Racism Series

George W. Gradleck, a German psychiatrist, said that it is truer that our lives live us than that we

live our lives. What he meant was that repression, early loyalties and prejudices can get such a grip

on one’s life that they compel one to be what he is. Once the attitude of racism, for example, gets

into a person’s mind it takes an act of God to cleanse a person and set them free from its clutches.

Benjamin E. Mays in his book Seeking To Be Christian In Race Relations wrote, “It is probably

easier to be Christian in any other area of life than it is in the area of race. Here the practice of the

Christian religion seems to break down most completely.”

Since the killing of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I have witnessed the power of prejudice in the

Christian life. I have seen Christian people openly acknowledge that hate rather than love is the

strongest factor in determining their racial attitudes. If I was a black Christian listening to some of

the conversations of white Christians within the church, I would conclude that these people fail to

bear witness to the power of Christ to change human hearts. This judgment would be true in part,

but on the other hand the Bible makes it clear that even born again people are far from the ideal of

all things becoming new. The old clings to us and will not dissolve apart from the direct action of

the Holy Spirit. This is what we see in our text.

Peter had a wall of prejudice built up in him over the years of his training in Judaism. The

Gentiles were unclean, and to associate with them intimately was to defile yourself. Peter was a

leader of the church. He had spent 3 years with Jesus, and yet he still had a narrow racist attitude. It

took a direct revelation from God to get Peter to change the pattern of racism in his life. This is

recorded for the benefit of all ages to deal with believers who have a problem with prejudice. God

made it clear to Peter that he was not to call any man common or unclean. The Gospel was a

universal Gospel. It was to go to all people, which means that all people are equal before God.

They are all equally sinners, and they are all equally free to become saints by faith in Christ, whose

blood atoned for all people equally.

Peter said it was unlawful and against his conscience to enter into fellowship with Gentiles, but

God broke through the barriers of both law and conscience to show him that all men were to be

accepted as equals in the church. Revelation is superior to tradition, law or conscience. The

Christian is to obey God’s Word even if it means to break with all that you have been taught by your

parents, church or society. This is what Peter did when he entered the home of Cornelius. God not

only approved, but He demanded that Peter break with the traditions of Judaism. Christianity was to

be inclusive of all peoples. In Christ there was to be no segregation, discrimination or class. Paul

says that the citizens of the kingdom were to be treated as equals without distinction between Greek

of Jew, circumcision or un-circumcision, barbarian , Sythian, bond or free, but all were to be one in

equality.

This was the ideal within the kingdom that was to determine the attitude of Christians toward all

lost peoples. The Gospel was to go to all people regardless of race or color. Fhillip was led of the

Holy Spirit to reach the Ethiopian Eunuch of the Negroid race as one of the first fruits of missions.

Apparently the Holy Spirit considered them to be worthy of the Gospel just as he did the Jews.

Unfortunately, not all Christians have agreed with the Holy Spirit. This was not the case in the early

church or through the Middle Ages. Economic factors in the modern world have also led to

problems of racism. By racism I mean what Webster’s Dictionary defines as, “Assumption of

inerrant racial superiority or the purity and superiority of certain races, and consequent

discrimination against other races...”

The Christian cannot be a racist, for God’s Word is clear that all men are sinners that fall short

of the glory of God. One can be proud of one’s race and its achievements, which may be superior to

those of other races without being a racist. A racist is one who assumes that his superiority gives

him the right to oppress or discriminate against another. This is where the evil comes in. This

attitude developed in the white race toward the black race out of economic exploitation. Whenever