Examples From the Bible on How to Overcome Racism
Lessons from the conflict between Peter and Paul
Examples in the Bible of Overcoming Racism
Church leaders, such as Ben Lindsay, have pointed out the church’s reluctance to talk about race. We have failed to see the importance of racial equality in the New Testament.
In his letter to the multicultural Ephesian church, the apostle Paul put racial reconciliation at the heart of the Gospel — what he called the “mystery of Christ”. God is going to heal divisions of racial conflict through the Gospel:
In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ… that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 3:4–6, NIV)
Peter: a hero of racial equality
Of course, at the birth of the New Testament church, Jewish Christians were the dominant ethnic group. Many centuries later, it is hard for us to imagine how controversial the inclusion of Gentiles (non-Jews) to the church was.
God made it abundantly clear to Peter that Gentiles were to be included as equals with Jewish Christians:
- He received a vision of a sheet containing “clean” and “unclean” animals (Acts 10:4–10). Author John Stott, in his commentary of Acts, sums up the message of the vision: “…the sheet is the church, which will contain all races and classes without any distinction at all” (The Message of Acts, p194).
- Peter is then commanded by an angel to preach the Gospel to Cornelius — a Gentile.
- Cornelius also receives a message from an angel to prepare for a message from Peter.
- Cornelius and his Gentile friends believed the message and received the Holy Spirit in the same way Jewish Christians did at Pentecost (Acts 2).
Jewish Christians admirably responded to God’s message of racial equality with praise:
When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.” (Acts 11:18, NIV)
Two thousand or so years later the racial make-up of the church is quite different. However, as Stott observed, the church has struggled throughout its history to live out this message:
Yet, tragic as it is, the church has never learned irrevocably the truth of its own unity or of the equality of its members in Christ. Even Peter himself, despite the fourfold witness he had received, later had a bad lapse at Antioch…(John Stott, The Message of Acts, p197)
Repentance of Peter
While Peter is the hero of the story in Acts 10 and 11 — it doesn’t take long for the slip up in Antioch. Paul describes his confrontation with Peter (Cephas):
But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. (Galatians 2:11–13, NIV)
Justice or fear?
Acts 10 shows that Peter was clearly informed of God’s will. When people from the “circumcision party” came to Antioch he had two choices: stand for the equality of Gentiles or give in to their demands.
Peter feared the “circumcision party” that demanded Gentiles follow Jewish traditions. In other words, Gentiles were not welcome in the church unless they abandoned their culture.
The men claiming to be sent by James were influential. Peter thought the wise thing was to avoid conflict with them. White Christians in the West have a similar dilemma today. Do we turn a blind eye to racial injustice to gain influence?
Citizens of earth or heaven?
Paul calls out Peter’s double standards:
When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?” (Galatians 2:14, NIV)
Peter knew the freedom of the Gospel — that he was no longer required to obey all the Jewish customs that Jesus had already fulfilled. However, as a circumcised Jew, he qualified as an “insider” by the circumcision group.
Peter wanted to have the benefits of the kingdom of heaven whilst enjoying the approval of those who considered themselves superior to Gentiles.
Again, we don’t need to reach far to see the parallels with our time. White Christians in the West were once Gentile outsiders treated as inferior. When Paul, also a circumcised Jew, spoke for the equality of the Gentiles he spoke for us.
Yet, now in the 21st-century, White Christians hold power and influence. Like Peter we can use that power to avoid uncomfortable conflict or, like Paul, to confront injustice.
Paul doesn’t hold back in his assessment of Peter’s actions, “he stood condemned” (Galatians 2:11, NIV). Peter had to choose between pleasing God or pleasing people. So do we.
Responsibility of leaders
Peter’s actions not only had negative impacts on the Gentiles — his example led others astray.
Barnabas was well known for his openness to outsiders. He persuaded terrified church members to accept the persecutor Paul after his conversion (Acts 9:26–27).
When Paul had lost patience with John Mark, Barnabas was willing to fall out with Paul to support the young Christian (Acts 15:36–41). So if even Barnabas was separating from the Gentiles, Peter’s influence in leading the Antioch church away from God’s will was profound.
Christian leaders in our time, including parents, must also be careful to ponder what influence our example has on others.
The inclusion of Gentiles as equals was a central issue facing the New Testament church. We should not be surprised that we face similar challenges in our time.
We can learn from the brave stand for racial equality by leaders like Peter and Paul. We also learn that these leaders sometimes get it wrong, require our prayers, and occasionally need to be confronted.
