In the sermon titled 'Racism', Carlton McLeod discusses racism from a biblical perspective, using Acts 17 as the foundational scripture. He argues that there is only one race, the human race, created by God in His image, and that differences among people are more cultural than biological. McLeod explains that racism is a sin that is often passed down through generations and is deeply ingrained in individuals and society. He highlights Darwinism's impact on racist ideologies and calls for Christians to examine their hearts, preach the gospel, and see people as individuals. He emphasizes the need for intentionality in building cross-cultural relationships and serving others with grace and love to overcome racism.

Well, good morning. It's good to see all of you here. It's always a privilege to be down here on the Brown Farm. I heard a comedian say, if you want to lie to somebody, tell them you'll be there in 20 minutes. And so I have 20 minutes, praise the Lord.

I'd like to start by reading a passage of scripture from Acts 17 kind of as a foundation to frame our discussion. The reason for the notes is because I figured I would run out of time, but the subject matter is so important that I wanted you to have something to take home with you, and if I miss one of your fill-in-the-blanks, I'll be hanging around after this, and we'll make sure everybody gets that before you go home. Acts 17, verse 22 declares, then Paul stood in the midst of Mars Hill and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription to the unknown God, whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands, neither is worshiped with men's hands as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life and breath and all things, and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation, that they should seek the Lord, if happily they might feel after him and find him, though he be not far from every one of us.

For in him we live and move and have our being as certain also of your own poets have said, for we are also his offspring." Responding to racism biblically. Father, thank you for the reading of Holy Scripture. Thank you that the Bible has power to change our lives in the hand of the Spirit. We pray just over these few moments that you'd change our hearts, that you'd challenge us, that you'd help us, that you'd heal us. In Jesus' name, amen.

This topic is hot right now, but the truth is it's just kind of hot period and it's one of those topics that is subject to a lot of angst in our current day. And as I looked at the topics that Scott laid out for the battlefields that's being covered here this weekend, maybe more than them all, This is one that has the capacity to touch everybody here under this tent. Indeed, this is probably the one that your fathers and grandfathers and mothers and grandmothers have dealt with. I know at least that's the case in my family. This is the sneaky one.

This is the one where, you know, it's quite possible for someone who loves the Lord with all their heart, minds, and souls, and strength to harbor some racist attitudes. This is the one that separates us on Sunday morning. This is the one that makes us turn our nose up at someone who sings at the cross maybe a little differently than we do. And so I'd like to walk through this very complicated issue by attempting to answer four questions and and I'm you know to keep this succinct I'm gonna stay as close as I can to the notes that I gave you. First is what is race?

Secondly, what is racism? Third, what are some common perceptions of race and racism? Fourth, how should Christians respond to race and racism biblically? When we think about race, we think about the obvious things, right? We think about skin color, we think about hair texture, facial features, speech inflection even, true story.

There's a brother I won't call his name that you all probably know reasonably well and he and I were having a similar discussion recently and he said, you know, when I first made my entry into the Reformed Baptist environment, I had met many wonderful brothers and sisters, a black brother. I met many wonderful brothers and sisters, and I had a brother walk up to me after a worship time where I had ministered, and he said, you know, I just really got so much out of that sermon, brother, but can you answer this question for me? And my friend says, sure, I'm happy to. He thought maybe it was a scriptural question about the text that he preached. And the guy said, where did you learn to speak so well?

And my friend was a bit taken aback by that. Apparently, you know, based on his skin color, someone was shocked that he was able to articulate. But this brother didn't mean any harm. This is very common amongst us. And so, how should we respond?

What should we do as believers? We think about musical preferences. We think about social constructs. Biblically, we'll just get the truth out quickly. There's only one race, okay?

The text even that we read, which we read primarily as a worldview marker, not necessarily one that we're going to expose it because we simply don't have the time. But there's only one race, as our brother Anthony said and read it for us beautifully, that God created Adam and Eve and there's, we all come from Adam and then of course we all come from Noah and his family after the ark. So there's only one race and that race is human. From one man, Adam, God created the human, quote-unquote, race in his image. So the rest of it is just sin permeated over time.

The definition of race is the lineage of a family or continued series of descendants from a parent who is called the stock. This comes from the Webster 1828. I'm sure you might have this version of the dictionary. A race is the series of descendants indefinitely. Thus all mankind are called the race of Adam.

The Israelites, for example, are called the race of Abraham and Jacob. So it's more actually about the lineage of Adam than anything else. How did it become about melanin content, which I'll get to here shortly. Our differences are explained through the dispersion of men after the Tyre of Babel, the confusion of the languages of man by God, as we read in Genesis 11, and the development within subsequent people groups, which is probably a more apropos term for our differences than races, but the subsequent people groups, the variations based upon geography, based upon culture, based upon where we live, based upon our grandmother taught us this way as opposed to your grandmother taught you that way, or traditions. And also some very minute, very small genetic variations based upon our environment and who our parents were.

And so the truth of the matter is there's only one race. We're all human, all sinners, all desperately in need of Jesus Christ. If one were to take, and this is a quote from the answers in Genesis website, Ken Ham's group, if one were to take any two people anywhere in the world, scientists have found that the basic genetic differences between these two people would typically be around 0.2 percent, even if they came from the same people group. But these so-called racial characteristics that people think are major differences, i.e. Skin color, eye shape, etc., account for only 0.012 percent of human biological variation or basically nothing.

Biblically speaking, men weren't divided by pigment and they weren't divided by hair, but they were divided more by geography, where they lived, and lineage, who their fathers were and the nations that came from the loins of their fathers. And more to the central message of Scripture, what they believed about God creates the largest division and that's the one we need to concern ourselves with because as Scott often says, there's really only two kinds of people, sheep and goats. And it doesn't matter whether or not you have a little more melanin pigment in your skin or not. In heaven, I think it's going to be a wonderful thing when we get to heaven and all our all of our foolish differences that we've separated each other from each other for will all fade away and we'll probably say, Lord, thank you for your tremendous mercy and grace for even letting me in the door. I can't believe how often I thought of someone differently because they were just a little bit different looking.

In particular, the thing that is a point for all this, because maybe you've never heard this before, and so I wanted to make sure I got this part out. In particular, the thing that often produces this difference in us, my hair being a little coarser, many of your top of your heads, if you have hair being a little finer. But there's actually a chemical in our bodies called melanin within our skin called melanin. And this is the pigment that gives human skin, hair, and eyes their color created by God. It's The interesting thing is I believe God actually loves the differences.

I believe he loves the fact that, you know, it's like a garden. You go to one part of the garden, another one might be red and have purple, one might be more green, but the beauty is in the fact that we all look to God as our Creator and love Him based upon what He's done for us in Jesus Christ. I think He loves the diversity. I think He made it that way on purpose and certainly biologically there's proof of that. This is the pigment that makes us so different.

This is why my skin's a little darker because I have more melanin than maybe some of you do. Darker skin people have more melanin in their skin than lighter skin people have, but we all underneath have the same basic color. We're just different shades. We all share the same pigments. We're all human beings made in the image of God.

Our true differences are more cultural. Write that word in there. Our true differences are more cultural than biological. Remember again from one man God created, everyone that lives on the face of the earth. The only reason many people think these differences are major is because they've been brought up in a culture that has taught them to see the differences that way.

And this is the issue with the sin of racism. Yes, friends, we're dealing with a sin like the rest of these battlefields, these battlegrounds. The sin of racism is interesting because this is one that passes from father to son, from grandfather to grandson, from aunt to cousin to... This is one that's more learned. This is one where you pick it up around the dinner table.

You pick it up around, you know, in family gatherings. And the truth is, friends, this is probably one of the most difficult for us to deal with because we all kind of harbored some of this on the inside. It takes an act of the Lord to deliver us from looking at people differently because they are darker or lighter than we are. So race then, biblically defined, is more about geography. If you look in scripture, it's more about who your dad was.

It's not at all about how different you look. There's only one race and that's human. Well, what is racism? Well, racism is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherently or inherent rather superiority of a particular race. This is when we say well because I'm black I'm better than you or because I'm white I'm better than you And as ridiculous as that might sound to us who've been saved, this is as common today as I think I've ever seen it.

I'm a child of the 80s, and I can't believe we did better in the 80s than we're doing in 2000s. It's really astonishing the level of depravity on this issue that's out there right now. Now admittedly, there have always been those and there probably always will be people who look down upon the way people talk or look and so forth or sing even, that's differently from them. And I call this surface racism. This is the stuff that's really, really shallow.

But the foundation of that surface racism has more sinister roots. In short, very quickly, most of you or many of you are familiar with Darwinism. Well, this is the man who in the mid 1800s popularized the unbiblical concept of evolution to the world. It was already around but his book The Origin of Species kind of took it to another level and among other things, now listen very carefully, Darwin believed that man evolved from monkeys and this is where the racist part comes in and that different species of monkeys produced different races and that the Caucasian race, the monkey that sprung the Caucasian race, or the Caucasian race sprang from a monkey that was smarter than the other monkeys. And so the Caucasian race developed more quickly, whereas let's say the black race or the African race, the Negroid in the old literature race, came from a monkey that wasn't too smart, wasn't too bright.

And so there was this ontological difference between people who looked a little lighter and people who looked a little darker, based upon, literally based upon the monkey they came from. I'm sorry, if you looked in the old books that were written in the early 1900s, that's what they're literally teaching people and it became the foundation of some of the worst atrocities that we've ever seen, particularly in the 20th century. But this belief that we are ontologically different, that we are almost a different subspecies contributes to some of the racism that we have today. This is why, you know, people look at a black person, white person, and they look like they're totally different from you when in essence, no, we're all related. We all came from Adam.

We all came out of the ark. And so we're not, your feeling here is it's, we're not different in nature. We're not ontologically different. We have very small genetic differences and somewhat large cultural differences depending on where you came from. But let me reiterate the truth again.

There's only one race. We come from one blood. God created, and that's a very simple message, but I wanted to keep it simple, God created all of us in his image. Amen? So What are some perceptions that you're gonna run into based upon what's happening out there?

Well, first of all, let's just get this out of the way. How many of you believe there's still racism in the world? Raise your hands if you do. Absolutely, I hope we all understand that there's absolutely still racism in the world. There's racism in America, there's racism in our communities, there's racism sadly even in our churches.

And I'll state very plainly that it goes both ways. No one has cornered the market on sin, no matter how you look. So there's a debate raging about how widespread this racism is. And you'll run into, as a result, some varied perceptions. Number one, you'll encounter those who believe that our visible differences denote, again, ontological or by nature differences, that we're actually, if not a different species, a different subspecies is absolutely biblically ridiculous.

That we're, you know, totally different people in the way we were made. And that's just not true, but there are some who believe it. I hope none of you. Number two, you'll encounter many people who still grieve and are angry about America's past, including the great sin of slavery and forced segregation. This is really, really common, and you'll find some folks who will still really struggle with this, particularly even in our day.

Number three, you'll meet those who see every slight, every mistake, or every unfortunate incident as involving racism. And so the lenses through which they see life, the grid through which they see life is skin color. I know people like this who are black and I don't know as many people like this who are white but I suspect that's because they won't tell me. Okay, I grew up in this household. I grew up in this environment.

Many of you could probably tell me stories about grandma and granddad and great grandma and great granddad little things because I could tell you the same stories. Again, no one is cornered the market on sin. And so I grew up in an environment where everything was, was, you know, the grid was, we don't see through the blood of Jesus, we see through how I look and how you look, and I automatically judge you because of how you look. And wouldn't you think the gospel would take care of this? You'd think as much as we preach it, the gospel would take care of this.

But this, for instance, this is deeply ingrained sin in our lives. It really, really is. And so you'll see those whose entire worldview revolves around perceived and sometimes real injustices. And if you just turn on the news and that's pretty much all you see right now, from sports to everything else. And then number four, you'll meet those who agree that things have improved but still believe that racism in America is, a couple of big words here for the young boys, institutional, which means that racism is woven into the big areas of life, like the financial area and the education sector and so forth, government.

And another big word here, intersectional, that all of these areas are working together to oppress people of color, particularly in America. So those are a snapshot of what you'll run into out there. You might run into a brother who loves the Lord but looks at this thing totally different from you. He's coming from a totally different perspective. He may have a totally different background and that's why what I really want to get to is how to respond.

That's what I really want. How much time do I have left? Because Scott's giving me the crazy eye. Okay, not long. But let me, so let me get to, this is the important part.

The rest of it was kind of a broad brush. But here's what I think. Number one, when you consider that we've all come from Adam, we're all created in the image of God, that Christ is the only hope and the only savior for all of us. Examine your own heart. Because I've had to do this, and I pray, again, of all the battlefields, this may be one that we can, with relevance, talk about and deal with and pray through now.

I mean, there are not many homosexuals here, but everybody in this room has been touched by racism somewhere or another. So examine your own heart before the Lord. Do you really believe what scripture says concerning your fellow man? Do you really believe it? Hey, what if he doesn't talk like me?

What if he doesn't hold to the doctrine I hold to? What if he comes walking up to you with with braids and gold teeth? Have you allowed any racist attitudes to grow in you? I had to work some out of me by the grace of God, and pled for his mercy. Examine your own heart, too.

Realize that racism is a sin like any other. It's just sinful. Period. End of story. The answer to sin is Christ and his glorious gospel.

True gospel preaching and hearts, of course, that have been transformed by that gospel is the only antidote to racism. You can, we've tried lots of programs and conversations. What we really need to do is ask the Lord to heal us. Three, Friends, see people as individuals with unique experiences and doctrinal understandings and cultural pressures and biases and sin struggles. In other words, see them like you want them to see you.

Everyone in this room is coming to the table with a certain set of experiences. You were taught certain things by your family as I was. All right? In other words, be patient. Don't assume that the brother or sister in the Lord who looks different from you has been totally healed in this area.

They may be struggling. They may be struggling to trust, to forgive. And what are you going to do about that? It makes a difference. It's no different than any other sin that fallen man endures.

We would never say, don't worry about all that domestic violence stuff. Don't worry about cancer. Don't worry about pornography. We'd never say that. But there's this attitude sometimes within evangelicalism, I don't worry about racism, it's all good, you know, it's under the blood.

Well, yeah, it is, but your brother or your sister may really be struggling, they may need you. You might be the one to help them get over it. And then guard against being flippant is kind of what I'm saying, particularly considering how hot this issue is right now. Guard against thinking it's no big deal because it's no big deal for you. Lean towards being transparent, honest, loving, and patient.

And along with the previous topic, the LGBTQ and gender issues race right now, I've never seen this in my 47 years. I've never seen it as hot and volatile as it is in our day. Number four, pray for the Lord's wisdom, help, and humility. Humble yourself and realize that you're a sinner, that's saved by grace, and that your brothers and sisters, and just as you have struggles, your brothers and sisters who look differently than you have struggles. And that'll help us, that'll help us bridge the divide here.

And then number five, serve. Reach across color lines. It sounds cliche, but you might be surprised at how many people are scared of you. I've certainly run into some folks who are scared of me. And I mean, I've literally, it's cliche, but I've, I literally have stories in my life where I've gotten in an elevator with a little old white lady, and we're going to an elevator, and I say, hello ma'am, how are you on this wonderful day?

And her whole face changes. He's not going to kill me, you know. It's just, I'm just being honest with you, you know. What, but what was, I knew that getting in the elevator, so what am I doing? I'm being intentional.

I'm going, how are you today? I mean, can I help you with something? You might be surprised that some of that, our kind of standoffishness sometimes contributes to the problem when we're We're supposed to be saved by grace walking in the power and the fullness of the Spirit of God Don't let that stuff stop you there are folks who I mean you guys can be intimidating, you know You know, it's just as weak and you came to my church is predominantly African American and you walk in there go oh my goodness, right? Well, that's the effects of sin in us. And so be the one that's intentional and says, hey, I'm just a sinner saved by grace.

I just may have a little more or a little less melon in my skin than you. Really, it's no big deal. And so reach across color lines, understand what's biblical as opposed to what's preferential. We could have said a lot there but we're out of time. And just go be a light, just as Brother Anthony said, so beautifully, love, love hard.

Don't just see your brother laying there on the side of the road, but stop. You might be surprised. You might gain a friend and we can finally, hopefully get this raised demon behind us. That's my time. Thank you all so much.

Love you