Changing the Trend of Historic Racism in Fundamentalism

I will never forget the disillusionment and confusion that I felt the first time I heard a pastor use the infamous and hateful "N" word when referring to an African-American. I was a very young Christian at the time. The remark was justified and excused in my own mind by me simply thinking that this man had good reason to feel this way and that perhaps I was the one who didn't see things the way that I needed to. I was easily influenced and wanting to soak up all I could from older more seasoned Christians. It immediately became apparent that there was an unwritten rule within many fundamental circles (notice I did NOT say all) that white fundamentalists had a right to forbid other white young people to date or marry those who happened to be black....even if they were biblically qualified.

This gets worse....in fact, a lot worse. While sitting in a classroom at the fundamentalist institution that I happened to be attending one of the professors actually used the passage in Genesis 9:25 to justify slavery and the fact that blacks were an inferior race! Does anyone else here see the exegetical fallacy that this creates? Not only was that a complete misinterpretation of the text....it was also downright heretical! There's more...by the time I had been in this particular college for a few years I had known just about every ethnic and racial joke one could think of. I didn't hear these jokes at my job, rather, I heard them from some faculty and staff members! Sad, truly sad.

But this line of thinking was nothing new. Read these words from one of the most famous fundamentalists of the 20th century (John R. Rice):

"Socially, it is better for both Negroes and whites to run with their own kind and intermarry with their own kind. This mixing of races widely differing is almost never wise...Thus if a girl would do wrong to marry a Negro boy, she would be wrong to keep company with him, mixing regularly in social life."
1954 "Sword of the Lord"

Since it has been years since I've read the "Sword of the Lord" I cannot verify if they have ever recanted or publicly repented of this incredibly hateful and unbibiblical rhetoric. I hope they have. If they haven't, they need to! I still know and love many in the IFB movement and my prayer is that this sort of hateful thinking has not transcended any generational lines.

My way of thinking regarding this matter began to change (only by God's grace) when I began dating my future wife Christina (who happens to be Mexican). It always seemed interesting to me that the same standard my college had on African-Americans was not placed on those of us who were dating Hispanics. Were Hispanics not a different race? Or, is it the fact that their melanin levels were not as high as those of our black brethren? The slam dunk though was the fact that Scripture teaches NOTHING regarding race being a biblical qualification for marrying someone.

In his book "What He Must Be" Voddie Bauchman lays out three main truths that exposes what racism inherently denies:

1. Racism Denies Our Oneness in Adam (Acts 17:26)
2. Racism Denies Our Oneness in Noah (Genesis 7:11-13)
3. Racism Denies our Oneness in Christ (Gal. 3:26-29)

This is not a dead issue even in our own churches. Sadly, there are still many who would rather their children bring home a caucuasion person rather than a Christ-centered person! May we approach this sin of hatred with the same passion, biblical authority and zeal that we would any other sin related issue!

In the end, racism makes the Gospel look hateful and unattractive. It forces Christians to adopt a paradigm of hate and superiority towards others. It denies the universal effects of sin and exposes the utter depravity of man's heart. Let me leave you with a quote that I think summarizes the whole issue very succinctly:

"At the heart of racism is the religious assertion that God made a creative mistake when He brought some people into being."
Friedrich Otto Hertz