Even though it’s been decades since Martin Luther King Jr.’s work for civil rights and fighting discrimination, prejudice is still alive. Why? Well, because racism is a consequence of sin in a fallen world infused with evolutionary thinking. The consequences of racism on a personal and social level are huge.
But what do we do about it? Here is some truth and practical and personal application points from chapter five of the book One Race, One Blood by Ken Ham and Dr. Charles Ware. Like any true biblical conviction, these actions should start from a changed heart and a changed understanding about what is real and true.
We Need to Do Away with the term “Race”
First, I would propose that we do away with using the term “race” when discussing the different groups of people in the world.
The Bible is clear (and science confirms) there’s only one race: the human race (Adam’s race). The idea of “race” is rooted in the thinking of the early evolutionists, even well before Darwin.
Every human being in the world is classified as Homo sapiens. Scientists today agree that there is really only one biological race of humans. Geneticists have found that if we were to take any two people from anywhere in the world, the basic genetic differences between these two people would typically be around 0.2 percent, even if they came from the same people group. “Racial” characteristics account for only about 6 percent of this 0.2 percent variation. That means that the “racial” genetic variation between human beings of different “race” is a mere 0.012 percent.
Overall, there is far more variation within a people group than there is between one people group and another. Anyone who continues to make racist distinctions does so based only on superficial, outward appearances rather than on sound scientific fact and clear biblical reasoning. If a Native American person is looking for a tissue match for an organ transplant, for instance, the best match may come from an Asian person, and vice versa.
We all need to treat every human being as our relative. We are of one blood (Acts 17:26). All of us are equal in value before our Creator God. Any descendant of Adam can be saved because our mutual relative by blood (Jesus Christ) died and rose again. This is why we are commanded to preach the gospel to all people groups and nations.
If you want to solve the issue of racism in your own life, it’s simple: you’ve got to believe the Bible and the true account of the history of the human race. That’s the bottom line. All of us need to judge our attitudes and our worldview against the absolute authority of the Word of God.
The next time you see someone who looks slightly different from you, you should ask, “How can I help them? Do they need my love, my care? Do they need the Lord?” We need to treat people as the Lord did. Jesus continually reached across the invisible barriers of prejudice to love people, to care for people, and to speak truth into people’s lives. He reached out to touch those who were unclean or those who were plagued with leprosy. He reached across ethnic and gender divisions to speak truth into the life of the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4).
If you truly want to see your life reflect the life of Christ, then you must begin to allow Christ to love others through you, particularly those who are different than you, just as He did. ~by Ken Ham
Excerpts are from the book One Race One Blood and from Ken Ham’s Blog
