Racism. I don’t get it. I mean I understand what racism is and I certainly know what it “looks” like in its various forms. But I don’t get it. I have never simply looked at another person (let alone a whole people group) and determined that I hate them; that I don’t want to be around them; that I don’t want them to have a job to be able to take care of their family; that I don’t want them to succeed in doing good things; or that I don’t want them to even live. . .because of the color of their skin. That is absolutely crazy to me. And yet, I do realize that the fact that I do not understand it is a great mercy from the Lord. An incredible gift.
You see, racism is sin. We inherited sin from our first parents-Adam and Eve. So, we all (and I am no exception) have our sin “bents”, if you will-areas in which our sin is more pervasive, prevalent, and plentiful than in other areas. So, our sin may not manifest in the form of racism, for example, but it is quite evident in other areas. It is why I believe that God, through the eyes of Christ, allowed me to see the extreme beauty of this photo. I tried to capture it, but, for a number of reasons, the photo really does not do the moment justice. What is so amazing about it? You are looking at an African American man preaching a sermon in English which was being translated by a Romanian-born man into Spanish to a predominately Spanish-speaking congregation of various ethnicities. Moreover, the gentleman was preaching over Acts 15:1-35 which talks about the believe Pharisees getting “testy” by the presence of Gentile Christians in the church. Because the Pharisees thought themselves to be superior of everyone else, particularly Gentiles, some started teaching (to the Gentiles), “Unless you are circumcised according to the law of Moses, you cannot be saved” (Acts15:1b). While the Jews were God’s chosen people to be a light to the world, His plan of salvation included Gentiles. There was much discussion about this, but Peter said, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith" (Acts 15:7-9). He reminds the other apostles and the elders that salvation is by faith alone, in Christ one, for EVERYONE.
And so, listening to my brother, Darin, preach while my brother, Narcis, translated to my predominately Spanish-speaking church family, I was once again, filled with praise and awe of my God as well as anticipation. Anticipation of when there will be a multitude of us from every nation, tribe, people group, and language standing before the throne, before Jesus praising and worshiping Him (Revelation 7:9, 10). Now that’s something beautiful!
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