By Brian Evans
TE, Midwest Presbytery
The debate over racism and justice in America today is more complicated than we realize. We seem to be making no real progress in this debate; it only seems to be leading to more hostility and division. While I expect this from the secular culture, it saddens me to see the same thing now happening within Evangelical Christianity. As I see it, part of the problem is a lack of clarity over terminology and over the nature of the issues. We seem to be confusing two related but separate issues; one being the reality of racial discrimination against Black people in America’s past, the other being the reality of social and cultural breakdown within Black America today, especially within our inner-city communities.
We all know about the social conditions within the inner city and about the wealth, education, and achievement disparities between Black and white Americans. The big question is who or what is responsible for causing these conditions and disparities? The status quo answer being put forward by the culture today is that these conditions were caused and are being perpetuated by racism — more specifically, systemic racism. While we would all agree that racial prejudice and discrimination against Black people have been an ugly reality in American history, is it correct to assume that racism in America’s past must be the cause of social breakdown in the Black community today? Is it correct to assume that discrimination must be behind every disparity? Could the old saying apply here, that correlation does not mean causation? Could it be that the issue is more complicated than we realize and that there is much more information to consider?
Being clear on the distinctions and relationships between racism in the past and social breakdown in Black America today has major implications for the current debate over racism and justice in America today. If racism can be proven to be the cause for the social breakdown in Black America today, then we must agree that racism is at least one of the biggest problems facing America today, and that to ignore it is to show a lack of compassion toward Black people. However, what if racism is not the direct cause for this social breakdown or for the disparities between Black and white people? What if there is evidence suggesting that something else could be going on? If racism is not the major problem that some think it is, and if there is something else posing a major problem in Black America, then that changes the whole nature of the debate. It also means that we are focusing on the wrong things and therefore the social problems — and the political division will continue.
During my teenage years growing up in the inner city of Detroit, Michigan, I couldn’t help being angry over the social and economic conditions of my community. At the time, I believed the status quo cultural narrative about systemic racism being the cause of the modern Black ghetto. I was full of anger and hatred because I believed that America was a racist country and that the cards were stacked against me. However, after becoming a Christian and renewing my mind through the Word of God, I began thinking for myself and began challenging the narratives I had simply assumed to be true. The more I thought about these things in the light of God’s Word, and in the light of real everyday experience, the more I came to see that blaming systemic racism for the problems in modern Black America did not make sense. It was becoming harder for me to reconcile that position with the teachings of Christianity. There were four main teachings from the Bible which made it increasingly more difficult for me to believe that a system could be racist and held responsible for my personal behavior and for the social outcomes in my life.
God’s Created Order
The first consideration which led me to challenge today’s status quo narrative about systemic racism was what the Bible teaches about the moral nature of God’s created order and about the moral agency of human beings. I grew up hearing over and over again that the reason for the disparities between Black and white people was systemic racism. The system turned our neighborhoods into ghettos, the system took away jobs, the system pumped crack cocaine into our neighborhoods, the system created the school-to-prison pipeline. These things were said as if the people in my community had no choice but to let their neighborhoods turn into ghettos. As if they had no choice but to be idle and live off welfare. As if they had no choice but to drop out of school and sell crack cocaine. This position makes Black people out to be passive, helpless victims who lack moral agency. It also leads to the conclusion that Black people cannot be held responsible for their own behavior.
The more I thought about it, the more I felt insulted that anyone could believe this about Black people. I knew that this was not true about the people in my community. I also learned that such a position totally contradicts the teaching of Scripture. Nothing in the Bible justifies blaming an external, impersonal system for one’s own behavior. Nothing in the Bible supports the idea that poverty and limited opportunities produce broken families, gun violence, and neighborhood blight. Rather, Scripture teaches that such things happen as a result of choices made by people possessing moral agency. The general teaching of Scripture is that God created human beings to conform to the moral order designed by Him. As a general principle, those who do what is right and conform to God’s moral order receive blessing from God. Those who do wrong and go against God’s order will suffer (Proverbs 3:3-4; Proverbs 3:33-35; Proverbs 10:4; Proverbs 11:11; Proverbs 12:21; Proverbs 12:24; Proverbs 13:18; Proverbs 13:21; Proverbs 14:11; Proverbs 14:23; Proverbs 14:34; Proverbs 19:23; Proverbs 20:13; Proverbs 21:5; Proverbs 22:4; Proverbs 22:9; Proverbs 23:21-22; Proverbs 24:30-34; Psalm 37:9; 37:25; 37:34).
Ultimately, although we all are impacted to some degree by forces outside of ourselves, the Bible does not support us in seeing people as helpless victims whose lives are controlled by external, systemic forces. People are moral beings possessing agency, and as such, they reap the harvest of their own individual behavior, whether that be good or bad (Galatians 6:7).
The Sovereignty and Providence of God
The second consideration that changed my thinking on this subject was my learning what Scripture teaches concerning the sovereignty and providence of God. Nowhere in the Bible could I find any justification for believing that the course of history and the outcomes in people’s lives can be controlled by pre-programmed power structures and institutions. From beginning to end, the Bible teaches that the world and all people dwelling in it belong to the Lord (Psalm 24:1). The course of history is not determined by the plans and actions of the nations. Rather, God determines the course of history and controls the destinies of the nations (Acts 17:26). God’s sovereignty is universal and absolute. It includes all people, all things, and cannot be thwarted (Psalm 10:11; Psalm 33:10-11; Proverbs 19:21; Isaiah 46:10; Daniel 4:35).
Because God rules over all things as King of all creation, directing all things for His purpose and according to the counsel of His will (Ephesians 1:11), there is absolutely nothing that happens in this world or in our lives that are outside of His will and providence (Proverbs 16:1; Proverbs 16:9; Proverbs 16:33; Proverbs 21:1; Psalm 75:6-7; Daniel 2:37-38; Matthew 6:26; Matthew 6:30; Matthew 6:33; Matthew 10:29).
In light of what the Bible teaches about the sovereignty and providence of God, one could argue that it is atheistic to believe that the social outcomes of people’s lives can be ultimately controlled by systemic racism. To assert that a group of people can set up a social political system that allows them to control the destinies of other groups of people is really idolatry, a denial that God has a purpose for the world and that God is ruling over all things for the fulfilling of that purpose. God does not share His sovereignty with anyone. It is He who ordains our callings and our lot in this world (Proverbs 16:33).
Christ-centered View of History
The third biblical consideration that I could not reconcile with today’s cultural narrative on racism is a consideration of the Bible’s Christ-centered view of history. As God in His sovereignty rules over all of creation and governs all things by His providence, He is directing history and all things to the goal appointed by Him. God is directing all things to be united in Christ (Ephesians 1:9-10). Christ is the center and goal of everything. All things were made by Him and for Him (Colossians 1:16). All authority is in His hands, and He rules over all things for His glory and for the benefit of His church (Ephesians 1:22), even the course of the nations (Acts 17:26-27).
Therefore, the major sin of humanity is not racism, but rebellion and opposition to the rule of Christ (Psalm 2). The ultimate target of every Satanic attack and opposition is Christ and His Church (Revelation 12). History will reach its climax with Christ fully and finally destroying all His enemies and reigning in glory with His bride, the Church. This battle between Christ and Satan is the battle of all battles. The inbreaking of the Kingdom of Christ and His final victory over Satan, sin and death is the overarching narrative of history and all reality. We see all of history and reality through a Christ-centered filter. By contrast, today’s cultural narrative about systemic racism can only make sense when viewed through the filter of a totally different narrative — one that views reality through the filters of oppression and egalitarianism. A narrative that teaches that the struggle against oppressors and the struggle for social and economic equality is everything.
Gospel-centered Nature of the Christian Life
Fourthly and lastly, I could not reconcile the cultural narrative on American racism with what the Bible teaches about the gospel-centered nature of the Christian life. The Christian life is to be a living response to the gospel of Christ. The gospel is a message about the grace and mercy of God towards sinners. All Christians are sinners who have received grace, mercy, and forgiveness through the redemptive work of Christ. Even in the Old Testament, God revealed Himself to be the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin (Exodus 34:6-7). In the New Testament, Jesus Christ, the Son of God incarnate, came into the world as the full embodiment of God’s grace and faithfulness. In Him, we receive from the fullness of His grace and faithfulness (John 1:14-18).
As undeserving sinners saved by God’s grace, we are called upon to be imitators of God. This means that our lives should be characterized by love, mercy, patience, and forgiveness. These are not the only attributes of God which we are to imitate, but they are at the heart of God’s revelation of Himself in the gospel. However, today’s cultural narrative on racism has nothing of grace and forgiveness in it. The whole argument that systemic racism is the cause for all the disparities between Black and white people today is based on nothing but assumptions and accusations. Rather than producing the love, grace, and forgiveness of the gospel, the cultural position on racism produces nothing but bitterness, suspicion, blame, unforgiveness, and division. To accuse a whole group of people of being racists based on nothing but baseless assumptions is not in keeping with the spirit of the gospel. Neither is it in step with the spirit of the gospel to convince another group of people that they are nothing but helpless victims and cannot succeed in life on their own ability.
Obviously, walking in the love of the gospel also means hating and condemning real instances of racism. It is true that Black Americans have been subjected to significant racial mistreatment and discrimination in this country. However, the debate is not whether racism exists or not. We all agree that it does. The issue is how much racism still exists and whether it is really the major problem of our time. How are we defining racism and is racism the thing that is responsible for the negative conditions in Black America and for all the disparities between Black and white people? The answer being put forward by the culture today is:
Yes, racism is the major problem of our time. It is normative, and it’s everywhere in every institution and system of our country. The social disparities that exist between Black and white people is the proof. This embedded systemic bias against Black people is the culture’s definition of racism.
I find this position to be incompatible with biblical Christianity for the reasons explained above. It denies the moral agency of Black people, it denies the sovereignty of God over the lives of all people, it’s inconsistent with a Christ-centered view of history and reality, and it is inconsistent with the spirit of the gospel. Ultimately, this world and all people in it are under the sovereign rule of God, not the rule of white oppressors. The greatest problem in the world is humanity’s rebellion against Christ, not racism. Historically, the church has never taught that systems can be racist and that a racist system can be responsible for the behavior and social outcomes of the people in an entire community. So why is this being taught and accepted as true in Christian churches today?
I agree with those who have been arguing for a while now that these ideas about systemic racism have come into the Church through the influence of Critical Race Theory (CRT). I don’t believe that everyone holding these views on systemic racism subscribes to CRT. However, whether they realize it or not their thinking has been shaped by CRT. What I described above as the narrative believed by today’s culture is the teaching of CRT. A quick study of the history and teachings of CRT would prove this to be true. CRT is not compatible with the teachings of Christianity. Defending CRT, some claim that all truth is God’s truth. The problem, however, is that CRT does not teach truth. If you take some facts that are true and interpret them through a false worldview system, then what you are teaching is false. CRT is a false, secular, humanist ideology based on Marxist and postmodern assumptions.
Rejecting the ideas and assumptions of CRT does not mean ignoring the plight of poor inner-city Black Americans. It is because I love inner-city Black America so much that I hate CRT. CRT points people away from the true problems plaguing Black America and points them away from the only true solution.
Although racism does exist, it is not the major problem facing Black America today. As a Black man from the inner city, not only have I learned from Scripture, but I’ve learned from my own personal experience that I control the outcomes in my life by my own personal behavior. I have also learned through experience that God is the one who is sovereign over my life and directs it by His providence. I have also come to see that race is not everything. My life is not defined by my ethnicity; Christ is all in all. What happens in this world socially and politically has very little significance other than what it means for the spreading of the kingdom and glory of Christ.
If we truly love Black people and want what is best for them, then we would stop supporting ideas and narratives that encourage Black people to see themselves as victims. We would reject CRT as nothing but an empty, worldly philosophy. We would determine to know nothing but Christ and Him crucified. Lastly, we would support and encourage gospel-centered churches and educational institutions that are devoted to bringing spiritual, moral, and cultural renewal to the inner cities. This is what I have committed my life to doing by planting 5point7 Community Church in Detroit. May the Lord put all Satanic ideologies under His feet and grant true reformation and revival to our country and inner cities.
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