When I worked at Cresson State Prison I sat on a committee that screened all incoming, questionable materials. One of my greatest displeasures and disappointments was in the Ku Klux Klan materials. In the name of Jesus Christ, the KKK proclaimed an Aryan, ethnic superiority. On the other hand, the Nation of Islam or NOI, claimed black ethnic superiority over all other races. Claim of ethnic superiority divides people and makes bitter enemies.
These past few years I have witnessed claims of ethnic superiority and the deadly effects of pogroms. When I was studying in Eastern Europe (Hungary, Croatia, Bosnia & Serbia) I saw the lingering effects of ethnic conflict. Peter Kuzmic, one of my doctoral professors at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, has a home and school in Croatia. He shared how he and his family were victims of the 1990s ethnic war .
I visited Kenya in December 2012 and heard stories of tribal violence and saw the damage wrought by ethnic discrimination. Three ladies of one particular tribe told me how their husbands were killed, their homes burned and their property was seized by an opposing tribe. They have lived in tents in a refugee camp for the past four years.
Last month while in India, I visited with a group of people known as Dalits - the outcastes of Indian society. In the Hindu religion, when Brahman god created, he made four castes (one each from his mouth, arms and hands, thighs, and feet). The Dalits are outside of this caste system - they are the “untouchables” and “out castes.” Karma dictates their circumstances. It is moral, in the Hinduism, to let them suffer their fate (no good Samaritans in Hinduism).
The beauty of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that all who believe and follow Him find God’s love, forgiveness, peace and unity. The shed blood of the One can stop the shedding of blood by many. “In Christ” the uniqueness of ethnic people groups is celebrated while at the same time the walls of strife that separate these groups has been torn down so that there may be peace and unity. The racial makeup of God' family is just one - the human race.
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| One race - the human race. |
Consider what the Bible says about ethnic people groups.
Matthew 28:18-20. Jesus said to “go, make disciples of all nations ("pante ta ethne" is the New Testament Greek transliteration)....”
Acts 10:34-35. “...God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation (en panti ethnei) the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.”
Ephesians. 2:11-22; 3:3, 6. “the Gentiles (ta ethne) in the flesh ...were separated, excluded, strangers without hope (11-12), but now in Christ Jesus ...have been brought near by the blood of Christ, He Himself is our peace, who made the both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, abolishing in His flesh the enmity...so that He Himself might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace (13-15). ... for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father (18). ...by revelation there was made know to me the mystery.... that the Gentile (ta ethne) are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (3:3, 6).
Revelation 5:9 & 7:9-10. “You purchased for God by Your [the Lamb’s] blood people from every tribe and tongue and nation”(ethnous). “... a great multitude...from every nation (ethnous) standing before the throne and before the Lamb... saying, ‘Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”
The Apostle Paul said that Christians are to, “have this attitude in you that was in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5). Jesus Christ loved all ethnic people groups and made a way for the many to become one in Him.
The family of God is one in Christ. Within the family of God there are many unique and diverse (not superior) ethnic people groups. Celebrate (don't castigate) ethnic diversity!
To God be the glory!
Truth Connect’s mission is to educate, encourage, and empower Christian leaders to make disciple-makers of all peoples where they live.
