The Bible Doesn't Mention Race Myth

Whenever we talk about pursuing genuine multiethnic unity in the church or advocate dismantling racial/ethnic hierarchies within the church and our communities, we often receive the response that the Bible doesn’t mention or address issues of race.  That while the Bible uses the word ethnos 161 times, the concept of ethnos was different than our concept of race is today.  That division in Bible times was based on cultural or religious differences not based on physical characteristics.

First, the Bible does mention race.  Acts 13:1 mentions Simeon the black disciple.  The Hebrew Bible mentions “Cush” and related terms some 54 times.  The Septuagint called the Cushites Αἰθίοπες, which was the Greek term for all swarthy-skinned people south of Egypt.  Jeremiah 13:23 asks if the Ethiopian can change his skin (God could have inspired Jeremiah to use a variety of other things as a metaphor for immutable qualities but he chose our race).  In Numbers 12, when Moses’ sister speaks against Moses for marrying a dark-skinned woman, God strikes Miriam with a disease that turns her skin white as snow, indicating God’s judgment over racial pride. 

It is certainly true that the concept of stratifying society and our churches based on skin color is a recent phenomenon.  Does that then mean that what the Bible has to say about ethnocentrism doesn’t necessarily relate to the black/white division in the American church?  This common narrative reveals misunderstanding of how American racial issues impact the church.  When we talk about dismantling racial hierarchies in the church, we are talking about dismantling practices that suggest cultural and theological inferiority of black Christians compared to white Christians.  Examples of that would be leaning into individualism and antistructuralism, while ignoring the importance of justice, and prioritizing the comfort of white congregants over discipleship when selecting sermon topics and worship music.  We explore this topic in more detail in our talk, Uniformity Kills Unity. 

When we talk about what the Bible has to say about colorblind racism, we are talking about the belief that ethnicity is not relevant.  We imagine that there is no need to build cultural intelligence or to acknowledge the reality that black and white Americans experience life differently, both inside and outside the church.  In our talk, Am I Welcome Here, we share stories of how black leaders believe they experience their multiethnic church differently because of their ethnicity.

And when we talk about racial disparities in America, we are really talking about disparities experienced between the two ethnic groups, white and black Americans, not disparities experienced by the racial groups of all white people and all black people.  It is worth noting that Africans that migrate to America do not experience the same disparities as black Americans that were born in America.

Paul preached against ethnocentrism and made ethnic reconciliation a central focus of his ministry.  I believe what we see in the American church today closely mirrors what Paul preached against.