Racism and Unity

The Trayvon Martin case has been on my mind recently, as I know it has for a lot of people. The issue of racism is still being talked about, fifty years after the major civil rights movement in the 60s. Racism still exists. It still causes problems. But let's keep something in mind: racism is not just whites hating blacks; it's also blacks hating whites, Hispanic people hating whites, Asians hating blacks—anything like that. It's any time we make race a basis for judging someone, especially unfairly. (For what it's worth, the Martin/Zimmerman case isn't white vs. black; Zimmerman has, from what I've heard, an Afro-Brazilian heritage. So let's stop talking about this as a black and white situation. It isn't, in either sense of the phrase.)

What I've noticed, I think more importantly, is how divided we are on this issue, even among Christians. One of my (white) friends stated that this case was not one of racism, and we ought not to call it such because it cheapens the situations that actually are racism. He was immediately jumped on by black friends because he "couldn't possibly understand," and also by some more liberal white friends for things like "ignoring" or "overlooking" racism.

Perhaps they have a point. I'm more likely to agree with the first friend, but I also speak from the same perspective that he does. Perhaps he and I are missing something here. But what stands out to me is the division.

Truth is important. People hurting is important. We ought not to ignore that. But when it divides us so, something is wrong.

Paul says two rather different things on this subject, that I think nevertheless mesh very well, and end by encompassing how we ought to live. The first is found in Ephesians 4: "Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called to one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all." Likewise, in 1 Corinthians 12, Paul says, "For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews of Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit." And finally, in Galatians 3: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus."

This is powerful. We ought not to be divided. Our unity in Christ goes so far as to override, in a sense, our race, our social status, even our sexuality. We are all ONE in Christ.

But that isn't the only thing Paul says. We are still individual people. We cannot be generalized, we cannot be written off into groups; we must all be recognized as persons, distinct and yet united. Right after the above-quoted passage from 1 Corinthians, he continues:

For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot says, "Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body," it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. And if the ear says, "Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body," it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. If they were all one member, where would the body be? But now there are many members, but one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you"; or again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." On the contrary it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable, whereas our more presentable members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, so that there may be no division in one body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are Christ's body, and individually members of it.

Paul is speaking this in the context of spiritual gifts, but it applies just as completely to other issues of division within the body of Christ. In Christ, we are one; Christ himself prays for unity in John 17: "I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so tha the world may believe that You sent Me." We are to be one with each other and with Christ as Christ is with God. Our unity is to be as complete and as perfect as the unity of the Trinity. How do you get more unified than that?

We are unified, and yet distinct, as the Trinity is one and yet three. We are all different; good! We ought to be. We each bring different things to the Church, to the body of Christ. But we must also be one. We must be united in love for each other and for God. Let us not forget that the next time we see cries of racism; for our brothers and sisters are hurting. Let us not forget that the next time we see cries of inequality among the sexes; for our brothers and sisters are hurting. And yet, let us remember that we are different, and intended to be so. The way I am when I am most myself is not the way you should be when you are most yourself, but we should all be one in Christ, where we are all most as God made us to be.

So, please: Pray for one another. Love one another. Be different, but be one.