Racism seems to be the third sibling of the intolerance and gender triplet sins. All these issues emanate from the West which of course does not mean they are not concerns of people in the East. It is good that we are talking about these things especially in church but in the midst of trying to level the field where every perspective is to be represented and respected, God is being sidelined. 

• Jesus is accused of being racist by a pastor who also teaches how our Lord repented of it.
• The parable of the Good Samaritan is seen as a story about racial justice.
• Jesus’ skin color is being “corrected” or adapted to the hearers.

The Bible is replete with warnings and the inevitability of false teachings inside the church hence we should not be caught unaware. We expose our lack of Scriptural understanding if we are. But it is a bit tricky when these teachings do not sound overtly wrong that we find ourselves nodding to them.

Obviously, the pastor who said that Jesus repented of His racism is overtly wrong. That is not difficult to spot but what about the other two? How can anyone say that racial justice is wrong? Of course it is not wrong but it becomes wrong when the true intent of the parable is hijacked to accommodate a social issue and suffixed with thoughts that stayed true of the gospel. It’s wheats and tares in writing.

The third article calls out people depicting a “too-white” Jesus equating the image as a form of white supremacy. Now, I understand how sensitive the issue of race in North America and since I am not from that part of the world, I will not venture to offer my two cents but since the article touches on Christianity, that is where I will toss a dollar’s worth.

The problem I see with whether we need to depict Jesus as white, brown, yellow, or red is that we are making Him in our own image. Because we want Him to be identifiable and relatable, we color Him with our palette. I am Chinese-Filipino which made me appreciative seeing Jesus Chinese and Pinoy but appreciating is as far as I will go because I know that He’s neither. To make Him yellow or brown is to be adding or subtracting from the Word.

Lest I be accused of being literal about the issue, I understand that it is representational but a contextual analysis of the discussions will reveal how we have made ourselves the highlight by trying to make God look like us.

Making Jesus’ skin color an issue is being untrue to the New Testament as it is not the point. The same goes for advocates of God being gender-neutral or female. We are supposed to look and be like Him but we have made our relationship with Him conditional---we must see our physical selves in Him thus making ourselves the measure. We don’t even ask that of our idols in movies, music, and sports. They can be the whitest of them all and we still adore them for being relatable. But when it comes to eternal matters, Jesus is being put under scrutiny for His color that was never brought up in the gospels by the very people who are claiming to be anti-skin discrimination.

I say yes to denouncing the evil of racism but let us remember that it is not part of the gospel that saves.