{"id":5703,"date":"2018-01-08T13:16:38","date_gmt":"2018-01-08T19:16:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/?p=5703"},"modified":"2018-01-08T13:16:38","modified_gmt":"2018-01-08T19:16:38","slug":"red-brown-yellow-black-white","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2018\/01\/08\/red-brown-yellow-black-white\/","title":{"rendered":"Red, Brown, Yellow, Black and White"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Lacy Crowell<\/strong>
\nThe other day a good friend of mine was at the store with her son. As they were shopping, a lady stopped them and asked, \u201cAw, how old is your son?\u201d To which my friend responded, \u201cHe\u2019s three.\u201d The lady then proceeded to ask, \u201cAnd how long have you had him?\u201d This question really threw my friend for a loop\u2013\u2013what was she talking about? Then the light bulb went on. My friend is white; her son is black. Therefore the lady at the store automatically assumed he was adopted. He really is her biological son, and it\u2019s disturbing to think that if he had been just a little bit older he would have been able to follow that conversation. How cruel to make judgments based on external features. (As a side-note, adoption is a wonderful thing, but more on that later.)
\nSometimes I fear that as humanity the first thing we notice will always be skin color. I pray that this has gotten better in the last several decades, but I\u2019m afraid it will always be a problem. What bothers me the most, however, is that this is also still a problem in the church.
\nI have had several Christians say things to me such as, \u201cI\u2019m not prejudiced, but<\/strong>\u2026\u201d and then go right on to make a very prejudiced statement! I have seen white Christian parents furious with their daughter when they found out she was dating a black young man, even though he was also the only Christian young man her age in the area! I have seen black congregations, Hispanic congregations, and white congregations who are equally content to keep things just as they are. I have seen black Christians who are preachers refuse to apply for jobs with white congregations. I have also seen brethren <\/strong>of other minorities whose first passion is to promote their culture and second passion is to promote the cause of Christ. Sisters, this should not be the case!
\nPrejudice is bad enough in the world, but it is intolerable in the church! This is exactly what Paul was dealing with in Galatians 3:25-28<\/a>. \u201cBut now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.\u201d We are all one! We are all equal! We are all the same!
\nI jokingly call myself an American mutt, because my fleshly heritage is quite diverse.\u00a0 I am part American Indian, German, Irish, and Black Dutch predominately.\u00a0 Each of these are tremendously varied cultures, and that is fascinating to me.\u00a0I enjoy looking into my physical heritage and the cultures each of them represent. However, my identity<\/strong> is in Christ! My mission is to spread the Gospel!
\nIn Christ, nothing else matters. Ephesians 2:18-21<\/a> reads, \u201cFor through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone.\u201d If we are Christians, our identity is not found in our heritage or the color of our skin; it is found in Christ! As Christians, we need to remember that we are not bodies with souls, we are souls with bodies (C.S. Lewis). If we do that, prejudice will no longer be an issue in the church, and we won\u2019t even notice skin color anymore, which is exactly as God intended it.
\nWhen talking to others about this issue, people have said to me, \u201cWell, even God didn\u2019t want the Jews marrying other races!\u201d This is true and false.\u00a0 In both the Old and New Testaments, God set forth a very firm dividing line for His people in regards to marriage. This line, however, was not skin color or culture as many would like to claim; God\u2019s line on marriage is religion. 2 Corinthians 6:14-16<\/a> says, \u201cDo not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?\u201d Many have said to me that this passage doesn\u2019t apply to marriage because marriage is not in the context. My answer to this is once again yes and no. Is marriage specifically mentioned in the context? No. But would this passage still apply? I think so! A yoke is something that binds oxen together. What greater bind is there in our worldly relationships than that of marriage?
\nPaul makes his point even more clear in 1 Corinthians 7:39<\/a>: \u201cA wife is bound by law as long as her husband lives; but if her husband dies, she is at liberty to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.\u201d Here Paul blatantly says that a widow can only remarry in the Lord. If this is the case for widows, who may have already reared their children, how much more would this apply to those who are just beginning to search for their mates and start their families?
\nThe book of Ezra gives us a heartbreaking account of why God wishes His people to only marry those of the same faith. In Ezra, the people of Israel have been freed from oppression, and many had taken pagan wives. Ezra 9:14<\/a> tells us that this was a problem because of the abominations these pagans committed. It had nothing to do with skin color or race; it was lifestyle and beliefs. As the family of God, we need to make sure that we are only drawing the lines that God Himself drew, and that we are following the guidelines God has given us.
\nAnother heart-breaking example of prejudice in the church today is seen with adoption. Through friends and family members, I have been blessed with exposure to many pregnancy crisis centers, adoption facilities, and orphanages run by the Lord\u2019s church. What an amazing opportunity!\u00a0It was heartbreaking, however, to learn that the majority of these facilities adopt out as many or more babies to non-Christians than to Christians. You automatically ask, \u201cWhy?!\u201d One answer is a lot of these babies are biracial, and oftentimes members of the Lord\u2019s church won\u2019t adopt them. I suggest to you that our Heavenly Father would say that there is no such thing as a \u201cbiracial\u201d baby; we are all of the same race\u2013\u2013the human race.
\nSisters, from the time our children are old enough to talk we teach them the song, \u201cJesus Loves the Little Children.\u201d \u201cJesus loves the little children.\u2028all<\/strong> the children of the world.\u2028Red, brown, yellow, black, and white,\u2028they are precious in His sight.\u2028Jesus loves the little children of the world.\u201d
\nWhen we teach our children this song then say, \u201cWe don\u2019t worship with them\u2013\u2013they are a different color,\u201d we are hypocrites. When we teach this song then say \u201cI will not adopt this baby because he is a different color,\u201d we are hypocrites. When we sing this song then tell our children that they cannot marry someone with a different skin color, we are hypocrites. We are drawing lines that God has not drawn (Revelation 22:18-20<\/a> makes clear the severity of adding to or taking away from the Word of God). When we look at people and see skin color not a soul, we are hypocrites drawing lines that God has not drawn.
\nWe are all familiar with the conflict between Jews and Gentiles in the New Testament church and the havoc it created throughout the first century church. We are all<\/strong> different. We have different eyes, skin color, hair color, heights, weights, cultural backgrounds, ethnic backgrounds, and even family backgrounds and traditions. But we are just that\u2013\u2013family<\/strong>. We are all also the same. We are all souls with bodies, and the physical appearance of that body doesn\u2019t make any difference. I encourage us all from this day forward to put aside these differences and celebrate the oneness we have in Christ!
\n 
\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Lacy Crowell The other day a good friend of mine was at the store with her son. As they were shopping, a lady stopped them and asked, \u201cAw, how old is your son?\u201d To which my friend responded, \u201cHe\u2019s three.\u201d The lady then proceeded to ask, \u201cAnd how long have you had him?\u201d This […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[59,66],"tags":[1051,1309,1310,1307,128],"class_list":["post-5703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christian-living","category-think-excerpts","tag-feature","tag-identity","tag-lacy-crowell","tag-march-2013","tag-race","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nRed, Brown, Yellow, Black and White - Focus Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2018\/01\/08\/red-brown-yellow-black-white\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Red, Brown, Yellow, Black and White - Focus Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Lacy Crowell The other day a good friend of mine was at the store with her son. 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