Christianity is antithetical to racism.
Every person, no matter their race, is made in the image of God. God’s blessing through Abraham is to all peoples (Gen 12:3). The blessing has been realized through Christ, who sacrificed and died for all of us. Christ accepted all sorts of people—prostitutes, lepers, disabled, tax collectors, and Samaritans. The Israelites hated the Samaritans, but Christ befriended them. John 4:4 described Christ insisted on going through Samaria, though there were other paths. That trip depicted Christ having the longest conversation recorded in the Bible, and it was with a Samaritan woman. Later, He stayed with the Samaritans for two days (John 4:40). Other examples include Christ healing a Samaritan leper, and one of His most memorable parables featured a good Samaritan (Luke 17:11-19, Luke 10:25-37). Such behaviors irked the Jews to no end, causing some to even consider Him a Samaritan (John 8:48). The early church did not separate Jews from Gentiles, or the uneducated (e.g., the Scythian) from the educated (Galatians 3:28, Colossians 3:11). As to genetic differences based on skin color, they are in the 0.01 percent range. Genetic variations within a race are much higher than variations among different races. In the US, slaves were initially Scots, Irishman, Englishmen, and others. Later, kidnapping people from Africa as slaves became a big business. One reason was because African slaves were much easier to track down if they ran away. Once here, they were isolated, oppressed, denied equal rights, and stripped of numerous opportunities. Those who would discriminate based on skin color are driven by power and greed. It is a way to justify suppression and exploitation. Christ tears down walls and facilitate reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:16-19). Christ humbled Himself to become human and die for us (Philippians 2:5-8). He used His privilege for us. Paul followed Christ and gave up his privilege as a Roman to spread the gospel to Gentiles. We also should follow Christ and use our privilege to help those in need. Fight racism with love. Instead of suppressing those different from us, include them and help them if they need it. Racism is a spiritual battle. Ask God to strengthen us to win it. Summarized from a John Ortberg sermon https://menlo.church/mountainview/series/use-your-privilege#/modal/message/6847/mlo_mv 使用您的特权 基督教反对种族歧视。 各族人民都是按照上帝的形象被造。 上帝通过亚伯拉罕赐福所有人 (创世纪12:3)。 这赐福已经通过基督得以实现。 祂献上自己为祭,为每一个人死在十字架上。 基督接纳各种各样的人 - 妓女,麻风病人,残疾人,税吏和撒玛利亚人。 以色列人厌恶撒玛利亚人,但基督却与他们为友。 约翰福音4:4描述虽然还有其它途径可行,基督仍然坚持经过撒玛利亚。在那次旅程中祂与一个撒玛利亚妇人进行了圣经记载中最长的对话。后来,祂甚至在撒玛利亚住了两天 (约翰福音4:40)。其它例子包括医治撒玛利亚的麻风病人和给律法师讲解撒玛利亚人的比喻,后者是基督最令人难忘的比喻之一 (路加福音17:11-19; 10:25-37)。 这些行为大大地激怒当时的犹太人,以至有些人甚至把祂当作撒玛利亚人看待 (约翰福音8:48)。 早期的教会并没有将犹太人与外邦人分开,也没有将未受过教育的人(野蛮人,Scythian)与受过教育的人分开 (加拉太书3:28;歌罗西书3:11)。 不同肤色的遗传差异,其范围只在0.01%以内。 一个种族中的遗传变异远高于不同种族之间的变异。 在美国,最初的奴隶有苏格兰人,爱尔兰人和英国人等。后来,绑架非洲人作为奴隶成了大生意。原因之一是非洲奴隶逃跑后更容易被追踪。他们一到美国,就被孤立,被压迫,被剥夺平等权利, 被剥夺了许多机会。 正是权力和贪婪的驱动才根据肤色对人进行分类,歧视某些肤色的人,给压制和剥削提供“正当”的理由。 基督拆毁了隔断人的墙,促进人与人之间的和好(哥林多后书5:16-19)。 基督谦卑自己,成为与我们一样的人,为我们受死 (腓立比书2:5-8)。 祂使用祂的特权来拯救我们。 保罗跟随基督,放弃了罗马人的特权,将福音传给外邦人。 我们也应该跟随基督,使用我们的特权去帮助有需要的人。 让我们用爱来对抗种族主义。不要压制与自己不同的人。 相反地,接纳他们,在他们有需要时提供帮助。 与种族主义的争战是一场属灵的斗争。 求上帝赐力量给我们,让我们取得胜利。
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Categories
All
|
© 2024 Insightfulsermons. All rights reserved. Insightfulsermons® is a registered trademark.