The Root of Racism

– Where we have been and where we are headed.

1. A Look Back - The Gospel makes us new people. We looked extensively at the nature of God’s redemptive work towards those who were dead in sin but who by grace through faith in Christ have been made alive by God to the praise of his glory. In addition to looking at the text we have seen through the reformation of the 16th century the natural tendency people of all traditions have to minimize grace and maximize their contribution to their salvation. In the end, it is God who makes us new people. He saves, sanctifies, and ultimately he will glorify us by his grace through faith.

1. A Look Back - The Gospel makes us new people. We looked extensively at the nature of God’s redemptive work towards those who were dead in sin but who by grace through faith in Christ have been made alive by God to the praise of his glory. In addition to looking at the text we have seen through the reformation of the 16th century the natural tendency people of all traditions have to minimize grace and maximize their contribution to their salvation. In the end, it is God who makes us new people. He saves, sanctifies, and ultimately, he will glorify us by his grace through faith.

2. A Look Forward - The Gospel makes us a new people. Paul shifts the point of emphasis from what God does in saving individuals from death to life, to what God saves us into – A New Humanity.

2. A Look Forward - The Gospel makes us a new people. Paul shifts the point of emphasis from what God does in saving individuals from death to life, to what God saves us into – A New Humanity. Read . Quick overview.

a. who has made us both one.

a. Read . Quick overview.

b. that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two.

b. Jesus even went so far as to say that the world will find the gospel believable to the degree the church lives as this New Humanity. 20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

c. Problem – what should be is not.

c. and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross.

i. The Gospel Creates Unity

d. you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.

e. Fleshes out what how this gospel birthed New Humanity is to live and interact

ii. Unity is lacking in the church.

f. Jesus even went so far as to say that the world will find the gospel believable to the degree the church lives as this New Humanity. 20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

iii. Therefore, the Gospel is either not properly understood or believed.

Addressing the Elephant in the Room called Disunity. Over the next three weeks we are going to see what God has done to bring unity out of division. In seeing what God has done to bring unity it will bring us face to face with the hard truth that what God has declared regarding unity among Christians is not actually embraced by all Christians. This is a problem that cannot be ignored.

The Gospel and the New Humanity (next three weeks).

1. The Gospel creates unity.

1. Part 1: The Root of Racism –

2. Part 2: The New Humanity – ( and 15)

2. The Church does not display unity.

3. Therefore; Either the gospel doesn’t really unify, or we might not believe the gospel as much as we think we do.

3. Part 3: Getting In Step with the Gospel – Racism Today ()

The Gospel and the New Humanity.

Overview – Gentiles and Jews made one in Christ

What you see right away in this passage is something that was once separate and hostile has been brought together and reconciled. In this case, the two groups that have been made one in Christ are Jews who had the law and the promises and the Gentiles who did not have the law or the convent promises. To understand Paul’s line of thought in Ephesians it is helpful to have some background on God’s plan for the nations and how the Jewish people were a part of that plan.

1. Part 1: The Root of Racism – its Cause and Cure.

2. Part 2: The New Humanity – a picture of Gospel Unity. ( and 15)

1. All men were created equal –

3. Part 3: Getting In Step with the Gospel – Race and the American Church. ()

2. Adam sinned and all men are under the curse of the fall – .

a. Sin brought separation between man and God.

Part One: The Root of Racism – its Cause and Cure.

b. Sin brought and brings separation between man and man (individuals and groups).

Jews, Gentiles, circumcision, and belonging…

3. God’s plan of redemption begins with a man and his family –

1) All men were created equal –

4. God’s people and the sign of belonging – . God created a people for himself. He called them out. He designated them as those who had the law, the promises of the covenant, and the people whom the messiah would come to the world through. Note that have designated Israel is the recipients of these promises and blessings he did not give then to Gentiles. At least not yet. states to the Jew first. This is what Paul is stating here. Speaking to Gentiles he is reminding them that none of those promises applied to them until Jesus.

2) Adam sinned and all men are under the curse of the fall – .

a) Sin brought separation between man and God.

5. God fulfilled his promise to Abraham () through Christ ().

b) Sin brought and brings separation between man and man (individuals and groups).

Understanding the Root of Racism (Hostility)

3) God’s plan of redemption begins with a man and his family –

Notice that in making this new humanity Jesus had to remove “hostility”. The word is used twice. Once in verse 14 and again in verse 16. The word hostility means to be at enmity with someone, or in this scenario the enmity is between people groups – enmity between Jews and Gentiles. As long as there have been groups of people who are gathered together on the basis of some commonality, be it race, religion, nationality, culture, etc. there has been hostility between various groups. This is as old as civilization. I call this tribalism. Tribalism is the belief that your tribe is superior to other tribes and that eventually leads to hostility. That is not hard to see or understand. Related to tribalism is a word not found in the Bible but seen al throughout the Bible. Racism. Racism is a type of tribalism but very relevant in terms of how we apply this text.

4) God’s people and the sign of belonging – . God created a people for himself. He called them out. He designated them as those who had the law, the promises of the covenant, and the people whom the messiah would come to the world through

· Definition of Racism: “Racism is an explicit or implicit belief or practice that qualitatively distinguishes or values one race over other races.” Piper, John. Bloodlines (Foreword by Tim Keller): Race, Cross, and the Christian (Kindle Locations 3417-3418). Crossway. Kindle Edition.

· Contemporary View on Racism (Hostility) – Before we get into the text further let’s examine what our culture believes about racism. It’s a problem and it always has been a problem. Before we can look to a solution we need to understand why it’s a problem. What is the predominate belief about racism. Our culture believes that racism is not inborn it is learned. (Meme – Racists aren’t born. Society makes them) I want you to think deeper here. I have no doubt that racism is in some way learned, but is it actually that simple?

5) God fulfilled his promise to Abraham () through Christ ()

· Research - In Group vs. Out Groups. Social scientists study the way people group and how they view the groupings they form. “Scientists call this “in group” and “out group” preferences, and, in the absence of other input, kids will choose in-group peers almost every time. Bronson cites research by Rebecca Bigler at the University of Texas in which preschoolers were given T-shirts to wear to school for three weeks. The distribution was random; half were given blue shirts and half were given red. During the experiment, the teachers never discussed the T-shirts or sorted the kids by shirt color in any way. The kids didn’t divide themselves by shirt color, either, but when asked which color was better, they chose their own, saying that people with their color shirt were “smarter” and “better” than the others. “Bigler’s experiment seems to show how children will use whatever you give them to create divisions,” writes Bronson. “Even if no teacher or parent mentions race, kids will use skin color on their own, the same way they use T-shirt colors.” Cited from Are We Born Racist? By Kristen Russell

Tribalism and the Hostility that Comes with It.

o We are all born with a sin nature. ()

· Principle #1 – Human Beings Discriminate. People discriminate for all sorts of reasons. The Jews referred to Gentiles as the “uncircumcised”. Of course, this “sign” of the covenant was not visible but it was physical. They were “discriminating”. The word discriminate is not necessarily negative although it can be. Everyone discriminates. The word means to make a distinction. The Jews looked at Gentiles and they made a distinction. They recognized that they as Jews were different. They had a different religion and their cultural beliefs and practices were altogether different.

o Discrimination (making distinctions) is not always a bad thing. Everyone makes distinctions: racial, cultural, political, class, language, gender, age, etc. Human being categorize. That is not always bad.

o Therefore, we are born with a desire to exalt self.

o We are not born knowing “our group”.

§ An offensive line coach discriminates as he chooses to start the 6’ 6” 300-pound college sophomore over the 5’ 8” 155-pound college sophomore. This is clearly discriminatory but it is wise.

§ In 1996, I wrestled in the US open. In the quarterfinals, I was up against a guy named Kerry McCoy. A relative asked, “Who is Kerry McCoy?”” I said he is a black guy who used to wrestle heavyweight at Penn State. My relative was put off by my description and asked, “Why does his race matter?” I explained that race did not matter but in order for me to help you know who I am wrestling it would not be helpful to describe him as 6’ 225 pounds since every guy at my weight class is roughly the same height and weight. By describing him as black I narrowed the field from 64 guys to around 3.

o Once we have a group we naturally exalt our group as superior to other groups.

o Discrimination becomes bad when the distinction is thought to make a person intrinsically inferior or superior. What begins as a simply way to distinguish between two groups can and often becomes a way to label a group as inferior or superior on the basis of what makes them different.

o This does not mean all people are racist in the same way or the same degree.

· How did this “tribalism/racism” play out in Paul’s letter? Referencing Bigler’s study what color t-shirts are being hands out. What makes one group different from another? The Jews referred to Gentiles as “The Uncircumcision” in vs. 11. This is not a compliment. Of course, this “sign” of the covenant was not visible but it was physical. They were “discriminating”. The word discriminate is not necessarily negative although it can be. Everyone discriminates. The word means to make a distinction. The Jews looked at Gentiles and they made a distinction. They recognized that they as Jews were different. They had a different religion and their cultural beliefs and practices were altogether different.

· Principle #2 – Discrimination often leads to pride and pride leads to hostility. What is with the hostility (verses 14 and 16)? Simply acknowledging racial, cultural, or religious distinctions does not always lead to hostility. Paul says there was a wall of hostility between the Jews and Gentiles. Why?

o Possible meaning of wall of hostility (vs. 14) – the literal wall in the temple that kept Gentiles out. While that is a possible meaning it’s unlikely because the Gentile Christians Paul is writing to had most likely never been to Jerusalem and therefore would not even be aware such a wall existed let alone been hostile about it.

· Why did “tribalism/racism” lead to hostility? (verses 14 and 16)? Paul says there was a wall of hostility between the Jews and Gentiles. Why was there a wall of hostility (vs. 14)? The key to understanding the source of hostility is to look at what Christ did to remove the hostility. Look at verse 15. What did he abolish in order to remove the hostility? It says “Jesus abolished the law of commandments expressed in ordinances”.

o The law were the moral requirements such as the Ten Commandments and the ordinances where the ceremonial laws which made Jews distinctly Jewish.

o Probably meaning of the wall of hostility (vs. 14) – The key to understanding the source of hostility is to look at what Christ did to remove the hostility. Look at verse 15. What did he abolish in order to remove the hostility? It says “Jesus abolished the law of commandments expressed in ordinances”.

o Knowing how Jesus abolished the law does not explain why the law and its ordinances were a source of hostility. Look at verse 12. Paul says that Israel had been given covenants and promises. Israel was given these things to be a light to the world. Abraham was not looking for God. He was chosen by God. The law was given to Moses and Israel was told to obey and represent God to the nations. Instead they took the gift, felt proud and then despised those who did not have the gift (law).

§ What was the law? The law were the moral requirements such as the Ten Commandments and the ordinances where the ceremonial laws which made Jewish distinctly Jewish.

§ The Jews despised those who did not have the gift (law) they had. They began to boast over what they were given. Anytime a person or people began to attribute gifts given to them as something they deserved or earned it leads to pride and looking down on those who had not received the gifts. Oh, and here is a historical fact that has held true for all cultures in all times. When you believe that you or your group is superior to others you will treat others as less than human.

§ How did Jesus abolish it?

· Does this mean that the moral law does not matter or we should not obey? No, Matthew 517 and Romans 3:38-31.

§ This of course leads to the Gentiles despising the Jews for despising them. This is not hard to understand. When you are in a group and some other group despises your group because you don’t have all they have: wealth, status, intelligence, education, the law, covenants, etc, it won’t take long before your pride will kick in and you will despise them for despising you.

· How do people form In/Out Groups in our context? Look at each of the grouping types below and think of all the ways each group believes itself to be superior to the other group, the pride that comes with that and the tendency to despise the other group.

· It means the law is not the basis by which we are accepted by God. See . It also means we do not have to become Jewish (circumcised in Paul’s day) to be accepted by God.

o Race (black, white, Hispanic, Asian, other)

· Jesus abolished it in two ways. Covered in detail when we covered and the Five Solas. We are justified by grace through faith in what Jesus accomplished.

o Religion (Christian, Muslim, Jew, atheist, other)

o Jesus fulfilled the law.

o Gender (male, female, other)

o Jesus paid the penalty for the transgression of the law.

o Generation (baby boomer, gen x, millennial)

§ How did the law and its ordinances become a source of hostility? Knowing how Jesus abolished the law does not explain why the law and its ordinances were a source of hostility. Look at verse 12. Paul says that Israel had been given covenants and promises. Israel was given these things to be a light to the world. Abraham was not looking for God. He was chosen by God. The law was given to Moses and Israel was told to obey and represent God to the nations. Instead they took the gift, felt proud and then despised those who did not have the gift (law).

o Politics (conservative, liberal, others)

· The Jews despised those who did not have the gift they had. The began to boast over what they were given. Anytime a person or people began to attribute gifts given to them as something they deserved or earned it leads to pride and looking down on those who had not received the gifts.

· The Gentiles despised the Jews for despising them. This is not hard to understand. When you are in a crowd and someone despises you because you done have all they have: wealth, status, intelligence, education, the law, covenants, etc, it won’t take long before your pride will kick in and you will despise them for despising you.

o Education (high school, trade school, college, grad school)

o Economic class (rich, middle-class, or poor)

A Deeper Look at the Practice of Despising the “Other” Group

o Labor (management/labor).

· Answer the following question: Are people born racist? You have seen the meme on Facebook or the public service commercial with the picture of the cute multiethnic babies in diapers all sitting there together looking innocent. The caption reads. Racists aren’t born they are made. You look at that and think, “Yeah, that’s right.” Is it? What is the root of racism? It is simply the belief that your group is better than another group simply because it’s your group.

o Our sports teams (Iowa, Iowa State)

· In Group vs. Out Group. “Scientists call this “in group” and “out group” preferences, and, in the absence of other input, kids will choose in-group peers almost every time. Bronson cites research by Rebecca Bigler at the University of Texas in which preschoolers were given T-shirts to wear to school for three weeks. The distribution was random; half were given blue shirts and half were given red. During the experiment, the teachers never discussed the T-shirts or sorted the kids by shirt color in any way. The kids didn’t divide themselves by shirt color, either, but when asked which color was better, they chose their own, saying that people with their color shirt were “smarter” and “better” than the others. “Bigler’s experiment seems to show how children will use whatever you give them to create divisions,” writes Bronson. “Even if no teacher or parent mentions race, kids will use skin color on their own, the same way they use T-shirt colors.” Cited from Are We Born Racist? By Kristen Russell

How do we fix the problem?

· Kids aren’t “racist” only because they haven’t figured out which group they belong to yet. The minute they identify with a group they cannot help but find a sense of superiority and pride form being in their group. Watch an elementary school recess sometime. The rule of the playground is based upon in groups and out groups. The kids all know who is in and who is out and they will exclude and despise the kids on the out group and the kids despised will despise the other group despising them. If as a parent, you are unaware of this phenomenon it’s because your kid is a member of the larger “in group” and feels secure in his groups superiority. If your kid is in the out group you have had the conversation with them about why they feel left out. Not athletic enough. Not cool enough. Etc. Whatever the criteria for being in is, they don’t have it. Consequently you as parents begin to despise the “in group” your kid doesn’t belong to.

· How do you group people and which groups are you in and out of and how do you view those outside of your groups? Do you despise them? Let’s take a look at the team jersey’s the kids (us) are wearing these days.

· Contemporary Solution – Diversity Training. Basically, tell people there are no superior groups and everyone is the same. That doesn’t work Fixing the problem starts with the root of the problem. If Racism is simply a product of bad teaching and thinking then just tell people racism is bad and they will stop. Elie Wiesel - “No human race is superior. No religious faith is inferior. All collective judgements are wrong. Only racists make them.” Think that through. Is that right? Do you believe that? Does Elie Wiesel believe this? I don’t mean to be disrespectful but there is no way anyone believes this and therefore it is a non-solution. Hitler had a religion and he believed he was faithfully doing humanity a favor by ridding the world of Jews. Is anyone unwilling to state that his faith is inferior? How about ISIS? Their stated goal is to rid the world of infidels (Jews, Christians, apostate Muslims). Can we say their faith is inferior? Do you see the problem? Wiesel’s statement is itself a collective statement and assumes his worldview is in fact superior to the racist. His solution won’t work because it only addresses the intellect. It starts with the assumption that the problem is only the way we think. Its deeper than that.

· Gospel Solution –

o Types of In/Out Groupings.

§ Jews and Gentiles

o I was dead in sin before Jesus (). I did my own thing and exalted myself. As I matured I identified with certain groups that embodied my traits and assisted me in my goal of self-exaltation. Together we wore our team Jerseys and felt good about assisting one another in getting what we wanted – self-exaltation. My groups used me and I used them to get what we wanted.

o Then God brought me to the cross and made me alive. He showed me that he had to die for my self-serving believe that I was the center of the universe and that the groups I identified with were therefore the center as well. The cross levels everything. Even the individual traits I possessed before Christ and the group strengths my groups possessed the cross and the gospel shows me are gifts. How can I possible boast anymore about my gifts individually or corporately. . There just isn’t any boasting. This grace brings humility. It’s not enough to tell someone they need to think of other’s differently. They can’t. Their dead in their sin. The solution to racism begins at the foot of the cross and receiving the grace of God.

§ Race (black, white, Hispanic, Asian, other)

§ Religion (Christian, Muslim, Jew, atheist, other)

o Sanctification is progressive – receiving this new heart is an event. It happens when you believe in Christ. God gives you a new heart. He forgives and he attributes his own righteousness to you. You are justified in Christ. But… How we view other people and other groups doesn’t change automatically. That is a process that involves seeing truth about ourselves and our groups we may not want to learn. It also involves caring about groups we never noticed or cared about before because God cares about them.

Close in Prayer

§ Gender (male, female, other)

Discussion Questions

§ Generation (baby boomer, gen x, millennial)

§ Politics (conservative, liberal, others)

1. Read Ephesians 2:11-22. Who are the groups of people who were hostile towards one another and why did that hostility exist? Summarize what Jesus did to remove this hostility and create unity.

It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity. One ever feels his two-ness,—an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.

§ Education (high school, trade school, college, grad school)

2. Read John 17:20-23. What role does Jesus say unity plays in bringing credibility to the gospel? In what ways do induvial or collective groups of Christians undermine the witness of the gospel today?

The history of the American Negro is the history of this strife – this longing to attain self-conscious manhood, to merge his double self into a better and truer self. In this merging he wishes neither of the older selves to be lost. He does not wish to Africanize America, for America has too much to teach the world and Africa. He wouldn't bleach his Negro blood in a flood of white Americanism, for he knows that Negro blood has a message for the world. He simply wishes to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without having the doors of opportunity closed roughly in his face.”[2]

3. How was the Jewish rift with Gentiles in Paul’s day similar to various forms of racism in our day?

§ Economic class (rich, middle-class, or poor)

§ Labor (management/labor).

4. Many believe racism is not inborn but it is a learned behavior. In what ways is that true? In what ways is that not true?

§ Our sports teams (Iowa, Iowa State)

5. Everyone identifies with numerous groups based on various commonalities: race, nationality, class, religion, etc. Identify four groups you identify with. Describe various instances where you have looked at other groups you do not belong to and felt hostility. Why were you hostile? Does that hostility still exist? If so, why?

6. If you have witnessed other groups which have expressed hostility towards the groups you identify with, why do you believe those groups felt this hostility?

o How do we tend to view a group’s strengths?

§ Our Group - If it’s our group we attribute our groups gifts (strengths) as something we earned or that is intrinsic to the kind of people our group are comprised of and we become proud of these strengths.

7. In what ways should the gospel equip you and others to put aside the hostility and love those we are different from?

§ Their Group - If it is the other group we tend to their strengths as a fluke or privileged, something given to them that they did not earn or don’t deserve.

8. Spend some time in your group asking God to give you a heart that loves those different from you.

o How do we tend to view a group’s failures or sins?

§ Our Group - If it is our group We attribute our groups failures or shortcomings as minor and or caused by external factors. Our strengths are intrinsic to us but our failures are the anomalies.

§ Their Group – If it is the failure or sin of a group we are not in we attribute the failure to something intrinsic to the group. I was reading a sermon by Tim Keller and he cited a debate between two black men on the subject of racism. The first man said that he believed that if Blacks had somehow been the majority on this continent over the last 300 years that they too would have suppressed the minority races just as the whites have. The other black man disagreed and stated that would never happen. When pressed as to why whites would suppress while blacks would not the man answered, “Because whites are just like that.”

§ Here is a fun application (sarcasm). Catalog the comments made by democrats or republicans regarding sexual misconduct. Specifically note how each group refers to the failing of their own and the failings of those in the out group. The hypocrisy is palpable. So much so that I have allowed myself to despise all of them including the ones who are not hypocrites simply because they belong to a larger collective group that I find myself despising. And for those of you who feel the need to come and help me see how it’s not really your group that is hypocritical it’s the other group, if you do that you will only demonstrate my point and then my sinful wicked heart will probably despise you too.

o These thought patterns always lead to the despising of groups we are not a part of. As I state these principles there is a chance that many of you have inadvertently placed everyone who despises other groups in a specific “out group” of people who despise and placed yourself in the righteous “in group” that never despises other groups. You can’t help it. It is hard not to despise groups we differ from.

§ The Pharisee despised the tax collector. He believed himself superior and it is clear that he despised the tax collector. In hearing this story do you then despise the Pharisee or people like for despising the tax collector?

§ During the last election cycle did you then or do you still despise members of the other group who clearly despise your ilk for supporting the candidate they clearly despise?

§ As you observe the ongoing NFL protests do you find yourself despising the protestors kneeling during the national anthem or the people who despise the protestors?

§ There is just no end to the groups of people we have the potential to despise.

o The root of racism is the belief that your group is superior. This will ultimately display itself in despising other groups and in turn being despised.

The Gospel Creates a New Group

· We were all far off regardless of our group.

· Christ took our punishment and gifted us his righteousness.

· There is no room for boasting individually or corporately unless you are boasting in what Christ has done.

· There is no room for despising anyone individually or corporately.