Saturday, September 11, 2010

"To regard a race, group or individual as less important than another is sin in view of the fact that Christ died for all people and for each one in particular. At the foot of the cross, we are equal." (Spirit-filled Bible Commentary on James 2)

My friend Liz posted this quote on her facebook this week and I think it speaks volumes about God's view of race and discriminating people because of the color of their skin.
Race has become a topic that John and I have had to think about a little more often these days; considering we'll be adopting a child of a different ethnicity.
I've never considered myself racist, but growing up i was taught that white people marry white people and black people marry black people. That if God had intended for them to mix, he wouldn't have made so many different races.
When we decided to adopt from Ethiopia we realized we would probably face some criticism for adopting a black baby.
At first I wondered how I would handle people's negative comments, questions and stares. How would I protect my child from the ugliness? Those concerns faded pretty quickly after digging into God's word and reading this quote, which literally brought me to tears.

"The color of love is always the same in the eyes of a child." ~Unknown

I also kept replaying this song from my childhood over and over again in my head:

"Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red and Yellow, Black and White, they are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world."

All of those split-second concerns have now disappeared. Now I can't imagine NOT bringing home our Ethiopian baby. I see photos of babies like Solomon and Sophia and my heart just melts at the sight of their precious faces - but my heart also aches because I can't wait to meet our baby.
After years of being told that people of different races weren't supposed to intermarry, I was surprised to discover that the Bible had something completely different to say.
Moses (a Hebrew) was married to an Ethiopian woman! Her name was Zipporah. Moses' sister, Miriam, judged him for marrying Zipporah (likely because of her race). Because of her judgement towards Moses, God caused Miriam to have leprosy. (Numbers 12)
WOW! I think God makes it pretty clear on how He feels when people judge others because of the color of their skin.
We are not to judge. We are to love!

"This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another." ~1st John 3:11
"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins." 1 Peter 4:8

2 comments:

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  2. I think it is a common misconception that the Bible holds this negative view of intermarrying, but take a look at the geneology of Jesus. You have Rahab - not Jewish and Ruth - not Jewish, and Tamar - not Jewish. More to the point, however, I think the commands of God against intermarrying weren't about race at all. They were about not yoking yourself to someone who didn't love God.

    I will say, we have really had very few negative comments about our Ethiopian son. Lots of inquisitive questions, though. But I welcome the questions. Each time I get one of them I view it as an opportunity to let others know the blessing that is adoption. And if through just one of these encounters someone decides to adopt, what an amazing thing that would be!

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