Black v. White & Jew v. Gentile
The subject of Christianity being a Whiteman’s religion has continued to bring a rift between the blacks and the Whites. I describe the two as the Gentile v/s Jews beef. Come to think of the Samaritans and the Jews. Each claimed to be worshipping the true God but then hated each other. Helping each other was something unheard of. As much as both claimed to worship the God of the patriarchs, they were all very wrong and misrepresented the God they claimed to worship. Gentiles and Jewish communities, on the other hand, had many things for boasting.
The Jews boasted in God, claiming to know his will and approval of what was excellent because to them belonged the oracles of God (Romans 3:2). They boasted of being guides to the blind and light to those in darkness. They claimed to have the embodiment of knowledge and truth (Romans 2:17-20). The Gentiles, on the other hand, and in this context, the Greeks, boasted of their knowledge. They loved wisdom because they were philosophers.
There was a big rift between the Gentiles and Jews, Jews and Samaritans (half-Jews) as we have now of the black and the whites regarding Christianity. Some blacks (Africans) believe that the whites (mostly Europeans) brought them Christianity to enslave them and devour their resources. And indeed, when the white settlers (not missionaries) came to Africa, they subjected Africans to colonisation and lots of oppression, which has resulted in some blacks rejecting the gospel. (Visit https://kuzaapp.com/blog/2020/9/15/is-jesus-white-or-black and https://kuzaapp.com/blog/2020/7/15/is-christianity-a-whiteman-religion-african-contributions-to-global-christianity for more information).
The above blogs were meant to correct the many years’ myths about Christianity being a Whiteman’s religion. This article will focus on the rift in the Bible between Jews and Gentiles, Samaritan’s and Jews and how it is broken.
Who is Right?
Does it matter who is right or wrong in terms of the origin of the gospel? Do we claim to worship the same God? If the latter is true, then we must represent this God to the fullest. The gospel is not for a chosen few but all who are to respond to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ by faith. If the black God is limited to the blacks or vice versa, then those gods are too little to impact the universe. I dare say, if the Christian God is a white man’s god only, then he is worth not our attention.
The God of the Bible does not deal only with a specific community, but he shows interest in the entire world (Revelation 7:9; John 3:16). We have to rethink the God we claim to represent. We might be idol worshippers claiming to worship the true God. John Calvin, the great theologian, said that the human heart is a factory of idols. If you have a black messiah or a white God and you are consumed by such ideas, you must have created God in your own liking. That is not the God of the Bible.
Grace And Faith Unite
Human beings root from a single source, and hence the issue of black and white has no basis in the gospel of our Lord. God is so diverse, and he in his own wise counsel, saw it fit to create living and non-living things, plants and animals, male and female, Jew and gentile, short and tall, rulers and subjects, Jew and gentile, black and white (Colossians 1:15). Our Savior Jesus Christ does not limit himself to a single community, and neither does he support any community against another. In God’s sight, no race or community is beyond or below his reach, and he cares for them equally (Galatians 3:18).
Romans 3:27-31 Paul asks what becomes of our boasting? Both Jews and Gentiles are justified by the same faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Jews cannot boast about their laws which could not justify them before God, and Gentiles could not boast about their philosophy. All are humbled by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul says that the God of the Jews is the same God of the Gentiles (Romans 3:29).
God and salvation by faith are the constant factors in the above verses. They break the barrier that existed between the two groups. The whites and the blacks claim to have the same God of the Bible, who shows no partiality. They are all saved by faith in Christ Jesus. The things that separate us as so minor, but then we have allowed them to affect our relationship with one another. We have made race too big of a deal to make God trivial to race and entertained heretical thinking of a racial God. Ephesians 4:4 mentions many things that bring us together: one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God. In heaven, we will not notice any difference by race.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there is neither black nor white people religion in the Bible. As long as we have the same point of reference of our faith: the Bible and claim to worship the God of the Bible, then no bond of contention should exist between us. If one still finds too much hatred and lack of forgiveness in their hearts, they should re-evaluate their faith. Jesus Christ of Nazareth is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6). We are either cleansed by his blood or talking about a different Jesus, hence a different faith altogether.
