THE GOSPEL AND THE SIN WE KEEP MINIMIZING — A REFLECTION ON RACISM
Some people insist that racism is not that big of a deal—that it belongs to another era, another generation, another problem altogether. Yet the gospel refuses to let us shrug it off. From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible confronts the human impulse to divide, elevate, exclude, and dominate; it exposes prejudice not as a social inconvenience but as a spiritual disease rooted in pride and fear. Long before modern language gave us terms for it, God was already naming it, judging it, and healing it.
The first gospel sermon ever preached dealt with this issue head-on. On the Day of Pentecost, Peter stood before a crowd made up of nations, languages, and cultures—and declared that the promise of salvation was not limited to one people group. “For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2:39). That phrase—afar off—was loaded. It echoed the prophets and hinted at Gentiles, outsiders, the ones long kept at arm’s length. The gospel burst into the world already crossing racial and cultural boundaries.
It did not take long for controversy to erupt. The early church almost fractured over the question of who truly belonged. Jewish believers struggled to accept Gentiles as equal heirs of grace; old divisions tried to baptize themselves into Christian respectability. Acts records sharp disputes, tense councils, and Spirit-led corrections (Acts 15:1-11). God made it unmistakably clear: salvation was not the property of one race, nation, or tradition, but the gift of Christ to all who believe.
The apostles pressed this truth deeper. Paul reminded the church that Christ Himself tore down the dividing wall of hostility, creating “one new man from the two” (Ephesians 2:14-16). In Christ, the categories that once defined superiority and exclusion lost their authority. “There is neither Jew nor Greek…for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). Unity was not optional; it was gospel-shaped obedience.
And yet, here we are. The same sin keeps resurfacing—sometimes loud and violent, sometimes quiet and respectable. We rename it, minimize it, or excuse it, but Christ will not let us. Partiality is condemned without qualification (James 2:1-9). Hatred toward a brother or sister is called darkness, no matter how refined the justification (1 John 2:9–11). The gospel still confronts us where we are most comfortable.
Racism remains a problem today because the human heart still resists grace that levels us all at the foot of the cross. The good news is not that we can fix ourselves, but that Christ already has. He calls us to repentance, to humility, and to a love that reflects His own—wide enough to embrace the nations, deep enough to heal old wounds, and strong enough to expose our blind spots. The Bible has not moved on from this issue, because we have not; but neither has the mercy of God.
BDD
