I am seeking to lay out some thoughts on constructing a Christian Race Theology in contrast to the controversial Critical Race Theory. Yesterday I used the language of Paul's in Romans 15 as a metric for the foundational passions we need in thinking about racial division in the body of Christ. Paul wrote,
"May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one
another, in accord with Christ Jesus,..."
Paul is calling the Christians at Rome, divided on the issue of eating meat offered to idols, to behave in a way that made Christ, not meat, the central motive for their behavior. In essence, he is calling them and us to lift our eyes from the below of this life to the above of the character of God and, then, to so live in light of the reality of His example. In truth, this is what it really means to be Christian; to live our lives coram deo - before the face of God. Thus, in dealing with division Paul calls us to the example of the Lord Himself as the picture of what is needed to maintain the unity of the Body: endurance and encouragement.
Having touched on endurance last time I want to speak to what Paul means by encouragement.
By encouragement Paul speaks of the calm and consolation one feels when they receive words that give them a heart to want to go on and to not lose hope. It is the feeling of resolve that one gains when someone reminds them of the big picture up against the smaller frame of the moment. We all need encouragement because racial division is excruciatingly discouraging when we see and/or experience it. We all need someone to remind us of what is at stake in our response to racial division so that we are encouraged to maintain the character of Christ in the face of satanic assaults.
God is both a model of encouragement and the source of it. One might ask, "How is it that God, who is all knowing and all sufficient, could need to be encouraged?" This could take volumes to answer but let me offer a short, concise version of it here. God the Son (Jesus Christ) needed encouragement when going to the cross. Being fully man, the Son of God needed encouragement due to the battles of the enemy against His life and ministry.
After Jesus conquered the devil in the wilderness temptation we are told that "the angels came and were ministering to him" (Matthew 4:11). Before the cross, Jesus was sorrowful (discouraged) and asked the Father if there was another way to accomplish redemption (Matthew 26:39). Jesus knows what it feels like to need to be helped to finish the race. God the Son is our example of encouragement. Jesus was encouraged when He remembered the hope that was set before Him and, because of that hope, endured the shame of the cross (Hebrews 12:2). This is instructive to us.
It was only as Jesus kept His eyes on the hope that He was encouraged to endure the cross. Our ability to endure is powered by our hope and our hope of glory is the foundation of our encouragement. When the church loses sight of hope we are discouraged by what happens to us. When we lose sight of the reality of what is coming when Christ returns we are limited (assaulted) by our present experiences believing they are the real reality. Racial division may exist in our churches but racial division is not what is true about us as blood bought people of God. What is true is what Christ has achieved on the cross and will one day bring into time and space the reality of a unified church (Revelation 7:9). This is my hope.
My hope is not that I will experience full unity here on earth where racial division will cease to exist within the church. My hope is that one day, God's truth will make its final march on this earth and bring to reality what sin of division is contending against. This hope encourages and consoles me when I want to lose heart and give in. Hope, by definition, is not seen. Hope is the invisible reality that drives my loyalty to Christ up against the very visible disturbances of racial division. Hope can be described as “scripture birthed patience in action. Paul wrote,
"For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through
endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope"(Romans 15:4).
It is "through the encouragement of the Scriptures" that we find hope. This is powerful as Paul is teaching us something crucial about our responses to actions and words that are racially divisive. My sinful responses to the sinful words and actions of people is not only without justification, but is the fruit of a momentary loss of hope due to a momentary disconnect from the Word. In essence Paul is teaching us that while we are not responsible or accountable for the way others behave we are always responsible and accountable for how we respond.
My response to racial division needs to be one driven and guarded by my hope in the truth of what God tells me will be. I need to work on this side of eternity for that which I know is coming with eternity. My hope in God's future dictates and encourages me to live for God in His present. Though the present is riddled with sin I know Someone whose Word tells me that"trouble don't last always."
This is how we get through the present crisis. We don't hope in racial division being done on this side of eternity. We remain saturated in the Word that we might be fueled by the hope of Glory. By this we will be encouraged to run the race the right way until heaven breaks through for the last time.
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