The good news is that ethnic harmony is possible! For this to happen, the church must be the church. And the church can only live out its Christ-given nature, calling, and mission by confidence in and submission to biblical truth. The word of God is the answer. Here are seven biblical principles that promote ethnic harmony…
Racism is an ugly reality of American society. You may debate if things are getting better or worse. But no one can honestly deny the reality of racism in society. It is simply and sadly the way the world is.
Racism also rears its ugly head in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. This should not be so. Yet, unfortunately, it is true. There is no longer the open racism of slavery or segregation. Yet the spirit of racism is evident in our inability to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15).
The good news is that ethnic harmony is possible! For this to happen, the church must be the church. And the church can only live out its Christ-given nature, calling, and mission by confidence in and submission to biblical truth. The word of God is the answer.
Here are seven biblical principles that promote ethnic harmony…
God Created all mankind in his image.
The Bible unapologetically teaches that God created the world, and everything in it (Genesis 1:1; Psalm 24:1-2). This includes every human being. Mankind is not the result of the random chance of an evolutionary process. God created us. Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” God created two genders of man – male and female. But God only created one race of man. Every human being has been created in the image of God.
Paul proclaimed, “And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for “In him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:26-28). No life is an accident. The nations are God’s handiwork, just as much as the heavens and earth. The God who created us predetermined every detail our lives, including when and where we would live. The Lord is at work of the creation of every person and nation that we might seek him.
Every person is a fallen sinner.
God created all mankind in his image. This is an essential nature every person shares in common. But there is another essential factor we all share. Every person is a fallen sinner. Paul indicts us all: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). As a result of the Fall of Adam and Eve, all humankind is stained by the guilt of original sin. The blunt reality is that “in Adam all die” (1 Corinthians 15:22).
Not only are we all stained by original sin, we are all marked by pervasive depravity. We are sinners by nature, choice, and behavior. And every aspect of our human existence is marred by our sinfulness. The pride of supposed racial superiority is folly. Every person, family, tribe, ethnicity, nation is corrupted by sin. We sin against the Lord God. We also sin against one another, in multiple ways. Racism betrays our sinfulness. As sinners, we should honor others as better than ourselves. We do the direct opposite, looking down on others, especially those who are different than we are. But the truth is that we are guilty sinners who are doomed for eternity without the rescuing grace of God in Christ.
