What You Don't See

 The scriptures referred to are Romans 10:5-15.

You may have read that the difference between the DNA of humans and chimpanzees is only 1.2%. To visualize that imagine 2 piles of pennies, each totaling $10, or 1000 pennies in each pile. Let's say some of the pennies were pre-1982 and some were post-1982, because that's the year the US treasury changed the composition of pennies from mostly copper to mostly zinc. Let's say the pile of pennies representing the chimps was all pre-1982 pennies and the pile representing humans had a certain number of post-1982 pennies that show the difference between chimps and humans. The number of pennies that would be different is 12 out of a pile of 1000.

Now let's look at the differences in the DNA of human individuals. Between the 2 $10 piles of pennies, you would find only 1 penny that would come from a different composition of zinc and copper. That's how little difference there is genetically between different humans: 0.1%. Yet we make a big deal out of those differences. We have constructed the idea of race by lumping together people who share broad similarities in looks, despite the fact that when you get down to DNA, the code which makes us what we are and how we look, the differences are statistically not important. In Africa, there are greater differences between people in various regions of that continent than between them and other so-called races. For that matter there are greater differences between men and women (0.325% or a little over 3 pennies out of a thousand) than between people of different races (again, 1 penny).

The Bible really doesn't have a concept of race, as we define it. Like the rest of the classical world, people were seen as coming from a regional or language or family or cultural group. Physical differences were attributed to geography and climate. The only real reference to “black” skin in the Bible is to the beloved in the Song of Solomon who describes herself as “dark but lovely.” (Song of Solomon 1:5) Any racism based on skin color has to be read into the Bible by those looking to justify it.

According to Wikipedia, the word “race,” meaning an identifiable group of people sharing a common descent, was only introduced into English less than 500 years ago. It was used by scientists and naturalists who were classifying everything, including plants, animals and rocks, into systems they tried to make comprehensive. By the 1600s Francois Bernier labeled people according to the 4 quarters of the earth as either Europeans, Far Easterners, Negroes or Lapps. It was in the 1700s that scientists were linking physical differences with psychological or behavioral traits and deeming some superior to others. By the 1800s races were being ranked by supposed differences in moral character and intelligence. Some scientists even said that the different races had different origins and were created separately by God. Thus not all races were descended from Adam and so were not physically related. And, of course, this “scientific racism” was welcomed by people who bought and sold African slaves.

At this same time modern states and governments were being created and so these notions were baked in. In his original draft of the Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson, to his credit, explicitly stated that all men were created equal, regardless of race, but congressional leaders from the South had it cut from the final version. What did stay in was a paragraph that said, “the merciless Indian Savages, whose known Rule of Warfare, is an undistinguished Destruction of all Ages, Sexes, and Conditions.” And in our Constitution, people who are not free, nor indentured servants nor Indians, in other words, slaves, are counted as 3/5 of a person. Slavery was not outlawed until the 13^th Amendment in 1865, and rights weren't secured for all citizens, regardless of race, color or the fact that they used to be slaves, until the 15^th Amendment in 1870. But racial discrimination wasn't really outlawed until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. But, as we have so vividly seen in videos, not everybody follows the law. Because despite the fact that modern science has refuted the idea that races are more different than alike, that belief has burrowed deep into people's psyche.

In his letter to the Romans Paul wrestled with the problem that some folks within the church hadn't gotten the message that, as his fellow apostle Peter said, God doesn't show favoritism. (Acts 10:34) Though originally Jewish, the church now had a considerable number of Gentile converts. And this was causing tensions. Some Jewish Christians felt that the Gentile Christians should get circumcised and follow Jewish law. Some Gentiles were debating whether eating meat from the surplus sacrificed to idols was morally justifiable or not.

Paul's position was, when it comes to God, these differences are insignificant. As it says in today's passage from Romans, “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For 'Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.'” Now here Paul is specifically talking about equality among people when it comes to salvation. But it also applies to our position in the body of Christ. In 1 Corinthians he says, “For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given one Spirit to drink.” (1 Corinthians 12:13) In Colossians, he writes, “Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.” (Colossians 3:11) In Galatians, Paul says, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28) And consequently we have “full rights” as children of God. (Galatians 4:5)

In these passages, Paul keeps emphasizing that the classifications and identifiers that men use to distinguish between people fall away when we come together before God. As the God tells Samuel, “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)

I saw this close up in my nursing career. I was doing what was then called private duty nursing, taking care of someone who either had really good insurance or was wealthy. The person who coordinated and assigned nurses to the cases quit and the owners offered me the job. That was great because private duty nursing could be spotty at times, especially around holidays and vacation times when doctors did not do elective surgeries. This way I would be working 9 to 5 Monday through Friday which was important to me as a married man with small children. The owners showed me the loose leaf binder that had the contact information of all the nurses they employed. When someone called in, needing round the clock nurses to watch them or their spouse or relative as they convalesced from their surgery or disease, I would start calling nurses to see who was available. That was pretty straight-forward. Then they pulled out a nearly identical binder that contained the same list but with marks next to the names. This indicated which nurses were white and which were black. Because sometimes the rich people living in the western part of St. Louis County specified they only wanted white nurses. In fact, my bosses pointed out one nurse at the very bottom of the last page. They said that I should call her only if I ran out of other white nurses because this one was not a very good nurse and they suspected that she drank. But if the client insisted on white nurses only and no one else was available, I could use her.

I would like to say that I made a scene and quit the agency immediately. But I needed the work and the better pay and the regular hours I'd get as coordinator. Besides, how often would people insist on having a white nurse, even if she was a bad one, over a good nurse, whatever her color? More often than I would have imagined. And I hated having good black nurses call and ask if I had any cases for them and telling them “No.” After a month, I quit and told the owners why. But I have always felt guilty for saying “yes” to them in the first place.

Because my first 2 head nurses were black. My clinical nursing instructor was black. Many of my fellow nurses were black. And I learned that competence doesn't have a color. Compassion doesn't have a color. My fellow nurses were smart, worked hard, had the same values as I did and wanted the same things for their kids that I did. My head nurse threw a Christmas party at her home and invited us all. It was up in north St. Louis, which was supposed to be the bad side of town, where mostly blacks lived. And yet I found that her neighborhood and house were no different from the ones where I grew up in south St. Louis. It was a great party. And it opened the eyes of this young guy who grew up in a white neighborhood and went to a white church and whose father came from Tennessee and was not that enlightened when it came to race. I didn't think that I had any negative attitudes towards people of a different color. But then why was I surprised when I found out how much they were like me?

All species come in different colors and yet only when it comes to humans do people think that this external feature gives you insights into the actual nature of a person. In Paul's day, the important identifier was where you came from, or what tribe you came from or what language you spoke. Human beings like to create caste systems, invisible structures that let you know who can boss you around and whom you can boss around. In the US we use color and money and family to signify where you belong in society. And, yes, we like to tell ourselves that anyone can better themselves. But that's not totally true. A study that drew from a sample of 20 million Americans shows that the neighborhood where children grow up “has a greater effect on future income earnings than the neighborhood they end up living in as an adult.” (here) Children who lived just a few blocks away could have a much better success in life. And much of this is due to redlining, policies by the US government that created segregated neighborhoods by guaranteeing FHA loans to developers on condition that no homes were offered to African-Americans, or resold to African-Americans. (here)

The big division in the early church was between Jews and Gentiles. And in addition to reconciling human beings to God, Jesus was also reconciling different groups of people with each other. “For he himself is our peace, who made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.” (Ephesians 2:14-16)

Sin doesn't affect only the individual, or only our relationship with God; it affects our relationships with other people. Racism is a sin, as is any attitude that uses things like color or gender or ethnicity or body type or facial symmetry or disability to classify people as good or bad, smart or dumb, harmless or dangerous, hardworking or lazy, trustworthy or not. Jesus said, “Do not judge so that you will not be judged.” (Matthew 7:1) And he didn't add any exceptions for people who look different than us.

The body of Christ is supposed to be the model of the new humanity in Christ. And, as Paul pointed out, different parts of the body look different. That doesn't mean we can dismiss them or diminish their importance. And the pain of one part of the body should be felt by all. (1 Corinthians 12:12-27) As Christians we must acknowledge the pain felt by others, whether they look like us or not. And we must try to stop the pain. Ever catch your little toe on the edge of the bed? You entire body reacts and you bend over and give immediate attention to it, one of the smallest parts of your body. That's how the body of Christ needs to react whenever our brothers and sisters in Christ are in pain.

If, say, while you are strolling through a neighborhood, a dog runs out of a yard and bites you on the ankle, you don't quiz the ankle about what it was doing in that neighborhood or ask how it might have provoked the dog. You protect the ankle from further harm; you say, “Bad dog!”; you find out whose dog it is and make sure they see that it doesn't happen again. And you get whatever medical help you need for your ankle and make sure the owner pays for it. Why do we act differently when a member of the body of Christ is attacked for being in the “wrong” neighborhood or has the police called on him for barbequing in a public park or swimming in a public pool or birdwatching or going home from the convenience store to his father's house?

Nor does this only apply to our fellow Christians. Every person in the world is someone created in the image of God and is someone for whom Christ died, whether they know it or not. Which means every person is also either a brother or sister in Christ or a potential brother of sister in Christ. And you can't tell that just by looking at them. Only God sees their hearts.

Even if they are your declared enemy, Jesus commands us to “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:44-45) And by the way, in an agricultural society rain is also good. So God is good to all. And we should be as well.

When I was in nursing school, we were working on Maternity, and one of our jobs was to take the babies to their mothers to be nursed. And you know how all babies have cute little button noses? Not this one kid. He looked like Jimmy Durante. But his mother didn't refuse to nurse him. She loved him; his looks didn't matter. Which is how God loves us. This was 40 years ago and for all I know that big nosed kid is right now researching how to defeat this virus that killed so many people, including my mother. But even if he isn't I know that fighting it are researchers and nurses and doctors and other healthcare personnel who are black and Asian and Latino and Indian and Pakistani and Palestinian and Arabian and Iranian and Israeli and others who belong to every human category you can think of. And God help the person who makes their life or anyone else's worse because of what they look or sound like, disregarding who they are in the eyes of the God who is love.