Pardon me, your epidermis is showing, sir.
I’m currently reading three books. First, Being White, which explores ethnicity and the implications for those of us who, for better or worse (but not by chance), are white North Americans. Second, The Heart of Racial Justice, which as the subtitle suggests, is about “how soul change leads to social change”. Finally, I’m also reading Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee, the heart-breaking account of unspeakable brutality against the Native American peoples at the hands of our European forefathers upon arrival in the New World.
Even as a white guy who has spent a great deal of time in multi-ethnic and multi-cultural settings, and as one with a great deal of interest in - and respect for - those of other cultures, I admit that I easily slip into the mentality that being Caucasian is somehow ethnically neutral.
It’s not.
If you’re reading this and you’re white, have you ever wondered what significance your ethnicity has in the eyes of God? Further, have you ever considered the significance of the picture of heaven we have in the Bible, with a gathering of people from every tribe and tongue and people and nation?
If the story God is telling culminates with people from every culture worshiping Jesus together, as citizens of the same Kingdom, and we’re told this is an immeasurably good thing, what does it mean for us today? If we’re honest, do we really even want anything to do with that sort of Kingdom? If so, how proactive are we in getting to know people from other cultures? How seriously do we take humankind’s tragic (and ongoing) history of racial conflict? Do we ever consider the extent to which racism angers and pains the heart of God? Have we repented of our own (perhaps latent and subtle) racism? What are we doing to humbly, lovingly listen to the stories of those who are different than us, and often, members of minority groups? As much as it depends on us, are we seeking to heal these wounds?
Many white women go tanning because they believe darker skin is beautiful. Meanwhile, women in parts of Asia commonly go to extremes to have their skin lightened, believing as they do that white skin is in fact what’s beautiful. Is it possible that God gave some of us white skin, and he gave dark skin to others, not as some cruel joke, but as a way of demonstrating his own infinite, multi-faceted beauty? Is there such a thing as ethnic stewardship?
Could it be that the redemption and reconciliation of humankind to God and to each other, while certainly far more than skin-deep, also has significant and undeniable epidermal implications?
Recently, a professor pointed out that the church should be a foretaste of heaven, which among other things will be a celebration of diversity. Having said that, what impact should that have on our highly racially segregated churches? How do we get from here to there?