Premier Christianity asked me to write this article. You can get the original here. To be honest I hesitated a bit because I knew the response it would get. They had plenty people who were willing to write about how racist we all are. My fears were justified. So far in just one day I have been accused of being a racist (even though I don’t know it) ie. “This is the man who wrote the racist article in Christianity”…..and various other accusations – largely from professing Christians… The amazing thing is that people get furious at the first line of this article – how dare I claim I am not a racist! And then when I accept their own word that they are racists – they get furious. Some even argue that individuals are not racist, cultures are. Therefore as we belong to cultures we can take on the collective guilt of the culture – but not the individual. Go figure….anyway judge for yourselves….
I post the article as it was published….and then afterwards as I wrote it. It was edited for size – but I think the fuller article is better.
Let’s not follow the world’s agenda. Here are 10 Christian responses to racism
David Robertson is concerned the Church is mimicking society when it comes to issues of race
I have a confession to make. I’m not a racist
I, along with the founding fathers of the United States, hold this truth to be self-evident, that “all people are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”.
I don’t think that people should be judged by the colour of their skin, or their ethnic background (unlike Charles Darwin who argued in The Descent of Man that the Western nations which contain “the civilised races of man” will “almost certainly exterminate and replace the savage races”).
I side with Martin Luther King Jr who had a dream that that his children would live in a nation where they would be judged not by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character.
Sadly, there are those who believe, that no matter what I say, think or do, I must be racist.
Why? Because I’m white! Even if I don’t use what they consider to be racist words, or engage in racist behaviour, they will argue that because I belong to a systemically racist society, and have ‘white’ privilege, I must be a racist.
The irony which they seem to miss, is that they are judging me by the colour of my skin. And what is that, if not racism?
The politicisation of society on this issue is concerning. But what is worse is to see the politicisation of the Church, which is in danger of simply mimicking society. I know the gates of hell will not prevail against the Church – but let’s not make their task any easier. Can I suggest ten principles that we as Christians could follow instead?1. We should not accept the empty philosophies of this world
1) We should not accept the philosophies of this world
I have watched in astonishment as Christian leaders have joined in with the Premier League, the big corporations and the media in uncritically endorsing the Black Lives Matter organisation. Just because I believe black lives matter, does not mean that I have to support the BLM organisation. They are a pseudo-Marxist organisation who want to uphold Queer theory, destroy the family, get rid of capitalism and remove the police. Most astonishingly they fully support abortion. It seems some black lives do not matter…
I have also watched in astonishment as a few Christian leaders seem to be endorsing and reflecting white supremacist teaching. This too must be condemned. We have a much better philosophy – the philosophy of Christ.
2. We should not be simplistic – exchanging meme for meme
Black lives matter is a truism. Answering it with another truism, (all lives matter) is not helpful. Both statements are true. But life is much more complex. The Church must have a more intelligent, rational and compassionate approach. Shouting slogans never cured anything.
3. Listen to what God says in his word
Be biblical. You cannot be a follower of Jesus Christ and endorse racism. The Church needs to take this seriously.
I once asked a man to resign as a member of the church because of his racist views. We need to ask questions as to how biblical it is to have black churches or white churches or Chinese churches etc. It borders on heresy to divide the church according to race, class, age or social status. We are ‘all one in Christ’’ – are we not?
4. We should not boast about our own right-on-ness
Can we avoid posting about how our own political activities (taking the knee, attending a protest, etc) is a demonstration of the radical grace and compassion of God? It implies that those who are not agreed with such methods when it comes to eradicating racism are as radical or gracious.
Please let’s not judge people by their politics. Just because a Christian brother or sister has a different political perspective on these issues, does not mean they are evil or dumb
5. We should avoid hypocrisy
I once went to a pub with a few people who had just been on a ‘diversity training and race awareness day’. Impeccably politically correct in public, in private they were one of the most racist groups I had ever been with. Let’s make sure our life matches our words.
6. Let’s listen to people – from many different backgrounds
Life isn’t as simple as the media, political, and sometimes the religious narratives tell us. Don’t rush to push people into categories which may not be the whole truth. Treat every person as someone made in the image of God. Our identity is in Christ, not in the social construct of race.
7. We should not endorse or practice violence – either implicitly or explicitly
When we join the mob, we should be aware that at some point, it will turn on us. The revolution always eats itself.
It’s been sad to watch Christians justify their ‘side’ when they are engaged in violence (protest) and demand action against the other when their side do the same (riots); or vice versa.
It’s also been sad to see how some Christians have accepted cancel culture. Just because we don’t agree with or like something, does not mean that it should be cancelled.
8. Seek justice today
Slavery and injustice in the world are still prevalent. The easy thing is to demand repentance from dead people (or statues!) who can no longer repent. It’s not so easy to do something costly now.
9. Be realistic
The Black Lives Matter protests won’t change the human heart. I actually think that race relations in the UK and the US have been put back 20 years in the past 20 days. Those who believe that they are changing history for the better often end up making things worse. This is not to say we should do nothing – but we should have more realistic expectations of ourselves and realise that the problem is not simply solved by marching, shouting and banning.
10. Pray
Ultimately this is a spiritual battle. The dividing wall of partition (wherever it is) will only come down through the grace of Christ and the power of the Spirit. Why are we fighting with the weapons and tribes of the world, when we have the weapons of the Holy Spirit and the body of Christ – to take on the evils of racism?
Let us be Spirit filled, fruitful followers of Christ. That is our only hope.
“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb, down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nation.” (Revelation 22:1-2)
David Robertson is the director of Third Space, a project of the City Bible Forum in Australia. He was previously minister of St Peters Free Church in Dundee, Scotland
Premier Christianity is committed to publishing a variety of opinion pieces from across the UK Church. The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of the publisher
Time To Cancel Cancel Culture – CT
The Original Article.
The Christian Solution to Racism
I have a confession to make. I’m not a racist. I hold this truth to be self-evident, that “all people are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”
I don’t think that people should be judged by the colour of their skin, or their ethnic background – unlike Charles Darwin who argued in The Descent of Man that “The Western nations of Europe….now so immeasurably surpass their savage progenitors that they stand at the summit of civilisation. The civilised races of man will almost certainly exterminate and replace the savage races”. I’m more with Martin Luther-King who had a dream that “that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character”.Sadly, there are those who say, that no matter what I say, think or do, I must be racist. Why? Because I’m white. Even if I don’t use what they consider to be racist words…or engage in racist behaviour, they will argue that because I belong to a systemically racist society, and have ‘white’ privilege, I must be a racist. The irony which they seem to miss, is that they are judging me by the colour of my skin, in order to combat those who judge people by the colour of their skin!
The politicisation of society through this issue is concerning. What is worse is to see the politicisation of the church, just mimicking the society. I know the gates of Hell will not prevail against the Church – but let’s not make their task any easier. Can I suggest ten principles that we as Christians could follow?
1) We should not accept the empty philosophies of this world. I have watched in astonishment as Christian leaders have joined in with the Premier League, the big Corporations and the media in uncritically accepting the BLM movement. Just because I believe black lives matter, does not mean that I have to support the BLM organisation. They are a pseudo Marxist organisation who want to uphold Queer theory, destroy the family, get rid of capitalism, remove the police. Most astonishingly they fully support abortion. In the US Planned Parenthood, the main abortion provider seems to particularly target poorer African American communities. It appears that some black lives do not matter!
On the other hand I have also watched in astonishment as a few Christian leaders seem to be endorsing and reflecting white supremacist teaching? That’s as wrong as endorsing black supremacist teaching, or identity politics, or Queer theory. We have a better philosophy – the philosophy of Christ. When the world says, ‘all you need is love’ – we need to ask, ‘what do you mean by love?”. We have an answer. Do they?
2) We should not be simplistic – exchanging meme for meme. ‘Black lives matter’ is a truism. Answering it with another truism, ‘all lives matter’, is not helpful. Both memes are true. But live is much more complex. Both slogans could easily be merged into “Black lives matter as much as anyone else’s”. The Church must have a more intelligent, rational and compassionate approach. Shouting slogans never cured anything. Seeking to bully and control people by emotion is never helpful either.
3) We should not boast about our own right-on-ness. I took the knee, or I didn’t take the knee. Why should anyone care? It’s an empty meaningless virtue signalling gesture. Can we avoid posting about how what we are doing is offering the radical grace and compassion of God, implying that those who don’t share our point of view, are not quite as radical or gracious as us. Please don’t judge people by their politics. Just because a Christian brother or sister has a different political perspective on these issues, does not mean they are evil or dumb.
4) We should not endorse or practice violence – either implicitly or explicitly. When we join the mob, we should be aware that at some point it will turn on us. The revolution always eats itself. It’s been sad to watch Christians justify their ‘side’ when they are engaged in violence (protest) and demand action against the other when they do the same (riots); or vice versa. It’s also been sad to see how some Christians have accepted cancel culture. Just because we don’t agree with or like something, does not mean that it should be cancelled.
5) We should avoid hypocrisy – I once went out to a pub with a few people who had just been on a ‘diversity training and race awareness day’. Impeccably politically correct in public, in private they were one of the most racist groups I had ever been with. Let’s make sure our life matches our words.
6) Let’s listen to people – from many different backgrounds. Life isn’t as simple as the media, political, and sometimes the religious narratives tell us. Don’t push people into categories ‘BAME’, ‘White Supremacist’, which may not be the whole truth. Treat people as people made in the image of God. Our identity is in Christ, not in the social construct of race.
7) Listen to what God says in his word. Be biblical. You cannot be a follower of Jesus Christ and endorse racism. The Church needs to take this seriously. I once asked a man to resign as a member of the church because of his racist views. We need to ask questions as to how biblical it is to have black churches, white churches, Chinese churches etc. It borders on heresy to divide the church according to race, class, age or social status. We are ‘all one in Christ’’ – are we not?
8) Seek justice today – not just repercussions from dead people from the past. Slavery and injustice in the world are still prevalent. The easy thing is to demand repentance from dead people who can no longer repent. It’s not so easy to do something costly now.
9)Be realistic – The Black Lives Matter protest won’t change things. They won’t change the human heart and going by the manifesto of the BLM movement they will only make things worse. I think that race relations in the UK and the US have been put back 20 years in the past 20 days. Those who believe that they are changing history for the better – often end up making things worse. This is not to say we should do nothing – but we should have more realistic expectations of ourselves and realise that the problem is not simply solved by marching, shouting and banning.
10) Pray – Ultimately this is a spiritual battle. The dividing wall of partition (wherever it is) will only come down through the grace of Christ and the power of the Spirit. Why are we fighting with the weapons and tribes of the world, when we have the weapons of the Holy Spirit and the body of Christ – to take on the evils of racism?
Let us be Spirit filled, fruitful followers of Christ. That is our only hope. “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb, down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nation.” (Revelation 22:1-2)
David Robertson
Third Space
Sydney
Australia.Premier Christianity
23rd June 2020
Mostly with you, but feel I should mention that the Founding Fathers who wrote those stirring words, and I don’t doubt sincerely thought they believed them even to the point of taking up arms, included slave owners among their number. Nor did they think of, or include, women in the “people” entitled to life, liberty, etc.
It’s as simple as that for even the great to fall, unnoticed, into deadly error. God preserve us from thinking we are too good or wise to do the same.
I certainly do not believe you to be a racist by any stretch, and I am appalled that you have been accused of such.
However, I am not sure that your understanding of, “ All people are created equal” and what the founding fathers meant by that, are identical. I’m prepared to be wrong about that, but the lack of urgency in abolishing slavery may indicate that they did not hold that slaves were people, as you say Darwin, unlike Arthur Russell Wallace, held the view they were not equal, even after the abolition of slavery. Many of their time and ilk regarded slaves as property. Feel free to correct me on this.
A brave article, which goes against the narratives promoted by those who seek to gain political advantage from this tragic situation, hence the flak it has attracted.
Much in the article needed to be said, but there is one Bible passage I want to add:
“But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.”
Galatians 3:23-29 (NASB)
This is a highly relevant passage, particularly verse 28, but I felt it important to quote the verses before because otherwise verse 28 can be taken out of context. The key message is that we are one in Christ Jesus, all equal in His sight, but only if we are “in Him”. That equality can only truly happen in the body of Christ, it cannot happen outside of that, for it is only through the Holy Spirit living and working in us that we can truly see others as Father God does and treat them as he wants us to.
Sadly, this means the world, in its fallen state, will never see the racial equality and harmony it seeks, apart from Christ. Socialism won’t make it happen, neither will Marxism, nor antifa nor capitalism, nor BLM nor conservatism nor liberalism. The church should be proclaiming Christ, yet the establishment church is not. It is merely peddling sentiment and trying to be relevant; bowing to the popular narrative and putting a dog collar on it. I know a curate of Jamaican descent whom, on arriving at his first curacy, in a well-heeled middle class church, was told (with genuine warmth and good intent) that “we are so glad to have you because you are really increasing our diversity!”
I hope that in the body of Christ we are truly trying to see and treat others as equal, all made in God’s image, all saved by grace through faith, which itself is a gift given to us through the kindness and mercy of Father God. The church should be setting the example on how to do this “in Christ” and declaring, boldly, that it is the only way. I hope and pray that we manage to do that.
Absolutely wonderful.
“ 3) We should not boast about our own right-on-ness. I took the knee, or I didn’t take the knee. Why should anyone care? It’s an empty meaningless virtue signalling gesture. ”
It matters, because it sends a message. A message of agreement with – perhaps more importantly – subjection to, a totalitarian, pro-abortion, anti-Christian ideology.
Even more important, “at the Name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of things in Heaven, of things on Earth, and of things under the Earth, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”.
To “take a knee” – or as we Romans say, to “genuflect” – is a sign of subjection, of homage to Jesus Christ the Universal King, of adoration to Almighty God. That Jesus Christ is worthy of this homage, and is paid it by all creatures, shows both His Kingship and His Godhead. To pay what amount to “forced Hallelujahs” to a murderous Marxist cult is therefore absolutely wrong.
If BLM is not opposed, it will, if only for a while, swallow us whole. Totalitarian cults cannot be appeased.
Perhaps “taking a knee” means genuflecting or submission to some – and at least one politician here, with a deliberately faux-ignorant “Game of Thrones” reference, seems to want to make it a primitive dominance/submission narrative – but it didn’t to Kaepernick, or the ex-serviceman who recommended it to him as a known military expression of respect for a fallen comrade. When you stand quiet and salute the flag at a remembrance service, are you then putting Caesar ahead of God?
As to trying to limit racial and other equalities to “only in Church, dears – don’t ask us to support you outside” – do we then have to just accept that, for the natural man outside Christ, any other skin colour than white-with-a-chemical-tan means a living soul is less than human and not even entitled to the right to life, let alone justice? If we do, should we then stop arguing against abortion and euthanasia for non-Christians as well? Some churches were tempted historically to endorse slavery for the unbaptised – and to our disgrace, some slave owning societies denied baptism to the blacks in order to justify keeping them in chains.
Do not think that if we take that path, the Churches will be left alone to “love one another” equally in peace. When the majority Rwandan tribal group massacred its rivals, churches were deliberately targeted and those who sought sanctuary in them were slaughtered with the rest. And we will deserve no better, if we coward into only treating our brothers as some sort of indigent cousin we graciously allow into our Father’s house but are too ashamed or afraid to acknowledge as family outside.
Thanks for the article, David.
On point 3, I hear you re: multiethnic churches. However you might be aware that the reason for black churches etc are because when West Indian people came to the UK to rebuild the nation after World War II as part of the Windrush, they experienced racial abuse and rejection from white Brits in white churches and therefore set up their own. Similar story in the US. The phenomenon of the “Black church” in the West is one rooted in a history of separation. I also assume its based on the overall ethnic demographic of an area too (e.g. I would expect a predominantly white church to exist in a predominantly white area).
I was recently heard about a black man who was refused curacy in a C of E church because accepting him would upset the white working class parishioners.
https://premierchristian.news/en/news/article/black-ordinand-refutes-apology-from-c-of-e-after-rejection-from-white-majority-parish
Looks like there’s a long way to go re: race relations….even in the Church.
Thank you for sharing this David.
This has come at a time for me in Christian circles where I have been falsely accused of racism. First in a Christian group where I asserted rightly that an attack on any person because of the colour of their skin alone is a racist attack. This includes grouping any white person along with others and holding the individual to account for “historic racism” or “institutionalised racism” whether the individual is guilty or innocent of racism. It resulted in me standing my ground, saying with the group that I hope to continue but that if I am not welcome that there are other groups and individuals that can benefit from my presence. The leader of the group apologised for what happened, said that he couldn’t stop the false accusations, admitted that the people were doing this were unrepentant and closed the group.
Second, a seniour lecturer at a bible college making thinly veiled false claims about what I have been doing to be evil and racist. For simply speaking truth about holding white people as individuals to account for the slave trade that they have not part in and no guilt for and for nothing other than being white, is a racist act. And saying that I honour Martin Luther King in his dream about all being judged on content of character – in which case his false implicit claim being that I had misappropriated MLK in order to perpetuate “white privilege”, as we know a flowery way of claiming someone is racist.
So what do we do? Scripture is clear – put on the armour of God, truth as a belt and faith as a shield to extinguish the fiery darts that come. And they come in the form of lies, false accusations, defamation attempts to destroy reputation among others. Once you figure out what is going on, it simple and the enemy is stupid enough to make the same mistakes.
But is it tough, perhaps most tough when the attacks come from Christians, and Christians in authority. But what the enemy intends for evil, God uses for good!
At a deeper level, this issue is not about racism. It is political, tribal and about polemical adversity, violence in thoughts and deeds. It’s about the clashing of two different and opposing world views with black and white on both sides which, if came under control could result in a divine diversity, but left to their own devices is a recipe for destruction. There is no us and them in Christ! (Gal 3:28).
Take a look if you will at this video which attempts to bridge the gap with truth. It contains some scenes which might upset, so viewer discretion is advised. In it here are two black Americans saying “bad things happen to all races, buttercup…that catch phrase “Black Lives Matter”, it duped a lot of us… I’m tired of this damned lie, so I’m going to expose it… I’m not goin’ to tell you, I’m goin’ to show you, because if I don’t show you, you are going to call me a liar and a sell-out ” https://youtu.be/f5xgnWL6opQ
Thank you
And Amen to what you have said
Thank you too for the stand you take on so many issues, we stand with you . Praying for you and your continued work as a man of God gifted to speak out wisdom to our dumb downed ears
LAWLESSNESS. Another of Jesus’s Matt 24 signs that he describes as birth pangs leading up to the Rapture and The Great Tribulation. It will not be turned back as participants on all sides are intransigent and anyway BLM cannot even agree on what they agree on!
The just announced Great Global Reset of the World Economic Forum in lock-step with the UN, should surely show us that we are in the closing stages of the End Times of Daniel and Revelation.
They are exploiting the Covid 19 crisis (and there is much evidence to indicate they caused it) to vaccinate every world citizen and insert an RFID chip allegedly for contract tracing and for paternalistic/totalitarian New World Order Utopia. Many other birth pangs just in 2020 should surely show us that we are in the closing stages of the End Times?
Few leaders in the church are sounding the warnings but two who are worth spending the time on their YouTube sites are J.D.Farag of Egyptian/Lebanese origin and Amir Tsafarti a Messianic Jew.
Maranatha!
Thank you again David for bearing the reproach of Christ which does take a toll on our health, mental and possibly physical also.
The real question is, “why do any lives matter?” The Black Lives Matter founders and the overwhelming majority of their fellow travellers believe with perfect faith in the General Theory of Evolution, that we are all just modified pond scum, time and mutation being the only factors that separate us from said pond scum and yet the preservation or wellbeing of pond scum doesn’t concern them. This is not logical.
We believe black lives matter because they are the descendants of Adam and Eve via Noah’s three sons and their their wives at the genetic bottleneck created when every other member of the one Human Race perished along with all the other air breathing creatures not on the Ark when the world that then was perished, by the judgement of God in the global deluge. Adam was created in the image of God and we all bear that image in Adam, though of course the sin of Adam and Eve has marred that image considerably though not in entirety.
If these materialists believe black lives matter, why do they matter? Why does anything matter? As Richard Dawkins the High Priest of Materialism said:
“The total amount of suffering per year in the natural world is beyond all decent contemplation. During the minute that it takes me to compose this sentence, thousands of animals are being eaten alive, many others are running for their lives, whimpering with fear, others are slowly being devoured from within by rasping parasites, thousands of all kinds are dying of starvation, thirst, and disease. It must be so. If there ever is a time of plenty, this very fact will automatically lead to an increase in the population until the natural state of starvation and misery is restored. In a universe of electrons and selfish genes, blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, other people are going to get lucky, and you won’t find any rhyme or reason in it, nor any justice. The universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but pitiless indifference.”
― Richard Dawkins, River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life
Is not racism a sub division of the overarching issue of pride? i.e. I am better than you. When one accuses another, who they dont really know of being a racist are they not demonstrating they themselves have a problem with the father of racism namely pride – the sin for which Lucifer was expelled from heaven.
Jesus lived in an era of racism and oppression. Simon was a zealot, part of a party that fought for liberation. Jesus however virtually ignores the whole issue. He stressed the corruption of the heart. He called it out as personal sin against God and His word. He then suffered at the hands of the political force within his own nation, and the oppressing Roman occupation. He treated each person with dignity. He then suffered the worst injustice the world has ever seen that we might be free. While proclaiming freedom, we are slaves to sin, this slavery is the most damaging, because it has eternal consequences. Yet we are blind to it. If the truth will set us free we need truth and if we reject it we can never be free. Jesus says that He can make us free. His blood alone was sufficient, yet the same goodness is required of us. Forgiveness needs to replace resentment. Truth needs to replace lies. And love covers a multitude of sins. Only in this way can we go forward.
If our great problem is sin, and sin is destructive, then we should not be surprised by what we see. However Jesus is the real answer, not the revolutionary image Of Jesus that some imagine, but the one who came to save us from our sin and it’s consequences. This takes it from the theoretical to the personal, and who is without sin?
There is a lot of good stuff here..but I think wee flea made a mistake by citing the US declaration of independence without pointing out that it was written in a context of slavery and that black people were totally excluded from its terms until at least 1970. The legacy of colonialism and slavery still has to be dealt with and that is why we have to support BLM in this moment.
No – we don’t ‘have’ to support the pseudo Marxist, anti-family, anti Israel, pro Trans BLM. We do have to believe and act upon the fact that black lives matter.
Thank you David. I’m playing catch up as always, but appreciate your articles. We have been watching a series on John Adams…(my son has control of the remote 😉 & he did a semester at W&M, Virginia last year) It’s actually been fascinating…and if the portrayal is accurate, both John and his wife were ahead of their time with their discomfort of slavery…particularly as they entered the Whitehouse. Coincidentally, I came across a lovely singing of “Mine eyes have seen the glory…” so looked up the history of it’s writing. That too is very moving. Wonderful lady…and also courageous in speaking out ahead of her time. Thanks again. Every blessing.