What does the Bible say about race?
Is the Bible a racist text? Does it condone enslaving people based on racial differences, or is this just a skeptic's way of reading something into the Christian faith? From the early pages of the Bible, we see that all people are created in the image of God, meaning that we can identify this image equally in all people. Later on, God expressed a desire to bless all the families of the earth and to ultimately establish one family, a family of believers representing all nations, worshipping Jesus. In fact, the Bible ends with a picture of every tribe, nation, and tongue worshipping God in unity, illustrating that God sees and values this diversity and expects it to be a vision for our relationships. Practically speaking, making fun of another race, displaying prejudice, or espousing racist ideology, whether politically or socially, is abhorrently foreign to the intentions that God had for human relationships.
Discussion Questions:
Were you familiar with the evidence the Bible provides to counter bad Bible interpretations that condoned racism, such as the idea of certain races being cursed by God or one race being superior to another?
What do you think it means when the Bible states that each person is in the image of God, and do you see yourself beholding people with that description in mind?
Why do conversations about race or racial injustice quickly turn into arguments instead of observing what the entire biblical story has to say about race and multi-ethnic relationships?
Why do you think Revelation points out that every tribe, nation, and tongue is worshiping Jesus? How can we live in that vision on Earth right now?