Overcoming Racism and Prejudice

When Hurricane Harvey struck Houston and the Texas Gulf Coast,
racial and ethnic differences were cast aside, 
as this Getty Images news photo shows.

Borrowing from Charles Dickens’ classic novel, we’ve been presented “a tale of two cities”: Charlottesville, Va. and Houston, Texas.

Following the death of a young woman and injuries to dozens, Charlottesville became vivid evidence that racism in the U.S.A. is far from dead. For days afterward, it’s about all we heard – protestations of racial hatred and bigotry, including accusations that President Trump didn’t choose the right words in denouncing the horror of the day in which protesters clashed in violence.

Then came Hurricane Harvey and its relentless assault on the Texas Gulf Coast. We saw incredible devastation; for once, the term “catastrophic” was not hyperbole. But what we didn’t see was…racism and bigotry. We saw men, women and children of all ethnicities and colors, responders heroically assisting desperate Houstonians. Average citizens without emergency training banding together, oblivious to differences, literally joining hands to rescue victims, plucking them out of rising, life-threatening waters.

Comparing the two cities and the events that thrust them into the national headlines, if we want a true barometer of the state of racism in America today, we needed only to look at Houston and the other storm-ravaged coastal cities. Ethnic backgrounds, skin pigmentation, cultures, and even language differences suddenly became irrelevant. There was no hatred or bigotry, only compassion and kindness. Some called it a triumph of the human spirit.

This is not to deny that racism and prejudice still exist. We regularly see and hear manifestations of it. Bigotry is heinous, without excuse. But sadly, we can’t legislate hate. Racism may defy reason, but soapbox rhetoric won’t eradicate it. As ancient as time itself, they exhibit no signs of old age. Sadly, these evil human flaws still flourish.

Are there no solutions? I believe there are, but only by appealing to – and seeing the transformation of – the human heart. Painting the outside of a garbage can may make it appear shiny and new, but it's to no effect if the refuse and decay on the inside aren’t addressed. Similarly, racism must be cured from the inside out.

Among the Bible’s honest, unvarnished descriptions of the best and worst of humanity are numerous accounts we’d label today as racism or bigotry. We see the Egyptians’ fearful response to the Israelites as they multiply in numbers, as well as Jonah’s hatred of the Ninevites. But nowhere is the issue of prejudice more clearly addressed than through the eyes of Jesus.

In His day, the people of Samaria were despised, viewed by the Jews as inferior half-breeds. Yet one of Jesus’ best-known parables is that of the “good Samaritan,” a humble man who came to the rescue of a traveler who’d been robbed and brutally assaulted. In the Luke 10:30-37 account, Jesus said a priest and a religious leader both intentionally avoided the suffering individual. A Samaritan, however, “took pity on him.” He not only dressed the victim’s wounds, but also paid for him to stay at an inn to recover.

Were Jesus telling this story today, He might have chosen to describe the victim as a white supremacist and the rescuer as an African-American. In this context, we can grasp the irony.

Later in the same gospel, we find Jesus ministering to 10 lepers, social pariahs for no other reason than being afflicted with a horrid disease. It states He healed all of them, but only one “threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him – and he was a Samaritan” (Luke 17:16). Double irony.

Then John 4:4-42 tells of His encounter with a woman at a well outside a town in Samaria. She too was an outcast, having had five husbands and presently living with a man she wasn’t married to. Again, in the context of the times, speaking to such a woman, much less one that was a Samaritan, was considered scandalous. But Jesus showed her great compassion and invited her to partake of the “living water” only He could give.

Years ago, I began meeting weekly with a young African-American man, Rhon, who had just committed his life to Jesus Christ. One day he looked me in the eyes and asked, “Bob, if Jesus were standing here today and saw me, would he see a black man?” I pointed him to Galatians 3:28, which declares, “There is neither Jew, nor Greek, slave nor free, male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

This I believe is without doubt God’s perspective. How, then, are we to gain this view as well?

More recently I’ve enjoyed getting to know two other black men I meet with frequently. Growing up in suburban New Jersey, I never really knew any African-Americans, although the term wasn’t used back then. In high school there were some black students, but again in those days blacks and Caucasians didn’t mix much except in extracurricular activities like athletics. So much for the myth of the non-racist North, right?

So being able spend time with Clarence and John has been a blessing for me. I’m not so certain “racism” and “prejudice” mean the same thing, because we can be prejudiced toward many types of people simply because we don’t know them and, in some respects, they’re not like us. Meeting with my two friends has helped me to recognize that apart from skin pigmentation, and ethnic culture to a degree, we’re very much alike.

Sometimes it takes a crisis, like a hurricane or a 9/11, to bring people together and help them to look past superficialities. But often all it takes is intentionality, resolving to really get to know others who aren’t just like us, so we can soon realize that in reality, we’re not all that different.

As the apostle Paul wrote, differences mean nothing for those who “are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Just a Little Farther Down the Road

About 15 years ago, I collaborated with my late friend, David Stoddard, to write The Heart of Mentoring. To sum up the book’s message, we wanted to suggest that everyone should be a “mentored mentor.” In other words, each of us should be mentoring someone else, and we should find someone willing to be a mentor for us.

Today much is said and written about mentoring, with good reason. As we trudge along this journey we call life, it helps to have someone to offer wisdom, advice and guidance whenever we encounter occasions of uncertainty. Which we will. Daily life is more complex than ever; competing and often conflicting messages are plentiful. If we’re humble enough to admit it, having someone to show the way – or least assist us in sifting through the alternatives – can be indispensable.

If we don’t already have a mentor, we might be inclined to admit it could be useful to find one. But when challenged to mentor another person, a typical response would be, “Oh, I’m not qualified to mentor anyone. I don’t know enough.” As if being a mentor requires being an expert or recognized authority.

That’s hardly the case. As we stated in The Heart of Mentoring, all that’s necessary is that you be just a little bit farther down the road from the person you’re starting to mentor. You might be a bit older, or a bit more experienced. It doesn’t require a lot. A college student can mentor a high school student. A young married person can mentor a single person. A long-time married person can mentor a newlywed. Someone who’s been on the job for several years can mentor someone that’s newly hired. And anyone can mentor a child or adolescent.

We can mentor others not only by talking about our successes, but also our failures. Why do we have to make all of our own mistakes? We can benefit from hearing about the mistakes others made, and trying to avoid repeating them.

When it comes to mentoring, the demand always exceeds the supply. But as I’ve learned over more than 30 years of mentoring and discipling others, the return on investment can’t be beat. It’s a great example of the principle Jesus taught, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). Because by investing time and a little energy in meeting with someone over time in a mentoring relationship, we receive not only the satisfaction of helping another person, but also learn ourselves – gaining from their perspectives and unique life experiences.

Mentoring might be unpleasant for both parties, as Dave and I acknowledged in our book, if the mentor takes a condescending, “I’m doing you a favor” approach. However, if it’s understood and approached as a mutually beneficial relationship, in which the mentor recognizes he or she can learn from the “mentoring partner,” it becomes not only a good experience – it can be life-changing.

One of my favorite passages from the Scriptures related to this is Proverbs 27:17, which reminds us, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” As I’ve made myself available to other men, offering to share some of what God and life have taught me, I’ve found them “sharpening” me, too, through their insights and questions.

A great thing about mentoring – or if you prefer, discipling (in a spiritual context) – is that it multiplies. Once someone starts being mentored, they can begin mentoring another individual and before long, the pattern starts repeating itself. As the apostle Paul wrote to his young protégé, Timothy, “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others” (2 Timothy 2:2).

That’s at the heart of what Jesus was commanding when He left His disciples with the Great Commission: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20). Jesus expected His followers to multiply – as they have through the centuries, from a mere handful to countless millions around the world. And this has occurred simply by men and women willing to be used by Him to pass along to others what the Lord has given to them.

If you’d like know more about what a mentoring process looks like, I’d suggest getting a copy of The Heart of Mentoring. I assure you it would be money well-spent. But most of all, if you don’t already have a mentor, try to find one. Ask God to direct you to the right person. Also ask Him to identify someone you could start mentoring. In both cases, it will be time well-spent.

Enduring Lessons from the Eclipse

This photo of the eclipsed sun, taken by my daughter,
Amy, shows the corona in its radiant glory.

A few weeks ago, millions across the U.S.A. were enthralled by a total solar eclipse. It was the first to cross the entire nation in 99 years, making it a rarity. Other total eclipses will be seen in parts of the country, we’re told, in 2024, 2045, 2053, 2076 and 2099, so if you missed this one, you’ve still got a shot at seeing one of those. I hear the one in 2099 is going to be a doozie – I can hardly wait!

Some of the eclipse observers arrived to worship Mother Nature, Gaia, or get their crystals recharged. But for some of us, it was a truly spiritual event, a dramatic display of the wonder and majesty of God and His creative powers.

One of those was my friend, Dave in Ellijay, Ga., who drew some interesting parallels between what we could see in nature and biblical truth. Here’s what he wrote:

“As it approached and passed, I saw no one drawing any analogies between the event and the work of the Maker of the event. So, I offer this:

The sun may be likened to God, and the moon to man, whose prime duty is to reflect God in all His affairs; for the moon has no light in itself. But because of sin, the very face of God is obscured by darkness, that existing both in a man and, in a wider sense, the world of men. Yet, even in the deepest darkness of an eclipse, the evidence of the sun is still there, seen in the corona; and the evidence of God exists and is seen by the creature through the witness of the Son of God and the Spirit of Him. And even as the eclipse has its moment and then passes, the moon to once again reflect its sun and not obscure it, so also shall mankind come to reflect God on a coming Day.

And there is yet another analogy to be drawn, that of death itself; for death is but a transitory thing, a cloaking mist, even an illusion – much as our senses would seek to convince us that the sun has actually been darkened, when in reality the masking moon has no effect upon it. Neither eclipse nor death shall last; in Christ alone, Death itself has died and Life now reigns, even if by our eyes it is not yet evident, except the eyes of faith. Those with such eyes see it already and know it is true, awaiting only the passing of the darkness for the full revelation of the light.”

I don’t know about you, but I like Dave’s metaphors. Daniel 12:3 and Philippians 2:15 both talk about God’s people “shining like stars,” being “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” But the key to the comparison – grammarians would state it’s a simile – is that we’re not stars but like stars. Much like the moon, which shines before us each night not with light of its own, but by reflecting the light of the sun.

Just as 1 John 2:8 declares, “…I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.”

Anticipation for the eclipse was building for months, coming to a climax the day of the event. As spectacular as it was, it came and then went in a matter of minutes, our brilliant sun briefly obscured by the moon in a blazing corona of glory, but quickly reappearing in all of its splendor.

As we survey the world around us, darkness seems to be gathering, leading some of us to confusion, fear, even discouragement and despair. But in terms of eternity, this present darkness will dissipate in a comparative “blink of an eye,” as 1 Corinthians 15:52 describes it. Then, as the sun reappeared a few weeks ago, the Son of God also will reappear and the darkness will disperse. “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it” (John 1:5). Worth pondering!