How To Solve the Race Problem?

 By: Ellsworth E. McIntyre

The religious liberals in our society talk endlessly about race and how to bring brotherhood to America.  We religious conservatives, on the other hand, are very quiet by comparison. That is why I was interested to see a conservative attempt to dialogue about race at the giant Promise Keepers' rally in Washington, D.C. The Promise Keepers seem to be saying that each race must confess their sins and beg the Lord to send harmony, love and brotherhood. I listened with amusement as representatives of each race confessed" their sins. The white men did the most convincing job of naming their sins. The black representa­tives hastily agreed to name the white guys as bigots. The only black racial sin confessed, or even hinted at that I can remember, wae in these words, "and we know, Lord, that all the blame doesn't rest with others." Oh,well, it's the beginning. I am grateful for the thought anyway. The Jewswere not heard from as confessing to anything except jealousy at not being in control of this huge, religious gathering. As I reflected on this honest attempt to bring brotherhood, I wondered why the effort warmed my heart, but the service grieved my spirit.

Blame Sin or Blame The White Man?

First, I was struck with the thought that blaming white men for the relative lack of progress by black people is exactly what liberal have used to gain political support for socialism for generations inAmerica. This is the guilt manipulation of the civil rights movement.The only difference was that the Promise Keepers directed their condemnations of whites in the form of a prayer of repentance instead of the  usual diatribe by a mushy-headed liberal. Is this the Bible's solution to racial hatred? I don't think so! We have been beating this dead horse for about one hundred years and brotherhood seems distant to me.

Discriminate by Race?

Secondly, I marveled at the converted Jews on the Promise Keeper platform in their skull caps confessing to jealousy at not being number one at a Christian rally. These Jews seem to think that God hands out His blessing, according to racial discrimination. Is the Biblical solution to racial hatred to teach that God bestows his favors by racial discrimination? I don't think so. we have R. J. Rushdoony's new book, Romans & Galatians, offers the Biblical solution to the race problem, and the time for men of good will to turn to the Scripture is always NOW!

Is Israel One Race or Many?

Rushdoony argues correctly that circumcision was to teach the Jew that natural generation, call it genes or race, is  of no hope for salvation (Romans & Galatian , 281). God's people are not chosen and have never been chosen by race, genes, or natural descent, but the distinctive racial characteristic is the Lord's choice. Every time the male Jew went to the bathroom and viewed his mutilated member, he was to be reminded that being a Jew after the flesh promised no hope. The foreskin was cut off to signify that God's people were cut off from all hope through natural descent. The true Jew is not after the flesh, but is known by a spirit of obedience to the law-word of God. The fleshly Jew perverted the meaning of his circumcision by thinking, "We areGod's chosen race." For this reason, his reach for a blessing on this racist ground became a curse. God's people are not now nor have they ever been designated by natural descent. Rushdoony adds this warning for the church, "If those same Gentiles now see themselves as naturally superior and as separated by race rather than by grace, they too shall be set aside (Ibid.)." I will add this thought for emphasis: If we Christians permit by our silence, spiritual Israel to be taught as a racial Israel, instead of a people chosen by God from all races, we will be set aside.

It's Sin, Not Race That Holds us Down

Black and yellow, red and white, we all enter into Israel as individuals personally chosen by God the Father to be the bride of Christ. Israel is now and has forever been a new heavenly race whose only identifying racial characteristic is a zeal to obey the Ten commandments. If we have been blessed with this faith, then we should with all patience teach arrogant racists to stop believing that race is their salvation as in the case of the Jews or that race is their

the problem as in the case of the black problem is sin, and our solution is the new birth in Christ that results in a growing power to obey more and more. To the extent we permit well-meaning fools to hope in their genes as the Jews often do or condemn others as the blacks often do, we promote racial hatred. Our silence does not bring peace, but war to our brothers. If we love others as ourselves, we must protest this "chosen people' nonsense, and we must also warn blacks to stop whining about race, because their problem is no different than any other race. It's sin that holds us all down and not our genes.

I genuinely applaud the Promise Keepers, and I sincerely praise God for their good works. The “goofy” theology cited above is endemic to all of evangelical Christianity. There seems no ministry exempt from this falsehood.