Paul Davison

Racism On A Global Scale

Between university and my first job, I spent 3 months in the Philippines on a missions-exposure trip. A friend and I went and worked with a church with two Filipino pastors – he worked with one and I was with the other. I was billeted with a Chinese-Filipino family and I went out each day with the pastor visiting, and to various Bible studies. This was an area with some, but not too many, foreigners. White skin was a novelty in that area. In that culture things Western were prized and valued. The rich spoke English in preference to their own language; to mix with white people was very desirable. And so the pastor I was working with was able to arrange visits to people he would not normally have access to, because he was able to bring along this young, white, Westerner.

My white skin opened doors. Now there was something flattering about being welcomed in all these places. But it was a racist welcome.  It wasn’t my charm, my wit, my powerful intellect, my scintillating personality – it was the paleness of my skin. I found that humiliating. It was a form of racism that put me in a high social position based on my skin colour.

Of course, my experience, while somewhat demeaning, was a racism that brought me undeserved honour. How much worse, is the racism that - typically because someone’s skin colour is black or brown or yellow - brings them an undeserved dishonour? Their experience is not a racist welcome, but rather a racist rejection.

Race and racism aren’t simple! It’s not just a black and white issue.

• Chinese typically look down on White people;
• Japanese typically consider Koreans a step below them;
• Croatians vs. Serbs;
• Hutu vs. Tutsi;
• Russians vs. Slavs

– the list is endless. So before anything has happened on the mission field, race and racism are critical issues faced by all those whom we send with the gospel to a foreign country.

New Zealand Baptists are working in Bangladesh and India; in Macau and China; in Thailand and Afghanistan.  Each one of those countries has a different predominant ethnic group – each one will react differently to the presence of missions personal from New Zealand.  Race and racism is an important issue as we think about the good news of Jesus going out into all the world.  And even here in little ol’ New Zealand we have race and racism history as well as current issues to deal with.

So we are considering God’s perspective on our multi-ethnic world and our multi-ethnic country.  And we’re doing that by looking at the book-ends of the Bible: Genesis and Revelation – Creation and Consummation – the beginning of the story and the end of the story. Nations and race and ethnicity are major themes that run right through the Bible.  Much of the Old Testament account is God’s dealings not only with individuals, but also with nations, with different ethnic groups.  In the New Testament the number one issue is how the different ethnic groups can get on in one church, how Jew and Gentile are to find unity. These are big themes through the Bible.

In the first article, God's Plan For The Races, we considered some of the contribution of Genesis - that all human beings are made in the image of God.  Since we all come from that one common source, there are no grounds for the superiority of one race over another – we all share the glory of being the made in God’s image and we all share the ignominy of rebelling against our Creator.  Because all people are made in God’s image, then all people are capable of relationship with God, and all people are worthy of hearing the gospel in order to make that relationship a reality.  We saw some of God’s nature displayed in his purpose for different races – for diversity within the bounds of a fundamental unity. The story begins with the creation account in Genesis – and issues race are addressed by the Bible’s opening words.

But they are also addressed in the Bible’s closing words, as we see history drawn to a close.  For one of the ways to see the purposes of God that drive history is to look at the end of the history that God describes in Revelation. This is where he is taking history. This is what history is about.  This is what Hastings Baptist Church is about and what our city is about and what New Zealand and all the nations of the world are about.

You can learn your reason for being by looking at the goal of God in Revelation.  In Revelation 5:9, John tells us why Jesus is worthy to open the book of the end of history so that things unfold according to the plan of God.  Jesus is worthy because of how his death relates to all the races and tribes of the earth:

You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth. (Revelation 5:9-10)

All Races United

The reason Jesus has the right to open the book of history is that by his death he ransomed people for God - for the glory of God and the worship of God - from every "tribe and tongue and people and nation."  So it was God's design in the atonement, in the death of Jesus on the cross, to ransom some from every kind of race and language and make them into one "kingdom." They would all have one king.

That is, they would all live with a supreme passion for God. That is what would unite them - the greatness and the supremacy of their one and only King.  And they will all be "priests" from all the races and nations and languages. That is, they will all be full-time worshippers. Jesus died to ransom subjects for the King and worshippers for the King from all the races and languages. You can see the vision fulfilled in verses 13-14:

every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honour and glory and power, for ever and ever!” The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshipped.

This is what all creation is designed for, and Revelation 5:9 says that the reason Christ died, and is worthy to bring creation to this great climax, is that he ransomed people from all the tribes and languages to praise God as priests and not to be punished as rebels in hell.  Now that is what history is about. That is what nations are about. That is what races are about. That is what languages are about.

This is the meaning of all created things: all things exist by Christ and through Christ and for Christ (Colossians 1:16) - and for the Father who sits upon the throne: "From him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever" (Romans 11:36).   That is the meaning of history, and the meaning of our nation and of your life - joyfully and savingly - or in the end, begrudgingly and without hope.

The death of Christ was designed by God to unite races in a supreme passion for Christ and God the Father. Christ died to ransom worshippers from every race. And every language.  Now this has a huge implication for our mission as a church.  For example, there are over 6,000 languages spoken in the world today. Besides these, there are tribal and ethnic divisions within languages. Christ died to ransom people from them all.  That is why we are passionate about missions to unreached peoples.  It’s why we join with other Baptist Churches – because the task is just too big for us by ourselves. It’s why Christians from New Zealand work with Christians from other nations on the mission fields of the world – the task is just too big for one nation.

• It’s why thousands and thousands of missionaries are being sent from Africa and Latin America and Asia
• South Korean missionaries are working in 164 countries
• Christians in China are working at raising up 100,000 missionaries for world evangelisation

The task is so great – disciples from every nation, believers from every tribe and language – everyone is needed – even us here in little ol’ NZ.

Why Did God Create Different Races and Languages?

Praise Comes To God

There is a greater power and depth to the praise that comes to God from unity in diversity as over against simple uniformity. The scene being described in Revelation is a scene of worship and praise to God.  Psalm 96:3 says,

Declare his glory among the nations, his marvellous deeds among all peoples.

Why? The next verse answers:

For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise.

In other words, the nations must be summoned to participate because the greatness of the praise depends on it. God means for his praise to be great. And unity in diversity is greater than uniformity.  It’s more than just numbers in uniformity – it’s the multitude of ways that praise should be given to God. Something that comes through a diversity of ethnic groups all united in the one cause of praise to the Almighty.

Christ Is Magnified

The strength and wisdom and love of a leader are magnified in proportion to the diversity of people they can inspire to follow with joy. In Romans 15:18 Paul says:

I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the [nations] to obey God.

Christ is in the business of winning a following - winning obedient worshippers from diverse nations. If he can only win people from a few tribes and races, then his leadership will not look universally compelling.  But if he wins followers from every tribe and every tongue and every people and every nation, then the glory of his leadership will look more like the greatness that it really is.

God Undercuts Ethnocentric Pride

By gathering his redeemed from all the races of the earth, God undercuts ethnocentric pride and throws us back on free grace where we give him all the glory instead of thinking that we are chosen because we are European or Maori of Indian or Thai or whatever.  This is what Paul was stressing in Acts 17:26 when he preached to the proud Athenians. They boasted over other peoples that they were superior because they sprang from the Athenian soil without common ancestry with other peoples.  So Paul said:

From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.

In other words, you Athenians and the Barbarians and the Jews and the Romans all come by God's design from the same origin.  God’s ultimate purpose for all the nations and all the races and all the languages is that they be united as one people in Christ under God.  There is no place for the pretentions to superiority of one race over others, no place for even a hint of pride that God chooses anyone because of their particular race.  God had a plan in bring about a multi-ethnic world. That diversity was so important to God that the Lord Jesus died for people of every race.

with your blood you purchased for God members of every tribe and language and people and nation. (Revelation 5:9)

United in their Passion and Worship of God

But it is also in the death of Christ that the redeemed, who come from all the races, are united in their passion for God. They are ransomed to be priests and to sing with all redeemed creation:

To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honour and glory and dominion forever and ever.

From the diversity, Christ brings about a fundamental unity. Ultimately, it is not our common humanity that will unite people – but rather a shared salvation through Christ.  Creation points to a fundamental unity because of our common humanity.   The consummation points to a fundamental unity for black and white and brown and red and yellow and every shade in between because of the power of Christ’s death to make the redeemed one people.

The people of God in the book of Revelation, the vision of the people of God at the conclusion of history, is a vision of God’s people as multi-ethnic and multi-cultural and multi-lingual.   God’s intention is for his people to be multi-ethnic and multi-cultural, and yet unified in their fellowship and their worship of him.  The vision of God’s people that John sees suggests that around the throne of God you will find Nigerians, Cubans, Turks, Chinese, Brazilians, Swedes, Afghans, Maori, Tongan and a host of other peoples from hundreds of different tribes speaking hundreds of different languages. The ethnic races of the world will be mixed together and brought together in worship of God.

It’s important there that we visualise the unity, the “body of Christ” and “the people of God” correctly.  This united group isn’t a predominantly white congregation. Christians who gather around the throne of God will rub shoulders with people of all races.  One united church made of a diversity of people – that is the picture set before us in the book of Revelation.  And if that is where the church is going, if that is the picture of the church of heaven – then that is the path we should be proceeding along today.

Now Hastings Baptist Church is predominantly a group of white Europeans.  Occasionally, someone of a different ethnic origin will bravely come among us. We have to work very hard at making them welcome, as best we can, on their cultural terms.  For it is too easy for us to be complacent and satisfied about our ethnic composition.  We live in an area where more than 20% of the population are Maori – that’s 1in 5 in Hastings identify themselves as Maori.  Now I realise that intermarriage between Europeans and Maoris can see a tall, lanky, ginger-haired, freckled-face lad playing for the New Zealand Maori rugby team.   But as I look across this congregation I have to wonder if we aren’t missing some people. If we were a church in Auckland we would also want to see more Asian faces.

Strangely, from a biblical perspective, we are more worried about a disproportion of ages than we are of races. It’s more important to us that some new young people have come and joined our church, than some new people of a different ethnic background haven’t joined our church.  The Bible makes no mention of multi-ages gathered around the throne of God – I assume them, but they’re not mentioned.  But multi-ethnicity, that is specifically highlighted. And so multi-ethnicity within this church should be a specific concern of ours.  Just as it is a miracle and a mystery to me why we have had young people join what was a predominantly older congregation, it will be a miracle and mystery to me to see a more multi-ethnic flavour to Hastings Baptist.  There is no magic lever to pull – but there is a hope, a biblically grounded hope, that God would so bless us, that we see this multi-ethnicity here Sunday by Sunday.

It should be something we pray for, something that sensitizes us to the needs of others, something that makes us prepared for personal sacrifices in order to accommodate others.  It hasn’t just happened by itself so far, which gives us no reason to think things will change unless we explore change. And that change starts with our attitudes and our aspirations.  It is inconceivable that we should believe that this picture in the book of Revelation is the goal of God in history, and the aim of the death of his Son, and not care about racial harmony and racial unity here and now in this nation and this city and in this church.

Now there are two responses that are provoked by a consideration of race and racism. They are the responses that issue in calls for justice and calls for reconciliation.

Those who are the victims of racism, the offended, the oppressed, the downtrodden, the abused - call out for justice.  They call out for vindication, they call out for fairness and redress.  And typically those who are the oppressors, the ones who have the power, the ones who haven’t suffered, the ones who haven’t been wronged – call out for reconciliation.  “Look this was all a long time ago, that’s not how we think now, that’s not the way it is now ... let’s leave all that in the past, let’s move on, let’s be reconciled.”  And so the TV will show us black people and brown people and yellow people, marching and protesting, demanding justice and restitution.  And the same TV will show us white people calmly calling for reconciliation and asking that we leave the past behind and move forward together.

Justice and reconciliation – those are the two responses that are drawn forth by a proper consideration of race and racism. And I think as we look at the Bible, they are the right responses.  But they are the right responses coming from the wrong people.

For the Scriptural call to the powerful, to the strong, to those in a position of influence is a call to bring justice and fairness and equity, it is a call to redress the wrongs of the past, to make restitution – to see that justice is served.  And the Scriptural call to the oppressed and the abused and the hurt and the offended is a call to forgiveness and reconciliation. In the Bible it is the innocent, falsely accused, victim of a miscarriage of justice who cries out: “Father forgiven them because they don’t know what they are doing”.

You know you are seeing the gospel at work when black people and brown people and yellow people are calmly calling for reconciliation and asking that we leave the past behind and move forward together. You know you are seeing the gospel at work when white people are marching and protesting, demanding justice and restitution for the black and brown and yellow.

Only the gospel can bring about such a radical solution. Only the gospel can bring about any real solution.   That’s why we’re involved in mission to a multi-ethnic world. So that the gospel would do its work of bringing justice and reconciliation, and God’s great plans would be fulfilled as he receives true praise from the blood-bought tribes and languages and peoples and nations.