A few months ago I was traveling through Kinston, North Carolina and I passed a huge roadside sign that read: “I’m color blind.” These words were followed by “–God,” attributing that statement as a type of quote by GOD HIMSELF.
I was so floored by the sign, that I had to turn around and get a picture of it. I really could not believe that someone attributed that statement to GOD.
Last week I used an elementary argument to make the case for GOD not being color blind. This week I will dive a little deeper into the subject.
First, I get it. I understand what you are trying to say when you call yourself or GOD color blind. You are trying to say that you, or GOD, will not allow the color of a person’s skin affect how you treat them. You will not allow race to cause you to be prejudiced nor do you believe GOD will do the same. Those, indeed, are good sentiments to share, however, why do you (or GOD!) need to ignore color to treat people equally?
Being color blind cannot be synonymous with not being prejudiced or racist. As a matter of fact, if the only way you can see me as equal is by ignoring my blackness, you may be the very thing you are trying not to be. You may say this is just semantics, but I do not believe it can be so easily dismissed as such.
Some say that GOD only sees JESUS when HE looks at us or there is no need for distinctions for those in CHRIST JESUS. I cannot absolutely cosign that either. When GOD made man in HIS image HE looked upon that day and described it as “very good.” I do not think GOD has a problem seeing a black man in CHRIST JESUS or a white man in CHRIST JESUS. Race is not a stumbling block for GOD—HE made the black and the white man and neither were mistakes that need to be forgotten.
Furthermore, in Revelation we are told that those standing before JESUS on the throne are from every nation, all tribes, all peoples, and all languages. Those distinctions are not erased. They are unified. There is a difference between uniformity and unification.
In the book of Romans, we see the Apostle Paul refer to the Israelites as his brothers. In the book of Acts, the Apostle Paul identified himself as a Pharisee and a Roman citizen. These distinctions did not die when the Apostle Paul was baptized in CHRIST. Yes, in Galatians Paul writes that there is neither male or female, Jew nor Greek, slave nor free in CHRIST JESUS, but does a woman cease to be a woman once baptized in CHRIST? If so, why does Paul address women and men separately throughout his epistles? Does the Jewish person cease to be Jewish once baptized in CHRIST?
Are these distinctions primary? No. Our identification with CHRIST is first and foremost. However, if I cannot be seen as black in your eyes, then I cannot be seen as an American or as a man either.
Do not erase my skin color. I love the skin GOD put me in. This skin has allowed me to have some unique, perspective-shaping experiences that GOD has used and will use for HIS glory. GOD meant for me to have black skin. I will not be ashamed of it. GOD is not ashamed of it. GOD sees HIS CHRIST covered children in living color.
Grace and peace.
