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One Way to End Racism



We are uniquely designed and created by God for a specific purpose and mission in this world. The last thing we need to be is “all the same” as if created and built on an assembly line. We need to be different. We need to recognize this difference as a necessity and not as a threat to our own uniqueness.

1 Corinthians 12:21-27 illustrates for us that we are individually designed to function in our own special way…the way we were designed. The passage states “the eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you.’ …now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”

Although we are all different, we are all created for the same purpose to glorify God and to love one another as He has loved us. We may all be different, but we are all equally created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). We, being same in creation, should treat each other equally with dignity, respect and love.

In today’s challenges of racism and desire to instill fairness and equality for all, we can take one step towards accomplishing this goal. One way to end racism is to look in the mirror and properly assess ourselves.

Romans 12:3 tells us, “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.”

We must maintain a proper evaluation and balanced understanding towards ourselves and others. Yes, we have value and recognize that, but not at the expense of others. This means that we also must guard against just the opposite….of thinking too little of ourselves. It makes for a healthy (sober) evaluation to think of ourselves as not better than others while not losing our self-esteem to think we are less than others. Balance!

It was no different for the Disciples of Jesus. They failed at it a time or two as they argued amongst themselves concerning who was “the greatest.” The best thing we can do to combat elevating ourselves above others is to never waste our time making comparisons. When we compare “this” with “that” and “little” against “big” or any type of “less than – greater than” comparisons, we will always lose.

It should be a joy and cause for celebration when we can recognize the roles, abilities, gifts, talents, personalities and contributions of others because of knowing that all these wonderful things come from God and that He, alone, assesses the worth it has to Him.

The key to an honest and accurate evaluation of ourselves and knowing the basis of our self-worth is rooted deeply in our identity in Jesus Christ. In Jesus Christ our identity places every single one of us on equal ground. As we believe, as Free Methodists, that “We commit ourselves to respect the worth of all persons as created in the image of God” (2019 Book of Discipline, Paragraph 158).

The bottom line is for us to understand that there is no place in a believer’s life for inflated pride, superiority, or even inferiority. We must always battle our sinful nature that wars against us to make us think of ourselves as better than others or to harbor prejudice or racism in our heart and mind against those different from us.

As we continue to have discussions regarding racism and equality, let us remember our Free Methodist denomination’s statement that “We are committed to give meaning and significance to every person by God’s help. Remembering our tendency to be prejudicial, as Christians we must grow in awareness of the rights and needs of others.” (2019 Book of Discipline, The Christian Journey, Paragraph 3221). May we continue to keep a healthy (sober) evaluation of ourselves and others that are equal in Jesus Christ.





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