Is Critical Race Theory anti-Christian?
My youth pastor in the early 90s tried to teach our youth group about “critical race theory.” I was in 10th grade, and although he never used these particular buzz words, he explained to me that I was a racist. We were all racists. He was a seminarian at Drew University, working toward his Master of Divinity but majored in sociology as an undergrad. So a bunch of middle school and high schoolers, all being Korean-American mind you, were being taught about systemic racism. Our teacher, an early 40s, first-generation Korean immigrant giving sermons from a music stand on Sundays and leading Bible studies on Saturday night. I’d never been called racist in my life! In the end, he convinced me that racism is more than my particular, or any individual’s attitude toward another person or group of people. So yes, I believe it’s true. And the negative about getting this information so early in my life is that I’ve never really had another way to think about it. The positive is that I’ve had 29 years to sit with it, long before it was a topic in the culture wars. Protected from rival sermons and social media, I questioned it, examined it, and held it up to the light of Scripture. The beauty is I did this without even knowing it. So I can share with you my thoughts. Is CRT anti-Christian?
Critical Race Theory is NOT anti-Christian because there’s nothing in it that opposes the essential message of Christianity. The gospel is: “For God so loved the world, he gave his only Son so that anyone who believes in him would not perish but have eternal life.” Nothing in the culture wars can add or detract to the Scripture. So why is there controversy and tension between these two worldviews? Because Christians are called to be the salt and light to this nation. We need to show them that the truths in CRT are Biblical. They were God’s ideas long before the world stumbled upon them.
There are at least 3 major perspectives advanced by CRT that came from Scripture.
Corporate sins needs collective righteousness
Multiculturalism and world vision is God’s heartbeat
The hidden mystery, now revealed: God treats us like equals
If you’ve journeyed with me this far, come a few steps closer as we unpack key verses. May the Holy Spirit open the eyes of our hearts and give us wisdom to receive his message. In Jesus Name, Amen.
Corporate sin needs collective righteousness
Whenever God called Israel to repentance, people were committing corporate sin. In 2 Chronicles 7:14, God declares, “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
God created a people or a nation for himself. One righteous individual or even a group of individuals were not enough to reflect God’s righteous character. To demonstrate God’s holiness, a whole society needs to be walking in step with the Lord. When a nation strays, the people need to acknowledge God’s pronouncement that it is a society problem, not just an individual problem.
“When ancient Israel repented and sought the Lord, they were doing so en masse. The nation as a whole repented. Obviously, not every single Israelite repented and prayed, but still it was national repentance.” from gotQuestions.org.
Individual sin stems from a US-centric mindset where individualism is valued more highly than collectivism. Not so with the Israelites. Their understanding of corporate sin was much more ingrained in their culture.
By applying God’s standard, which is repeated throughout Scripture, against corporate sin, we know that “racism being a corporate or societal problem” is the truth.
The nation must turn from their wicked ways. The carefully chosen words in Scripture describes a road, a journey, or even a manner in doing something. Turning from a wicked way is more than just stopping individuals acts of violence, discrimination, or prejudice. The entire road is wicked. Literally, the “way of doing things” need to be changed. Not just the doing, but the system itself. I don’t think we should allow CRT theorists to take credit for God-revealed truth. Next time you find yourself listening or discuss with someone “woke” ideas, remind them that these were taken from Scripture.
The promise of restoration and healing is on their land. Again, this emphasizes the collective or societal problem. If the solution is collective righteousness, than the problem is corporate sin. When I first learned about CRT in 10th grade without even knowing it, I hadn’t even read 2 Chronicles 7:14 in my life before. It was a verse that anchored a call for national repentance during a gathering in Washington DC several years later. I believe God prepared my heart to receive the message that we need to pray and fast as a nation. I remember a Chief from a Native American tribe began the revival meeting with a prayer. We were mobilized to speak out for those who were voiceless. Babies being aborted in the womb.
I don’t think we can pick and choose the issues that are sin in God’s eyes, especially when it is corporate sin. We are all in this together, as a people. God sees the societal sin of abortion the same as the sin of systemic racism. As the false god of Molech was worshipped to give license to infanticide, the false god of oppression is Baal.
Baal literally means “owner” or “Lord” and Baal worship took many forms. The name, however, reveals the root which is the power grab that is embedded in any society. Adherence to Baal means to get power and authority, one must bow down to power and authority. A person or group should “play the game” so that they can be advanced.
This was the temptation presented to Jesus in the wilderness by Satan. Satan, first lies by saying all power and authority was given to him. He shows Jesus the kingdoms of the world and says that if he bows down to him, Jesus will be given that power and authority. Jesus recognizing the lies, proclaims the truth of the Scripture. There should be no other worship of false or lesser gods.
In following Jesus’ example and teaching, it is foundational that God’s mercy and justice is cross-cultural. Like the Pharisees that were the empowered class of Jesus’ day, by continuing the power structure, it was they that were the ones that were impoverished. It was the Pharisee that was the white-washed tomb, seemingly clean on the outside, but reeking of death on the inside.
For more on Jesus’ temptations in the desert, click here.
For more on God’s heartbeat for missions, click here.
In researching this topic, I want to warn against men and women who are given a platform like Bruce Ashford, who can write more than 2,000 words on this topic without referencing a single Bible verse.
