What is race? How should we think about that word? As we discuss race and ethnicity, there are three things that must be established with the clearest acknowledgements. First, central the problems with Intersectionality and critical race theory. Second, we must recognize the terrible scar of slavery and racism in America. Third, we need to recognize that there is no such thing as different races. 

Please open your Bibles to Acts chapter 17 and find verse 26. Acts 17 verse 26. The subject today is justice in race and ethnicity. And this text here reads this way. And he has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on the face of the earth and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings now the recent social justice movements are dividing the church by race and ethnicity and I believe that we're really at the beginning of a massive social transformation that will dwarf what I saw happening in the 1960s the alterations that are taking place as as waves of philosophies and injustice Are sweeping America are are really unhead.

We're unthinkable even as few as five or six years ago. These injustices, I believe, are paving the way or could pave the way for what could be the greatest season of persecution that the church has known. And these injustices are known by Terminologies such as reproductive justice, gender justice, sexual justice, and the overarching term social justice. And when you have millions of people who are so confused that they can't figure out what gender they are and they have to manufacture dozens of alternative words to try to describe who they are which is absolutely obvious in their biology when you When you're killing babies without murder charges, when you have such a dramatic reality shift with such profound and dysfunctional dysphoria that you're experiencing a massive social shift. It's happening right now.

And I think we should recognize that this could be the most harmful social revolution ever It will at least if continue Continuing will harm our children the insanity of the thinking that we're seeing around us exceeds the French Revolution. And if it continues along the current trend lines, I think we'll see it in peril our children's freedoms. It'll contradict everything you taught them and it will make them complete outcasts. It may imperil their lives and you know the freight train of the left will run over everyone unless there's a massive turning to Jesus Christ in our country. So that's what we're talking about.

Now today we're going to try to laser beam on the matter of race. What is race and how should we think about it. And as we discuss this matter of race and ethnicity, there are three things that I want to establish. The first is the problem of intersectionality and the critical race theory and secondly we need to recognize the terrible scar of slavery and racism in America and thirdly there's no such thing as different races Those are the three things that I'd like to try to cover. The first is the problem with intersectionality and critical race theory.

You know, as we briefly reviewed intersectionality and critical race theory in the last session, we've shown how the modern social justice movement divides people by gender, by sexual preferences, and here finally by skin color. And The design of critical race theory is to make social divisions more visible and more disruptive in order to deconstruct society. And through these divisions comes conflict and its design is to overturn and reorder society to a Marxist ideal. It seeks to divide existing identity groups. So critical race theory is being adopted.

It is being used as analytical tools even in churches today. We know that the mainline denominations have been doing this for a hundred years, but now we're seeing actual conservative evangelicals doing this in their churches and in their seminaries. One of the examples of that is what's called resolution what was called resolution 9 in the Southern Baptist Convention just recently. You know every year members of the Southern Baptist Convention gather to enter resolutions that address various cultural and spiritual pressure points upon their the people in their denomination this year there was resolution nine on intersectionality and critical race theory And the SBC officially adopted critical race theory and intersectionality as quote unquote analytical tools to be used for fostering racial reconciliation in their churches. Here's how it reads.

This was the statement that was adopted. Resolved, that critical race theory and intersectionality should only be employed as analytical tools subordinate to Scripture, not as transcendent ideological frameworks, and be it further resolved that Southern Baptists will carefully analyze how the information gleaned from these tools are employed to address social dynamics. So this was the resolution. It is a formal adoption of critical race theory as an analytical tool for the church and that's really the problem and I think that what we ought to recognize that these these ideologies are godless ideologies they are they have their roots and Marxism and radical feminism and postmodernism and these things have emerged from a secular worldview, and they're rooted in ideologies that are absolutely antithetical and incompatible with biblical Christianity and we Ought to be repudiating them rather than accepting them as analytical tools Dr. Albert Moeller made a statement about this.

I think it's as clear as day. Identity politics can only be rightly described as antithetical to the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have to see identity politics as nothing less than devastating to the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. So it's critical that we understand the origins of ideas and also the implications of ideas and the adoption of critical race theory and intersectionality in the church is a harmful thing that one might do they're not helpful analytical tools they're actually harmful analytical tools you know the principle of intersectionality seeks to identify levels of oppression in order to identify the oppressed And then to silence the oppressors and give a platform for the oppressed to speak based on these levels of oppression. And we've discussed this.

There are various kinds of oppression can exist as they intersect. For example, if you are a woman, you are oppressed. If you are a Hispanic woman, you're double oppressed. That's how it works. The intersections pile up in that sense.

So there are various levels of intersecting oppression. Now, here's an example of this kind of thinking, just so you can see how the thinking goes. This is actually an intersectionality calculator that you can find on the internet. And if you just fill this out, you'll find out your level of oppression. I'm just doing this for myself.

I'm a male. I am cisgender. I'm not transgender. I am rich. I'm probably one of the...

I'm part of the richest 1% in the entire world. I'm not younger. I'm actually older. I am able-bodied most of the time English is my first language. I am born in the USA a well actually I was actually born in a territory of the United States called Alaska But I'm gonna say I was born in the USA.

I am more edge. You know I have a Advanced degree I'm gonna put myself as more educated. I consider myself to be a devout Christian. I am not Muslim and I am not Jewish and my intersectionality score is Four. Four.

In other words, 96% of the people in the world are more oppressed than I am. And so that's what... This is how intersectionality teaches people to think in terms of level of oppression you need to think of yourself as oppressed to some degree how are you oppressed? Let me count the ways that's really the idea of it so that's that's intersectionality this This is a wrecking ball to the unity of the body of Jesus Christ. When people start thinking about themselves like this, and they relate to one another based on their level of oppression.

This is a wicked, it's a satanic idea that's creeping into the church. You know, we're united by the blood of Jesus Christ. We're not united by our age We're not united by our gender not by our sports teams not our economic status not by our occupations Not of our eye color our hair color our skin color. We're not united by anything like that. We're only united by Jesus Christ.

And this is why Paul said to the Romans in Romans 10-12, for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek for the same Lord Overall is rich to all who call upon him for whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved. That's the only true intersection right there the saved and the unsaved Galatians chapter 3 Verse 26 says for you are all sons of God Through faith in Jesus Christ for as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek there is neither slave nor free there is neither male nor female for you are all one in Christ Jesus and if you are Christ's then you are Abraham's seed and heirs According to the promise. Let's add Ephesians chapter 2 verse 13 Stating that we are all one in Jesus Christ But now in Christ Jesus You Who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ for he himself is our peace Who has made both one and has broken down the middle wall of self separation? Having abolished in his flesh the enmity that is the law of commandments contained in ordinances so as to create in himself one new man praise God from the two thus making peace that he might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.

And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and to those who were near, for through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. We are one body connected by one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one body through the cross. And what does that mean? It means this. There's only one intersection, and it's at the foot of the cross that's the only enters that's the only place that we stand all stand very equal at the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ.

So now that we've spoken about race and intersectionality, now I'd like to just have us consider for a moment to recognize the terrible scar of slavery and racism in America. We really do need to consider that. And the, You know, racism in America continues to afflict social relationships. The legacy of slavery in our nation and the unfolding of our history after it was abolished has been the cause of unspeakable damage to all of us and it's a scar that is not healed and I don't know if we'll be healed in our lifetimes. It can be healed in the church in a far greater way than it can anywhere in the world but everyone has been harmed and the sins and the damage runs deeper than we really even can know I mean I it was shocking to me when we moved here from California in 1988 a week or two later the KKK had a march down the main street of Youngsville.

I was shocked. I couldn't believe it. I thought I thought that had gone away forever. Not so. It's closer than you think and it runs very very deep.

You know, it's very interesting, you know, consider we should be just as opposed to an LGBTQ march down the street of downtown Youngsville as we are a KKK march because it really comes out of the same, same source of perversion. And, you know, we need to recognize that, you know, racism runs so deep and so thick in our culture. You know, fundamentalists like John R. Rice, Even the Southern Baptist Convention was created out of a split over slavery in 1845. Some of the founders of Southern Seminary were genuine racists.

The Mormons are racists. The Jehovah's Witnesses are racists. These things are embedded in their doctrine at least in the cultic side of it that I've just mentioned but making judgments because of skin color is falling into these lies of the devil and it's satanic because Satan is the divider of the brethren he's the slanderer and he uses you to slander your brother and he uses your brother to slander you and The the whole idea that color of a person's skin or hair or eyes implies any kind of inferiority or superiority is contrary to the word of God. You know, there's a book that I would recommend, One Race, One Blood by Ken Ham and Charles Ware. It's really a fantastic, very easy to read, gives a, gives I think very helpful historical coordinates and tells you the real story of the whole matter.

But to think that way is to think contrary to Scripture. You know, Moses didn't think like that. Moses married an Ethiopian woman. Solomon didn't think like that. Solomon married a woman who said in the song of Solomon.

I am black and I am beautiful The people of God don't think that way. It's the pagans who think that way. Because there really are only two categories of people in the world. There are sheep and there are goats. That's it.

Those are the only two real categories. We are of one blood and of that one blood there are sheep and their goats and it doesn't have anything to do with color at all and really the only hope for reconciliation in our land is the belief in the gospel to be transformed by the power of the gospel and to obey the Word of God from our hearts and to love all of our brethren and Not look at them corruptly But in a divided society Like we live the church is really the place where the healing can take place You know and and how do we how do we repair what's broken? I think that you do it you do it in your own jurisdiction. Like for example you you're a father and mother you raise a family and you raise a family where children are taught what what happened at creation and who they really are and help them understand why there are different colors of people in the world. They need to know why.

And in your jurisdiction, please raise up a generation of children who have rejected the world's philosophy about race in that the Bible has all the answers for how to deal with sinful inclinations that cause these divisions and all of them are solved by the Lord Jesus Christ and so you know we should be respond by teaching and demonstrating justice in our jurisdictions, and that includes in our churches as well. When people in churches begin to prefer one another because of some outward manifestation of creation in terms of their color or anything like that, then that needs to be dealt with in terms of discipline in the church. It begins with instruction, but it might escalate to excommunication if someone cannot love their brother who's of a different color. The church must deal with it. So I think the answer is go small.

Go to your family. Raise up a generation that understands what it means to be a human being and Secondly in your church make sure that you uphold the law of God in your church and do the things that God has said to do To confront sin now. We've we've read about this already Genesis 18 19 This was a revelation of the purpose of Abraham's life, Genesis 18-19, for I have known him in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord to do righteousness and justice that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has spoken to him. It is in families where people are to learn what justice is And the best way you can teach your children justice is to read the Bible to them over and over again. And here's what happens when you do.

They can smell a rat in a second. If they If they run across a corrupt idea that's contrary to the scriptures, they'll smell it in a second. So teach them the Word of God. Teach them what is true so that they can understand how to identify ideas that are contrary to the Word of God. Teach them to think in terms of the sufficiency of scripture that scripture is sufficient for all of their understanding of the world and Because that's really the divide that we're dealing with here.

It is really over the sufficiency of scripture Now the next thing that I want to communicate is that there's really no such thing as different races. We are in fact all the same. Geneticists tell us that there is approximately two-tenths of one percent genetic difference between any two people on the entire planet. Two-tenths of one percent, .02 percent. And the devil has invented the idea that people are just so different based on this color of their skin and So the Bible makes it very clear that we are of one blood now I'm going to quote from article 12 of the social justice statement that was written last year to give sort of a succinct statement of what I mean by there is no such thing as different races we affirm God made all people from one man.

Though people often can be distinguished by different ethnicities and nationalities, they are ontological equals before God in both creation and redemption. Race, quote-unquote, is not a biblical category, but rather a social construct that often has been used to classify groups of people in terms of inferiority and superiority. All that is good, honest, just, and beautiful in various ethnic backgrounds and experiences can be celebrated as the fruit of God's grace. All sinful actions and their results, including evils perpetrated between and upon ethnic groups by others, are to be confessed as sinful, repented of, and repudiated. We deny that Christians should segregate themselves into racial groups or regard racial identity above, or even equal to their identity in Christ.

We deny that any divisions between people groups, from an unstated attitude of superiority to an overt spirit of resentment, have any legitimate place in the fellowship of the redeemed. We reject any teaching that encourages racial groups to view themselves as privileged oppressors or entitled victims of oppression. While we are to weep with those who weep, we deny that a person's feelings of offense or oppression necessarily prove that someone else is guilty of sinful behaviors, oppression or prejudice. So I think that states it fairly clearly. Here's another clause, the 14th Article in the statement on racism we affirm that racism is a sin rooted in pride and malice Which must be condemned and renounced by all who would honor the image of God in all people.

Such racial sin can subtly or overtly manifest itself as racial animosity or racial vainglory. Such sinful prejudice or partiality falls short of God's revealed will and violates the royal law of love. We affirm that virtually all cultures, including our own at times, contain laws and systems that foster racist attitudes and policies. We deny that treating people with sinful partiality or prejudice is consistent with biblical Christianity. We deny that only those in positions of power are capable of racism or that individuals of any particular ethnic groups are incapable of racism.

So this just clearly identifies these kinds of intersections as sinful kinds of thinking and it really does speak to the whole matter of sin. Now how do we know this? Well there are several critical facts about mankind. How do we know that we're all equal? First of all, all are created by God, Genesis 2-7.

Second, all are made in the image of God, Genesis 1-26. Third, all are one family, Acts 17-26, as God has made from one blood every nation fourth the Bible is very clear that everyone alive today is a descendant of Noah Every person in this room is a direct descendant of Noah. And fifthly, if you are a son of Noah, you are a son of Adam. So sixthly, this means that you have descended from two parents. All the variations that we see in the world today in terms of size and shape and shade of skin color were all resident in Adam and Eve.

Within the loins of Adam and Eve were the people that possess all the different colors that you see today because we go back to Adam and Eve. In other words, we are all the same. What's the difference? Why is it that some people have darker skin than others? There's only one difference, and it is a pigmentation called melanin in the skin.

Melanin is simply pigmentation. If you're, maybe if you're younger, you know what food coloring is? It's a little bit like food coloring. And melanin controls three things. It controls your eye color and it controls your hair color and it controls your skin color.

That's what melatonin controls. If you have a lot of it, you'll be darker. If you have a little of it, you'll be lighter. That's just the way it is. And the same with your hair.

Now, it's nothing more than coloring. It's nothing more than pigment. Now, why is my hair gray? Does anyone know why my hair is gray? Well, you might say, your hair is gray because you're getting old, right?

Well, that is true. The pigmentation in my hair follicles is slowly dying. It's slowly dissipating. And when melanin begins to dissipate, your hair gets lighter. Your hair is composed of two parts.

There's the shaft, there's the hair itself, and then there is the root. Now within the root is the melanin So at the root of your hair that's turning gray the melanin is dying Okay, now I see some gray hair people in this room somehow a lot of black hair and a little bit of gray hair. Guess what? Your melanin is dying and those hair follicles, that's all that's happening. Your nature isn't changing at all, right?

You know, do you have brown eyes? Do you have lighter eyes? Well, this is all driven by melanin. Eventually the melanin dies and all over and then you get gray or silver hair like some people in this room. We are dying, That's why we're getting lighter.

There you go. For some reason, God really liked to put a lot of melanin in some people and you know, more is better. That's, I think that's what the Shunammite woman probably meant. I am black and I am beautiful. Here's another illustration.

Roses are different colors. Sometimes they're red, sometimes they're white, sometimes they're pink, they're even black roses that exist. And the difference is not That they are not roses the difference is they have different kinds of pigment in them They're all roses just like people are people they are human beings and they're all the same Roses are all the same, but they just have different pigmentation to them. Now where do we get this idea that there are races? Charles Darwin is probably the chief offender in promulgating this idea.

Evolution and its influence has been the primary driver of racism in the world today. And, in fact, if you just look at the title of his book, Origin of the Species, here's the title. The origin of the species, subtitle, the preservation of favored races in the struggle for life. The preservation of favored races. And off to the races went racism and Darwin applied this to animals in the next book that he wrote called the descent of man and in that book he continued the idea that there are favored races of people.

And he had decided that all humans descended from apes. And, You know, he believed that blacks evolved from strong but less intelligent gorillas. He believed that Asians evolved from the orangutan. He believed that whites evolved from the most intelligent chimpanzees. So there you go.

The best you can get is to descend from a chimpanzee. If you think that's good news, there you have it, you know. This, this, this is as stupid as saying that you can choose your gender And it's out of the same philosophy Act 1726 he has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth. We are all of one blood. There is no difference between any of us, red and yellow, black and white.

There is virtually no difference at all and so we should not treat one another differently so all racism is sin it's preferring others above below or above others It's believing in the superiority of one person over another. I think we should just briefly mention interracial marriage. Interracial marriage is not sinful. It's natural. It's praiseworthy.

Our London Baptist Confession of 1689, the section on marriage states that what matters is not skin color but faith. That's what matters and that's why the Apostle Paul in 2nd Corinthians 6 14 said do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers that's the difference for what fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness and what communion has light with darkness here's here's my encouragement to us in our church stop using race as a category stop talking about races There's no such thing as races There are ethnicities there are people groups, but there are no races. We're all the same It's very difficult to stop using that word. I've tried to stop using that word and unfortunately I'm reading things about critical race theory and it's hard to get it out of your mind. But when you talk about race you're talking about something that doesn't exist.

It's the same thing as the person who says I'm transgender. There's no such thing. There are people who have XX chromosomes, there are people who have YY chromosomes. There is no such thing as transgender. It is mythology and so is race it's just as much a mythology as this crazy thing that we see today let me just close with a couple of passages of scripture that I hope help us to understand how beautiful this is because it all ends in heaven With people from every tongue and tribe and nation in heaven living together in harmony for all eternity Revelation 5 9 through 10 and they sang a new song Saying You are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals, for you were slain and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation and have made us kings and priests to our God and We shall reign on the earth Revelation 7 9 through 12 after these things I looked and behold a great multitude which no one could number of all nations tribes peoples and tongues standing before the throne and before the lamb Clothed with white robes with palm branches in their hands and crying out with a loud voice saying salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb So brothers and sisters like the Apostle Paul said to the church in Colossae, beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world and not according to Christ.

It's for the Church of Jesus Christ to stand fast for the Word of God, to believe that the Word of God is sufficient for everything, to bring up a new generation that understands what the Bible says about everything. And that's how we resist the social alterations that are taking place today. These alterations are alterations of injustice. They're not justice. When you hear the term social justice what you should hear is social injustice because the propositions of the world are unjust and All the propositions of God are just and so we hang upon that Would you pray with me?

Lord, we thank you for the clarity that you give in your word about who we are. Thank you for making us one Thank you that we're all the same and we can love one another as the same having the same love and having the same savior and having one intersection at the foot of the cross Amen.