Racism & Oppression: What does the Bible have to say?

Jun 12

Jun 12 Racism & Oppression: What does the Bible have to say?

I have really debated whether or not to say anything in the current discussion about racism and police brutality (maybe infringement of civil rights is a better description). Last week the Duchess of Sussex said that the worst thing one could say was nothing at all. This is patently false. I am quite certain I could say much worse things than nothing at all. I am an American who has some opinions, but I have lived in the UK for six and a half years now. Donald Trump had not even announced he was running for president when I moved. The affordable care act had not even gone into effect. It was many years ago. I keep up with things from a distance. I read news and follow-current events and political debate, but I am still at a distance. I am also a minister who seeks to avoid politicising my office.

All that being said, I think there are biblical issues at play that ought to have our clear voice. In writing something, I am aware that I do not have a comprehensive understanding of the situation and I do not have the final word. I will not seek to give a comprehensive response, but I do want to address a few things. It seems to me that, while there are many issues, there are at least two clear problems in the current situation. There is a clear and continuing issue with racism. There is also an issue of civil rights violations, injustice, or oppression. These two issues are connected and inter-related. The racism affects the way that the injustice plays out, but it does not explain all of the injustice. Both of these issues are moral issues that are addressed by God’s Word and God’s law.

We can say at the outset that racism is wrong. It is sin. There are many places in the Scriptures we can go to demonstrate this and many have done this before me, but the Noahic Covenant in Genesis 9:5-6 is as good a place as any. God says, “From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image. (ESV)” This addresses life, specifically, but it carries a principle that would relate to health and welfare, also. Every human life, every human’s welfare, is important to God, as we are all created in God’s image. There is no variation in value between human beings. Our catechisms specifically address this when they deal with the sixth commandment. This is an easy principle to state. It is harder to live. We all have built-in biases and presuppositions that we are often unaware of. We are also too often unaware of our culture’s predispositions. We cannot see the woods for the trees. I think the best thing we can do to understand our biases, personal and cultural, is to “be quick to hear, slow to speak. (James 1:19, ESV)” Our hearts are “deceitful” and “desperately sick; who can understand [them]? (Jer. 17:9, ESV)” We will not accurately recognise or diagnose our own sin. David French, a member of one of our sister-churches, gives a helpful example of how we might do that here.

We can also say that civil rights abuses, injustice, and oppression are sinful. God specifically addresses oppression in the law (Ex. 22:21; Ex. 23:9; Lev. 19:13; Deut. 24:14). Generally, the law addresses those with more power taking advantage of, mistreating, or disenfranchising those with less power. When we look at oppression or injustice on the part of government, specifically law enforcement, we operate on the assumption that God has ordained the government as “a minister of God to us for good. (Rom. 13:4, NASB)” When that which is intended for our good, which is authority and power, works for our ill, that which is meant to defend and protect acts in such a way that increases danger, it is oppression. In light of Romans 13, 1 Tim. 2:2, 1 Pet. 2:13, and 1 Pet. 2:17, it is right that Christians are reflexively those who honour and obey the authorities. However, we also have a clearer understanding of what true justice and righteousness are. Therefore, when the authorities are unjust and oppressive, we should be those who react with the greatest horror. In many places and times the Church lives and has lived under governmental structures that give us no recourse but prayer and individual love of neighbour in the face of injustice, but in a modern democratic republic or constitutional monarchy we have the opportunity to take more action while still honouring the authorities placed over us.

This includes peaceful protest, involvement in the public discourse, active civic engagement (voting, standing for office, communicating with town, county, parish councils, etc…), and many more right activities. Many of us have spoken to our MPs and government leaders in recent weeks, signed petitions, protested, and advocated in various ways for renewed public meetings of the church. If we act for one biblical issue but not for another it shows how seriously we regard some of the oppression we have seen. Oppressive policing falls disproportionately on the disenfranchised, the weak, the poor, and people of colour, but it affects all of us. We have watched many videos of police brutality and injustice in the last several days that affect POC, but others also. The video of the elderly man being pushed to the ground in Buffalo, NY is just one example. We ought to recognise this is not right.

As Christians we must listen, both to those around us with different experiences than we have and to God’s Word. We must be prepared to have our “deceitful“ and “desperately sick” hearts and minds corrected. We must not stand proud and self-defensive in the face of correction. But we also must pray. There are many serious and dangerous complaints being discussed in the news and on social media. We are not always able to judge accurately what is true and what is false, but our God is. Pray that God’s will would be done on earth as it is in heaven. Pray that he would protect us from injustice and oppression. Pray that he would guard us against the sin of racism. Pray that we would love our neighbours as ourselves. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. (Mt. 5:9, ESV)”