by David Gibson<\/p>\n
Can racial prejudice exist apart from people? Obviously not.<\/p>\n
Racism is an individual heart problem, a deeply flawed attitude, based on wrong teaching, fed by pride, and reinforced by cultural peer pressure.<\/p>\n
Does this mean there is no hope for improvement? Not at all.\u00a0Whenever a child is taught that all people are made in the image of God and that God is no respecter of persons, isn’t that child a lot less likely to fall into racist thinking?<\/p>\n
But what if we have been brought up to see certain races as inferior? Prejudice is often blind to itself, and so if we have been taught wrong, we must:<\/p>\n
Is there any greater remedy for racism than the gospel of Christ? The gospel is comprehensive, affecting every aspect of our lives from the inside out. If we are truly converted, and we let God’s word teach us, racism is rooted out.\u00a0How can we maintain prejudice if we truly understand that the gospel is for all<\/strong>? It is God’s will for people of all nations and cultures to respond to the gospel.<\/p>\n “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit<\/em>” (I Corinthians 12:13 NASB).<\/p>\n “… there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all<\/em>” (Colossians 3:11).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n God designed the church to be the true melting pot where race does not matter, but where people do. Granted, the church has fallen far short of God’s ideal, but His ideal still stands. Thanks be to God for every congregation where all are welcome and all are sought. For this to happen, each of us as individuals must conform our attitudes to the mind of Christ.\u00a0He is Lord of all.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by David Gibson Can racial prejudice exist apart from people? Obviously not. Racism is an individual heart problem, a deeply flawed attitude, based on wrong teaching, fed by pride, and reinforced by cultural peer pressure. Does this mean there is no hope for improvement? Not at all.\u00a0Whenever a child is taught that all people are…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[214],"class_list":["post-89361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-racism"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":27811,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/tv-may-be-bad-for-children\/","url_meta":{"origin":89361,"position":0},"title":"TV May Be Bad for Children!","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 20, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Floyd Chappelear Stand, October 1993 \"For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he ...\" (Proverbs 23:7). Learned thought patterns can lead to sociologically unacceptable behavior, liberals have finally learned. According to an article by Mike\u00a0Woods (Scripps Hoard pl; j News Service),\u00a0\"some kids spend\u00a0more time watching TV than\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/child-watching-tv-300x199.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7259,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/arent-you-dancing-around-the-issue-of-racism\/","url_meta":{"origin":89361,"position":1},"title":"Aren’t you dancing around the issue of racism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 4, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: You surely did a huge dance around the \"racism\" issue. [See \"The Broadening Definition of Racism.\"] Since you condemned all of the other sins in other articles, why didn't you condemn racism as a sin as well? Instead, you linked a religious body's (the United Church of Christ's) condoning\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":50297,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/one-god-one-lord-one-body-many-races\/","url_meta":{"origin":89361,"position":2},"title":"One God, One Lord, One Body, Many Races?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 1, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Frederic Gray 2017 Spring Meeting","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23193,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/prejudiced-preconceived-opinions\/","url_meta":{"origin":89361,"position":3},"title":"Prejudiced: Preconceived Opinions","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 5, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: James 2:1-9 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0How many of you believe you are prejudice? How many of you believe you are the victim of prejudice? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Prejudice is old, old problem that Christians have battled for centuries. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It means to have an opinion about something or someone before all the facts are weighed. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":962,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-racism-a-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":89361,"position":4},"title":"Is racism a sin?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 23, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How do you embrace people of all races and remain different? Is racism a sin? Is Jesus white or is Adam black? Answer: Webster's dictionary defines racism as \"the belief in the superiority or dominance of one race over another.\" The Bible teaches that there are many nationalities, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":67055,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-you-teach-in-an-area-that-holds-strong-prejudice\/","url_meta":{"origin":89361,"position":5},"title":"How do you teach in an area that holds strong prejudice?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 15, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good day, I wanted to ask: What can I do in my local community to get the word of God out, not just about salvation, but the natural progression of the conversation about the right church? For context, I am in South Africa. 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