Racism and Gospel Witness: The Importance of being Dogmatic and Compassionate in Light of the Person and Work of Jesus Christ

Racism and Gospel Witness: The Importance of being Dogmatic and Compassionate in Light of the Person and Work of Jesus Christ

It is my belief that in order to work toward continual reconciliation it is inevitable that two elements be present, namely, dogmatic convictions and convictional compassion. It is my intention and hope to show that, in regard to racial issues, there is no answer ultimately more compelling than a robust understanding of the gospel. 

In discourse there are few, if any, better ways to effectively communicate than to understand what we are talking about by defining our terms up front. When I speak of the gospel I am explicitly speaking to the person and work of Jesus Christ; particularly in living a sinless life, dying an atoning substitutionary death, and resurrecting from the dead to secure those who believe and trust in him by faith for salvation. I am not going to go into depth by dissecting that, however, it is helpful to note what we are speaking about. By the gospel we are not talking vaguely about people loving people, or doing the right thing, or being a good person, we are talking about Jesus. 

In the Christian Scripture there is a significant doctrine from Genesis that has separated man from every beast that has ever walked the face of this earth. This doctrine is that of man being born in the image of God, i.e. imago Dei. This doctrine, of being born in the image of God, means that every man and woman born bears the likeness of God. This is seen through several different channels such as rationality, morality, communicable and relational being, etc. To just about any American who has lived through the Mid-20^th century to the present day, the introduction to this doctrine seems inevitably leading you to the discussion of the Civil Rights Movement. It was in the Civil Rights Movement where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. notably argued for racial equality based off of the assumption of the Christian understanding of human nature and the image which it reflected. 
Yet, where does this leave us for the sake of this post? Understanding what the gospel is, and what the gospel is not, is essential for the way issues of race are handled. The worldview in which I am looking at, and unashamedly so, is the worldview of Christianity, and then particularly the doctrine of the imago Dei. Why does an examination of the gospel as the person and work of Jesus Christ shape the way we deal with racial issues? Is the gospel witness affected by the way we deal with racial issues? In what ways does being dogmatic and compassionate help shape a gospel witness when dealing with racial issues? These are all important questions if the doctrines of the Christian Scripture are true, and they are indeed!

Why does an examination of the gospel as the person and work of Jesus Christ shape the way we deal with racial issues? When we examine the gospel of Jesus we see that the story of all men and women are indeed the same. For all of the differences throughout history- be that cultural, philosophical, political, social- all of mankind has shared one central motif in their heart. Every man and woman who has been born in flesh has set as their holistic hope to be glorified and praised. The centrality of the heart for the sinful man is his own glory. Jesus, the rightful king of the cosmos, being betrayed for the kingship of another can arguably be the greatest example of treason on the grandest scale. Thus, understanding the person and work of Jesus Christ leaves no man in a place to boast over anything. All men have sinned (Romans 3:23). There is no people group left out according to St. Paul. There is no group of color who does not fall in this category, and thus, stand condemned and guilty of sin against a holy God. Paul eradicates any basis for a white-supremacy anthropology.

Is the gospel witness affected by the way we deal with racial issues? This is a tough question, because the grace of God often works in spite of Christians. However, I am inclined to think that the gospel witness is affected by the way that we deal with issues to which gospel implications speak. The gospel explicitly and intentionally sets no human up for boasting (Ephesians 2). Due to this particular truth of the gospel it logically follows that no race can escape the guilt of sin, and thus, supremacy of race is irrational. The gospel witness calls believers to preach the gospel to their communities; this is evidenced by the book of Acts, and among other examples in the apostles writing to churches. It may not be true to every situation, that your local community is a very diverse group, but the principle remains the same; how you deal with your fellow man will speak volumes as to your view of their value. One cannot simply stand in the position of the tax collector on the corner being thankful for his merit because, he has nothing commendable to boast. The value in mankind is not in his merit, but in the merit of whose image he bears. Shaming a fellow human for the basis of their skin tone is not merely a personal and societal problem, it is an anthropological problem that is rooted in theological truth, namely that God intends for humans to bear his image.

Here I have intentionally spoken more about dogmatic matters because, I fear that there is temptation to fall into a dangerous notion that if everybody loves everybody then all will be well. Loving each other apart from recognizing the root of why we ought to love one another will, I believe, show itself to be shallow and void of being truly loving to each other. The heart of man, being born in sin, seeks continuously to sin and only by the grace of God through the ministry of the Holy Spirit is man able to come to understand that mankind has a reason to love one another. John 13:34-35 explicitly states that mankind ought to love one another, the reason being, Christ has loved us. The old saying is true, doctrine divides. Dogmatic or doctrinal issues will always provide a dividing territory, because the sinful spirit fights against truth. But nowhere in philosophy or religion is there a more compelling reason to actually love one another than in the implications of the gospel. This here is the beginning of compassion that complements doctrine; not contradicting it.

Some practical ways I think the church can stand as a light in the realm of racial reconciliation is to live confessional. Confessional both of living sinners, as well as those purchased and secured by Jesus Christ himself. The security of the believer in Jesus is as secure as is the resurrected body of Jesus; so take heart. The church can be the people who, through the work of the Holy Spirit, can avoid legalism as well as lawlessness. The church can be a place where people come confessing personal sins of racism as well as confessing being part of furthering systemic racism. The church can be a place where the spirit that was Jim Crow can be crucified while the spirit of Jesus floods the plains of repenting hearts. And may we be honest; there is sin to be repented of. As I write this I am reminded that I am a young white male who will likely never face half the mistreatment from authority that my brothers and sisters who are minorities will. I am doubtful, that if I ever have children, I will face the fears that some of my African American brothers carry who have children. I’ve known people who live as though they would rather have their daughter bring home Don Draper than Trip Lee, and that is sinful. Let us live preaching that our sin is great. But please, let us live preaching that the grace of Jesus is greater still.