No
one can deny the turmoil and division that exists in our country today. While I admit this, I don’t necessarily think
it is what we see on the news coverage.
It seems we are led to believe that every American citizen is caught up
in that division and must declare sides.
I have long since removed myself from the news coverage because I don’t
feel like I am getting the unfiltered factual news anymore. And this comes from both sides of the
political divide.
Now if I haven’t lost you yet, let me address this racial division. What does the Bible have to say about this? Well, first let’s note this is not something new. This racial prejudice has always existed and in the New Testament times was perhaps even deeper than today.
The
first Century Jew regarded all people to be in one of 2 groups. One was either a Jew or a Gentile/Greek. The 7th chapter of Mark notes the Jewish
prejudice was so strong they too practiced hand washing. But their hand washing had nothing to do with
hygiene. It was all about a social
contamination. Their mentality was that
if a Gentile touched anything and they later touched it as well, it made them
spiritually unclean. Jesus clearly condemned
this and taught that their problem was an issue of the heart.
The
Greeks were also guilty of categorizing people into 2 groups. According to Romans 1:14, these 2 groups were
the Greeks and the barbarians. The
Greeks were those in New Testament times that spoke the Greek language and held
to the Grecian customs. This largely
came about during the Grecian Empire established under Alexander the
Great. The barbarians were referred to
as anyone not subscribing to the culture and the ways of the Greeks.
Thus
we have all mankind divided into Jew and Gentile or Greek and barbarian. The context of Romans 1 gives us the simple
approach to racial division. The gospel
is for all. Paul explained in verse 16,
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ, for it is the power of GOD to salvation for everyone who believes
for the Jew first and also for the Greek.”
Therein
lies an interesting and timely lesson for us regarding the Jew and the Greek. We
know who the Jews were. Under the Old
Law, they were the chosen of GOD, the descendants of Judah. What about the Greeks? As stated earlier, they were those who spoke
the Greek language. In the context of
Romans 1, the Greek represented anyone not of the Jewish persuasion. So, in reality, the whole of mankind is
addressed.
Reading
the book of Acts we can see how the Jews struggled with this prejudice. The early Jewish Christians were reluctant to
admit the Gentiles into the church. Acts
10 relates the story of Cornelius and his household and how they were used to
combat this prejudice.
Later
in Acts 17:26, Paul says, “And HE has
made from one blood every nation of men…”
When
I look at man, I must see beyond skin tone.
I must see someone made in the image of GOD. It is only then will the racial divide be
truly conquered.
While
I don’t think the racial division is what I am being fed by the media and
politicians, there is no doubt these tensions exist. They existed in the first Century and they
exist today.
It
is only when we see things from GOD’S perspective that these prejudices will be
gone. Our prejudice will disappear when
we see that the grace of GOD that brings salvation has appeared to all men
(Titus 2:11).
Oh,
I should note that GOD also divides men into 2 groups. But it has nothing to do
with ethnicity. In our context of Romans
1, we note the righteousness of GOD in verse 17 and the unrighteousness of men
in verse 18. Two groups are named, the
righteous and the unrighteous. Jesus used the analogy of roads or gates in
Matthew 7. Two groups, two roads, two
classifications of men: the saved and the lost.
That is how GOD separates and distinguishes.
Saved and lost. In which group will you be????
