How Christians Should Respond to Accusations of Racism: Three Biblical Questions You Must Answer
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How Christians Should Respond to Accusations of Racism: Three Biblical Questions You Must Answer
The social media landscape erupted with divisive opinions following Charlie Kirk's death, with Christians on both sides failing to follow biblical principles. Allen Parr's analysis cuts through the noise to ask three challenging questions every believer must confront: How should Christians respond to those they consider racist? Am I a racist myself? Can a racist be a Christian? Drawing from Matthew 5, Romans 12, Luke 6, and other scriptures, this examination challenges Christians to examine their own hearts before judging others, revealing how many believers apply different standards to themselves than they do to others. The uncomfortable truth is that most people have harbored racist thoughts or made racist comments at some point, yet quickly condemn others while excusing themselves. This isn't about defending or condemning anyone, it's about holding Christians accountable to what scripture actually commands about loving enemies and blessing those who curse us.
Social media feeds have been dominated with videos of people weighing in and sharing their opinions about a controversial public figure, with responses ranging from those defending every single thing said to people downright celebrating death and calling the person a racist. The range of opinions has been vast, creating division even among Christians who claim to follow biblical principles.
Rather than playing isolated sound bites or defending or condemning every statement made, a different approach is needed—a biblical approach. Three critical questions must be asked and answered, and it's essential to consider all three questions together to understand the complete picture. Clicking away after the first question means missing the entire point.
Question One: How Should Christians Respond to Racists?
For the sake of argument, assume someone is a straightforward racist. The bigger and more important question is: How does the Bible instruct Christians to respond? If someone is believed to be a racist, that would put them into the category of being an enemy. The Bible has extensive guidance on how believers should treat their enemies.
Matthew 5:43-48 states: "You have heard the law that says love your neighbor and hate your enemies. But Jesus says, I say, love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you. In that way, you will be acting as true children of your father in heaven." The passage continues: "If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. Even pagans do that. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect even as your father in heaven is perfect."
Jesus makes clear that there is no credit for loving people who are nice in return, who speak well, who love back. Even unbelievers can do that. What separates Christians is the ability to love even enemies, even people who are racist. When believers do that, they prove they are true children of God.
So far, Christians are commanded to love someone who is a racist. Drilling down further into 1 Corinthians 13, love is about being kind. Are Christians posting kind things about people they don't like? The passage also says love means not being easily irritated and not keeping a record of wrongs.
The second command is to pray for enemies. An important question arises: Have people spent any time praying for the friends, staff members, wife, and children of someone they're bitter about? Probably not, because it's very hard to pray for someone when still harboring bitterness.
Never Pay Back Evil With Evil
Romans 12 provides further instruction: "Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the scriptures say, 'I will take revenge. I will pay them back, says the Lord.'"
In other words, let God deal with someone if they were a racist. That's not anyone else's business. Let God deal with them. The passage continues: "Instead, if your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads. Don't let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good."
There is so much packed in this passage. Notice it says that even if someone feels another person has been evil toward them, they do not have the right to express evil back—not as a Christian. Why? Because Christians are to always conduct themselves in a way that everyone can see they are honorable.
The passage states that if a person is hungry, they should be fed. A challenging question: For those who believe someone is a racist or a misogynist or a bigot, if they came to your house and were hungry, would you feed them? Some would immediately refuse. But Christians who say they believe in the Bible must confront what the Bible actually says: feed them if they're hungry. Would you cook a meal for them if they came over to your home? Would you invite them over? The Bible says you should.
The Meaning of Blessing Your Enemies
Luke 6:28 states: "Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you." The Greek word for bless is "eulogeo," from which we get the English word eulogy. What does a eulogy mean? What does this Greek word mean? It means to speak well of, to praise or extol, which is what happens when someone dies.
At a funeral, what happens? People speak well of the deceased. At a funeral, all the mistakes, shortcomings, failures, flaws, and things done wrong in life are not mentioned—things they weren't proud of, things others didn't think were right. Instead, they are eulogized. The good they have done in their lives is highlighted. Why? Because at a funeral, it is not the time nor place to highlight how bad the person was. They are spoken well of. They are eulogized.
This is exactly what the verse commands. If Christians are to bless enemies, and someone feels a person is an enemy because they're racist, then to speak well of them might mean highlighting their stance on traditional marriage between a husband and a wife, or highlighting how vehemently they stood against abortion, or how they stood against children having the right to transition without parental consent, or how they stood against same-sex marriage.
Some will object: "What about what was said about MLK being an awful man? What about that?" The response: People get upset because someone made a comment about Martin Luther King and didn't highlight all the amazing things he did to move race relations forward and civil rights forward in the country. Yet those same people are doing the exact same thing at another person's death that they're criticizing that person for doing about Martin Luther King. The hypocrisy is glaring.
Others will say: "What about what was said about the black pilot? What about comments regarding certain black women being DEI hires? You're just going to ignore all those things just because some good things were said here and there?" The point is not excusing or justifying things said. The point is choosing to speak well of another Christian brother, as scripture commands.
Don't Retaliate With Insults
1 Peter 3:9 instructs: "Don't repay evil for evil. Don't retaliate with insults when people insult you." This is the exact opposite of what is being seen online from many Christians. Many Christians feel insulted by things said, so they retaliate back with insults of their own—posting memes, posting pictures, giving people a piece of their mind, showing what they think. The mentality is: "He insulted me, I'm going to insult him right back."
But the verse continues: "Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do and he will grant you his blessing." Those who want to be blessed need to stop retaliating with insult and start blessing people instead, even when insulted.
Romans 12:15 adds: "Rejoice with those who rejoice. Mourn with those who mourn." Many of the people posting negative things almost immediately after a controversial figure's death were the same people who were livid when other people posted negative things about George Floyd when he was killed.
Consider: If someone was heartbroken over the murder of George Floyd, how did it feel when people online posted negative things about George Floyd when he was murdered? Or when they said he was a drug addict, said he was ghetto, or said he deserved what happened to him? Didn't that make people feel like those posting were completely insensitive to the pain that community was experiencing at that time? Christians were angered to see friends online not showing empathy to those heartbroken over another person's life taken unjustly.
Now many people are taking the opportunity to do the exact same thing at another person's death. It's hypocrisy, and all of it needs to stop on both sides. As Christians, there must be recognition that whether in agreement or disagreement, other brothers and sisters in Christ are hurting right now. People are hurting right now.
There were people in 2020 hurting over George Floyd. There are people hurting now, and the responsibility is to come alongside them and weep with them and mourn with them and show empathy toward them the same way others would have appreciated when someone from their community was killed.
Finally, Jesus on the cross said about the people nailing him to the cross: "Father, forgive them for they don't know what they are doing." A question: Has anyone nailed you to the cross? No. But even if they did, to follow the example of Jesus, believers are called to forgive them.
This is the part of Christianity that people don't like because it goes against the grain of what the flesh wants to do. The flesh wants to remain bitter, to slander, to be angry, to lash out, to retweet that post or that meme. Operating out of the flesh is the problem. These are the parts of the Bible that sadly many Christians don't want to acknowledge. There's a desire to pick and choose, to cherry-pick which parts of the Bible apply and which ones don't. But believers don't get the right to do that. If claiming to be a Bible-believing Christian, all of it must be accepted, even if it doesn't feel good.
Before moving on to the second question, consider: How much time has been spent praying for, speaking well of, not insulting, and forgiving someone believed to have wronged, offended, or insulted you? Or has more time been spent remaining bitter and speaking negatively and rewatching clips over and over again online that make you even more angry?
Question Two: Am I a Racist?
This might be the most important question. Why is this important to ask? Because the Bible clearly states: "Do not judge others, and you will not be judged, for you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged. And why worry about a speck in your friend's eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, 'Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye' when you can't see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite, first get rid of the log in your own eye. Then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend's eye."
Over the past several days, many people have made the claim that certain figures were racist, or at the very least made racist comments. But this text says there is absolutely no business passing judgment on anyone until passing judgment on ourselves first. Only then is there the right to pass judgment on others. But it's so interesting that there's such quickness to judge what others said while letting ourselves completely off the hook as if we have never made some of the same comments or generalizations about people of another race. According to this verse, the Bible calls such people hypocrites.
First, establish a working definition of racism: the belief that one race is superior to another, which leads to prejudice, discrimination, or the making of harmful stereotypes about people based on their race.
Examining Our Own Racist Thoughts
For black people, ask yourself if you've ever said or thought any of the following things at any point in your life:
White people's food is bland. It lacks seasoning and flavor.
White people can't dance and they ain't got no rhythm.
White women are weak, easy, and lack strength.
All white people want to do is oppress black people, keep them down, and maintain control.
I don't want my black son to marry a white woman because she doesn't deserve our best men. Keep your white hands off our black men.
Most white people have had an easy life and don't know the first thing about what it means to struggle.
These statements are known to have been said because they've been heard in conversation. They may not be said to a white person, but black people have been heard speaking amongst themselves saying all of these things about white people.
For white people, if you've ever thought or said the following things, these are also racist comments and thoughts:
Black people need to stop looking for handouts, work harder, and take more responsibility.
Black people are late and lazy.
Black women are loud, overweight, and ghetto.
Black men with cornrows or dreadlocks are probably dangerous, uneducated, or at the very least should not be representing a company in corporate America.
A black woman with an afro or the name Shaniqua probably isn't equipped or educated enough to run a company or be my superior.
For the record, many resumes every year are straight up ignored simply because of the sound of someone's name. A black woman could have the exact same qualifications as a white woman, but because her name is Shaniqua, her resume may not even get a second look. This is favoritism, and James 2:9 says: "Showing favoritism is a sin."
Other examples include:
Most black men need to be more sexually responsible and stop having so many kids by so many different women.
Most black fathers are deadbeat dads.
I don't want my white daughter marrying some black man because that would be her marrying someone beneath her. She deserves better.
Maybe these things have never actually been said, or maybe they have, but maybe they've been thought. Maybe they've been communicated subtly in some way without even realizing it.
What was the purpose of that exercise? The reality is that all of us have either made these comments or thought about them, which puts everyone in the same category as the category people want to put controversial figures in. The only difference is that some have platforms that reach millions of people and most of what they say is publicly recorded, while private thoughts and words are not.
This is the part of Christianity, the part of the Bible that people don't want to deal with. Internal racism doesn't want to be addressed. The focus wants to stay on pointing to somebody else and their racism. The Bible doesn't allow that.
Now that it's been established that more than likely all of us have made racist comments or had racist thoughts at some point in our lives, but would probably not consider ourselves racist because we always want to give ourselves the benefit of the doubt, it's time to move on to the third and final question.
Question Three: Is It Possible to Be a Racist and Be a Christian?
The answer: hopefully yes, after answering the second question affirmatively or at least admitting to having made racist comments. But even if someone has never made a racist comment, laughed at a racist joke, or had a racist thought in their life, they've sinned in other ways.
If racism is a sin and Jesus died on the cross for our sins, then yes, it is possible to be a racist and be a Christian. Just like it's possible to be a Christian who struggles with having sex before marriage. Just like it's possible to be a Christian who struggles with lust. Just like it's possible to be a Christian who lives in a perpetual state of anger and unforgiveness toward people who wronged them 10, 15, 20, 30 years ago that haven't been forgiven. Just like it's possible to be selfish and be a Christian. The list goes on and on.
Isn't it interesting how quickly there's a desire to give ourselves a pass on areas where there's no struggle with the same issues as other people? There may be no struggle in certain areas that others are seen struggling with, so there's a desire to condemn them while giving ourselves a pass even though there's sin in our lives. There's a desire to hold others to a higher standard. That's not allowed.
Thankfully, status as a Christian does not depend on sin, but depends on the finished work of Jesus Christ. It depends on confession of Jesus Christ as Lord.
The Conclusion: How Christians Must Respond
Was a particular controversial figure a racist? That's uncertain. That's up to God to judge. Quite frankly, it's none of anyone else's business. But for Christians, it remains irrelevant only because it has been proven through scripture that the response to people believed to be racist should be based on scripture and not emotions.
When responding based on scripture, the world is left in awe wondering: "How can that person respond that way even after they have been insulted in this way?" This is how Christians distinguish themselves. This is why the Bible says that they will know we are disciples by our love.
Romans 12:2 provides a final instruction: "Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you—which is good and pleasing and perfect."
When looking on social media, the world is going to respond one way. This verse says don't copy them. Let the scriptures guide how to respond and react to everything, whether online or offline. Always remember before judging others to judge yourself first with the same standard used to judge other people.
As social media becomes increasingly toxic, reminiscent of 2020, this will continue every single time something like this happens until Christians decide to be different. Non-Christians cannot be controlled in how they respond to things and what they post. But what can be done is for Christians to decide they're not going to be like the world and they are going to be different. Whether liked or not, whether the flesh wants to abide or not, the scriptures must guide every decision.
