and the other “identities’ that increasingly divide us.
In 2018 my wife and I visited a predominantly African American congregation in Jacksonville, FL. Although there were about 1500 people in attendance, we saw only one other white person. Did we feel out of place? No! We weren’t thinking, “they’re black, and we’re white.” We were rejoicing in our common brotherhood. We were all children of the living God, members of the same family, gathered together to worship our heavenly Father. Our black brothers and sisters went out of their way to ingratiate us and make us feel at home. We felt truly loved and accepted.
Remember
Last, remember the realities of final judgment! Every member of every race will someday stand before God in final judgment, and God is color blind.
“Behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb” (Revelation 7:9–10).
Many Social Justice Warriors argue that whites are systemically racist and that therefore, blacks need a separate religion. But nothing could be further from the truth. God looks upon the heart; not our skin color, or nation of origin. This means that one unchanging, immutable moral standard applies to whites, blacks, Jews, Muslims, Asians, and Native Americans. We have only one gospel to proclaim. It applies the same to ethnicity.
“God’s people should be quick to repent of all personal temptations to racism even while simultaneously rejecting the seducing lies of the culture we live in.”
This truth about final judgment means a minister’s “whiteness” does not disqualify him. A pastor’s “blackness” does not validate him. God speaks one unchanging, universal word to every race. We do not change the Bible to meet the racial composition of our congregation. The Bible changes our congregation. It breaks down the dividing wall of race, morphing the church into a unified people for the glory of God. Whites should be able to hear the gospel from a Black pastor and vice versa.
Conclusion
God’s people should be quick to repent of all personal temptations to racism even while simultaneously rejecting the seducing lies of the culture we live in.
The gospel is the only long-term solution to racism. Do we really believe this? Are we really convinced that the gospel is the power of God, not only for salvation, but also for the end of racism and all the world’s other identity divisions?
Whether your congregation is white, black, or mixed race, pastors have one unchanging gospel to preach. James 2:1-13 commands us to love our congregations impartially. That means God’s color blindness applies to us, and that means the end of separate racial identities.
Those who believe this will preach the only CRT that ultimately matters. The CRT that produces the results we fervently long for—Christian Race Theory.
[1] Douglas Murray, the Madness of Crowds, (New York: Bloomsbury) pg. 263, Kindle Version
[2] Recent years have added misogyny and homophobia.
