Racism and God

With the recent murder that happened in Virginia at the hands of a Neo Nazi people are looking where to blame. What do parents tell their children about police brutality and groups like Black Lives Matter or racial tensions at all? Obviously the above video strays from the traditional bible story of Adam and Eve; yet, the message is still in accordance with equality and God's word about race. People are being discriminated against because of their political party, race, gender, religion, etc. Often the Bible is used to support discrimination which is a misunderstanding of the nature and Spirit of God. In fact, the Bible and Jesus tell us not to be prejudiced or discriminate against other people based on our differences.

The Bible says in Genesis that all human beings were created in the image and likeness of God. This includes black people, white people, people of a different sexual orientation, and people who may have a different political view than you. It includes all people. The Bible also says in Acts, Deuteuronomy, and many other parts of the Bible that God does not show partiality or favoritism. When Jesus died on the cross for our salvation it meant the salvation of all people, not just a certain ethnic group or political group. It says in James 2:4 that those who discriminate are described as "judges with evil thoughts".

The well loved apostle Luke was a physician. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus gave the parable, "To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened." This parable was depicting God as being feminine. Yeast is very small in size. However, in time it will spread throughout all the dough. The Yeast makes the dough rise from within the same as the kingdom of God works in people.God changes the hearts of people and by doing this influences the culture around them. The yeast changes and allows to grow whatever it has contact with. Therefore, we are changed and influenced by the Spirit of God working silently in our lives the same as yeast in bread.

Jesus was a radical in his day because he talked to women who at that time were considered to be sub human. People who believe one race is better than another are going against the teachings of Jesus Christ. He believed in equality and practiced what he preached. He defied the social structure of his day in which women were oppressed people due to their gender. As people today we are still seeing oppression based on gender, race, religion, ethnicity, etc. Even at his birth, it is believed that one of the wise men was of African heritage. The three wise men in the Bible are not given names. Their names were attributed to a Greek manuscript from 500 A.D. that was translated into Latin. This manuscript is still credited with being the sources of their names. One of the wise men was named Baithisarea which is later translated in Western Christianity as Balthazar. This person was described by St. Bede in the 8th century as being of "black complexion with heavy beard". Many people believe he was of African descent due to this description by St. Bede.. The followers of Jesus even at his birth were of different races. Yet, they were important in the story of Jesus and in Christianity.

At the last supper Jesus told his disciples when he broke bread that it was his body and blood and we should do this in memory of him. He did this for all people so that anyone who receives the bread or the spirit of God is being planted with Leaven like the parable said. Jesus defied his time by offering himself for the salvation of women like Mary Magdalene, Matthew (a tax collector who was thought to be a bad person and looked down on), and everyone who was in need of healing in the world. In order to be more like him, we also should not discriminate against people who are different from us. Discrimination and racism are a disease of society and we need to try to put our differences aside for the sake of common good and humanity as a whole.