Racism, Ethnicity and the Jewish Community
When I (Murray) was growing up in High Point, NC we lived next door to an Assembly of God church and parsonage. I remember our relationship with the pastor and his family was cordial. I’d spend time at his home and with his sons. I was not raised in a home where we looked at those of other faiths or colors differently. We respected people of different backgrounds and beliefs. I don’t know how they viewed us. However…
I do remember one day while standing at the fence separating our yards - one of the pastor’s sons, who was my “friend”, called me a “Christ killer.” I couldn’t have been more than 8 years old at the time.
I will never forget those words: “Christ killer.”
I knew then. I was a Jew. And for some reason, unbeknownst to me, the boy next door said I had “killed Christ.” I don’t remember if I went home and talked to my parents about it. The only thing I remember were the words. And how I felt. Apparently I had done something wrong. I didn’t know what.
While I did not experience a lot of direct antisemitism in elementary and high school, I do remember the country club in High Point didn’t allow “Jews or negros” until the mid 1970’s. I was occasionally told by professing Christian friends that I was going to “burn in hell” for not believing in Jesus. An antisemitic piece of literature would end up in our mailbox. Or an evangelistic tract…again letting us know we were going to “burn in hell.” My dad would brush it off. Ignorance.
After coming to faith in Jesus, I’ve been misunderstood by both Jewish people and Christians.
The Jewish people I can understand. But...Christians jokingly asking if I’m going to “Jew them down” at my sales table in a church. Or a deacon of a church telling the pastor that he was not coming to church the day I was speaking because “he wasn’t going to have a Jew teach him.” Or being introduced by a sweet old pastor who meant no harm excitedly exclaiming, “I’m so excited, we have a “Jew boy” here to teach us today.” (I gently talked to him afterward about how “Jew boy” could be viewed offensively by Jewish people. He was deeply apologetic.) Or the lady who asked me “why can’t you Jews just get over it?” regarding a teaching I gave on the Holocaust and antisemitism. I could go on.
I’m used to misunderstanding and ignorance. It’s an opportunity for educating and creating creating connection.
The current situation in the world spurred by the tragic death of George Floyd has us all thinking. In a world seemingly gone crazy, we need to evaluate. What is ethnicity and race? Does it matter? How do we respond in the midst of the craziness? Let me give you my, and our ministry’s, Messianic perspective.
Everyone is made in the image of God.
Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”All people of both genders, and all skin colors, ethnicities, and races, bear the image of God. Therefore should be treated as such. Image of God bearers.
Judaism is a religion. However, being Jewish is being a part of an ethnic group/race, based upon culture, history, family, and common heritage. By modern standards, DNA. Most Jewish people do not identify themselves as being Jewish because they follow the religion of Judaism or the religious rabbis.
Hitler didn’t care if a Jew was religious or not. Neither did Pharaoh, Haman, or Nebuchadnezzar. Nor does Hamas, Hezbollah, or the Palestinian Authority. A Jew is a Jew. It doesn’t matter if they are religious. They belong dead. That being said, here is a brief biblical perspective on ethnicity and how to respond to racism and hatred.
ETHNICITY IS IMPORTANT
When I was growing up, one couldn’t be a Jew for Jesus. That’s what I was taught. He was their God. Their way. He was for those people. And that’s what Peter and the early Jewish Christians believed, flipped on its head: “Gentiles for Jesus? You have to be kidding me!” The Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day were asking…How can those people believe in our God??
After receiving a vision from God of unclean animals wrapped in a sheet (Acts 10:9-16) Peter arrived at Cornelius’s house. He said, “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean.” (10:28)
God made it clear that Gentiles can believe in the Jewish Messiah without becoming converts to Judaism. They remain Gentile. Jewish people who accept Jesus as Messiah remain Jewish.
ETHNICITY IS RELEVANT
Galatians 3:28 says, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Some have asked me why I call myself Jewish or a Jew. That doesn’t matter anymore. Right? It matters as much as gender.
Corinthians 7:17-18 says, “ Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches. Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man uncircumcised when he was called? He should not be circumcised.”
When one becomes a believer in Jesus they remain as they are…Jew, Gentile, black, white, male female, slave, free. Having accepted God’s calling, faith moves us to a change in lordship, spiritual values, and moral behavior. Faith in no way changes our race, gender, or social caste.
ETHNICITY IS BEAUTIFUL
The relationship between Jew and Gentile is a powerful part of God’s plan for redemption. Most Jewish people who come to know Jesus come to faith through the witness and testimony of a Gentile believing friend. In the “Olive Tree of God” Gentiles are the “wild olive branches grafted in contrary to nature” and Jewish people are the “natural branches broken off because of their unbelief” but are “able to be grafted back in.”
Two different groups of people, branches so to speak, grafted into one tree by faith in Messiah. Wild olive branches do not become natural. Natural do not become wild. In the beauty of Romans 11:11 we see God’s genius: “salvation has come to the Gentiles to provoke Israel to jealousy.” Because the Jews gave you Jesus, please bring Him back to them. Then we, brought together in the Olive Tree by faith, are a testimony to the wisdom, power and grace of God.
Ethnicity is important, relevant, and beautiful. It should never be divisive… How do we prevent that?
Get the Log Out of your Own Eye
“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” Matthew 7:3-5
Jesus is addressing hypocrisy. Before we can see others clearly and before we can judge another’s behavior, we need to evaluate our own lives.
In order to shake the THEM syndrome, we must see ourselves as THEM first.
Gaze in the mirror to see what kind of work God needs to do in you before you look at THEM to find fault.
Love Your Enemies
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Matthew 5:43-44
“Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” Romans 12:17-18
Don’t put up a wall of separation between you and others based on skin color, gender, or behaviors that you see as wrong. To make those who are THEM no longer THEM in our eyes, we need to love them. Whether we agree with them or not.
Look at Others Through God’s Eyes
A person’s heart, their inner world, is of utmost importance to God. He does not see as we see, or judge as we judge.
In Matthew 23:25-26 Jesus says, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.”
When Samuel was told by God to anoint a new king of Israel, before he saw David, he thought for sure that God would choose one of his older brothers. They were taller, more handsome, more ‘kingly-looking.’ This was God’s response:
“Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7
When we look at others from the outside only, they stay THEM. Let’s all choose to look at the world from God’s perspective.