In the last month Americans have had to face the reality that racism and racial tension are not just history in the U.S. With the events that have gained attention come protests, arguments, unending facebook discussions—and hopefully some soul searching. Christians have taken stands—and not necessarily the same stands. But in all the discussions I am puzzled. Not by the reactions of various people in the world, but by the fact that regardless of what stance they take Christians seem to ignore one basic fact: we are not of this world. I believe this should have a lot to do with how we respond.
Jesus said those of us who belong to him are not of this world (John 17:14). Paul said that we are still here so as to represent Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:20). In other words, we are now citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven (Philippians 3:20), but we have been stationed here in the world—NOT TO BE PART OF THE WORLD, BUT TO REPRESENT JESUS IN THE WORLD. Picture an ambassador from the U.S. to a foreign country getting caught up as a partisan in the politics of that country. The one thing that would be certain is that person is not serving faithfully!
But aren’t we, as Christians, supposed to impact the world around us? Absolutely! But Jesus and the apostles showed us how to do that—and it wasn’t by becoming part of the world. And if that isn’t how we are to represent Christ, how exactly are we to represent him in the U.S. today? I offer some basic reminders below. (Please note, I offer these as insights from a follower of Jesus to other followers of Jesus. If you are not a Christian, you are welcome to read, but these are not yet applicable to you.)
- We have to remember who we are. When we align with factions in the world—political or racial—we are like the salt that has lost its saltiness. We need to examine ourselves to determine if we have been caught up with the sins of the world –included in this case racism, hatred, bitterness, anger. And when we see these sins we need to openly confess them and repent of them so that God can cleanse us of these sins (1 John 1:9).
- As servants of the one who referred to himself as the Truth (John 14:6), we have to stand for truth. In America today, this has to mean shedding our partisan “party lines” and both seeing and speaking the truth. Yes, the U.S. has come a long way from the days of slavery, but the country is not beyond racism—from any of the races. And in a country where one race has dominated from the country’s formation, it is likely that people of that race fail to see ways that racism is still practiced and experienced. As Christians we have to admit this, as well as the fact that all people have sinned—and all are sinning in how they handle this situation. Sin has to be identified regardless of who is sinning—or why. Christians need to stand for the truth that America is still a divided nation. Racism needs to be labelled as such. Hatred, bitterness and rage need to be labelled as such—regardless of who is doing the sinning.
- As servants of Jesus we have a responsibility to call people to repentance, because only then can they be reconciled to God. Racism is a sin, and people practicing it need to repent. Allowing actions to be determined by hatred or anger—or excusing them because of anger—is sin, and those practicing it need to repent. Returning evil for evil is sin, and those practicing it need to repent.
- As servants of Jesus, our priority is facilitating the reconciliation of people to God (2 Corinthians 5), not changing politics of a worldly nation. This is not and never has been a Christian nation. It was built on racism, intolerance, greed and genocide. It is part of this world—and we are not. So we have to be careful not to be so caught up with attempts to change this worldly structure that we fail to tell people—individuals as well as groups—that there is a better way, and that way is open to them. In short, we need to make proclaiming the gospel our priority, because every effort to change a worldly system will end when that system is destroyed at the return of our Lord. If we can do good for people—or change systems–as we share the gospel, that’s great. But it cannot be our priority. Our priority is the gospel.