Racism is Anti-Gospel

“Racism is anti-gospel.” These words have settled into my mind and heart over the last two months since I first heard them. They’ve opened new avenues of faith and devotion and given me a clearer understanding of my vocation and participation in mission. 

You may say, “Well of course racism is anti-gospel!” I agree with you. What I’m shocked about is that I’ve never felt the need include this fact in the definition of what the gospel is. That is why these words are sitting with me and why they draw me to write.

It was January when I first heard this statement and the speaker was the inestimable John M. Perkins, participating in Calvin College’s January Series.* “Racism is anti-gospel,” he said. He waited a moment before bending, raising his arm in the air and going on – “The gospel is for people to be reconciled to God and to one another.”

What a familiar phrase! But how often have I interpreted the latter half in simple interpersonal terms or purely in the context of ancient Jews and Greeks?  Often. How often have I considered this phrase while thinking about present racial conflicts? Never.  

Theologically, I usually think about racism as an affront to God because it denies that God made us all and that each person bears the image of God - not to mention that it denies the beauty of diversity. But it is clear to me now that racism stabs even deeper, against a core piece of the gospel, because it divides people and impedes their reconciliation. Racism leads people commit murder in their hearts or in reality and conceals our common humanity. It obstructs relationships between individuals and groups who need to be reconciled.

As the Intercultural Education Coordinator of an international university, this has repercussions on the way I think about my job; it makes me consider why I do what I do. Why do I work with international students and strive to bring together our diverse (25 nationalities) community? Why do I run a program about multiculturalism and tolerance for high school students?

Previously, my primary motivation was that I believe the Bible celebrates diversity and culture making. I take great joy in envisioning people “from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb” and worshiping God (Revelation 7:9). I envision a throne room filled with color, rejoicing and with each person offering something beautiful to God. This passage and other passages lead me to believe that particularity is not wiped out! That is why in my job I ask “Can the LCC community live in a way that celebrates the God-honoring beauty found in each culture?” and “Can we learn from the experiences and perspectives of different cultures?”

Additionally, before hearing Perkins, I was motivated to do what I do because cross-cultural relationships are crucial to peace. Geert Hofstede, a renowned researcher of cultural value differences, was not simply being dramatic when he had the subtitle of his famous book Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind be Intercultural Cooperation and Its Importance for Survival. Ignorance, misunderstandings and stereotypes can lead to big, sometimes bloody problems. So I came here to promote intercultural education because I want worldwide solutions and not worldwide conflicts, and I believe that LCC is an ideal setting to contribute to this. Students come from many places, and I strive to make sure that they do not return to their home countries with the same stereotypes and perceptions of the “Other” as when they came. God-willing, their experiences then have an impact on even more people in their home countries.

Perkins and his lecture deepen the above motivations and helped me to see a different emphasis in Revelation 7:9. All of the world’s diverse Christians will not simply worship before the throne of God but they will be there worshipping together. We people will not just live peacefully and without false perceptions about each other but we will live together, in the same city, the new Jerusalem, and we will love each other as ourselves. We will be reconciled.

There will no longer be hatred between some African Americans and Caucasian Americans, Indians and Pakistanis, Russians and Georgians, Koreans and Japanese, Lithuanians and Poles, or Jews, Roma and many other groups, and etc.** We will be healed, reconciled to God and to one another, and the gospel good news will be brought to completion!

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* LCC was an international, off site participant.

** I realize some of these might not be considered "racial conflicts," but they do have ties to culture and collectivities. And what exactly is race anyway? Isn't there just one human race? But this is a whole conversation of its own.