Why I Must Speak Up

Peggie and I became friends in seminary, and she taught me things I'd never understood before about the challenges of being African American.

My heart breaks to think that people sometimes treat my friend differently based on the color of her skin.

For hundreds of years many Americans have denied, downplayed, and excused the evil of slavery. 

I was blessed to hear that the Southern Baptists made a formal apology for their support of slavery and segregation, but I didn't understand why it happened 150 years after slaves were emancipated. (1995 SBC Resolution)

But please don’t think I’m singling out the Southern Baptists. At least they apologized, which is better than many professing Christians who still judge people based on the color of their skin.

I’m from Colorado. My family history doesn’t include slavery, but I'm still deeply saddened by the evils of slavery and the evils that my black brothers and sisters still suffer. 

Bigotry is a sin, a serious sin (1 John 4:20). A person who excuses bigotry is calling God a liar (1 John 1:10).

There are good and bad people in every race. It’s not about color. It’s about character. 

And bigots lack character no matter their color.
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If you would like to read more about my friendship with Peggie, you'll find details in my devotion Productive Stables.

If you think the Bible supports slavery as it existed in America, you're wrong. I recommend these resources: Slavery and the Bible Explained or the shorter summary Biblical Slavery in a Nutshell. And if you want to read a 4-minute devotion with historical facts about U.S. slavery that most people don't know, please read Slavery is a Black and White Issue.

I ask that all of my readers take some time this week to pray against the evil of racism in our world. And if you are prejudiced, please ask God to forgive you and help you overcome that sin. 

I encourage you to listen to this short video done by Allen Parr, an African-American. It gives great biblical advice about ways we can discuss racial issues with each other to bring healing and understanding. It neither supports nor rejects CRT:  What is Critical Race Theory?

Let the Scriptures below remind you that God created all people and He loves the variety and characteristics of every race and nationality. 

Acts 10:34-35: "Then Peter began to speak: 'I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.'"

1 John 4:20: "Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen."

James 2:9: "If you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin. You are guilty of breaking the law."

Revelation 7:9: "After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands."

Revelation 5:9-10: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”

It's no coincidence that one of the first Gentiles saved in the Bible was a black man, proving to the early church that everyone is equal in the kingdom of God. Read more about this wonderful conversion story here: 7 Things We Learn From Acts 8:26-39.

Note: I wish I didn’t have to make this additional comment, but our modern culture puts sexual lifestyles in the same category as race, claiming that disapproval of sexual lifestyles is a form of bigotry. A behavior is not the same as ethnicity. Accepting what the Bible teaches about sexual lifestyles does not make a person a bigot. See Tolerance Isn't Approval or Agreement.

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