{"id":30850,"date":"2022-09-10T15:06:59","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:06:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/colorblind-vs-color-blessed\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T15:06:59","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:06:59","slug":"colorblind-vs-color-blessed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/colorblind-vs-color-blessed\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorblind vs. Color-blessed"},"content":{"rendered":"
Ryoji Iwata photo – Unsplash <\/p>\n

By Derwin L. Gray<\/em><\/p>\n

While I was sipping coffee and working on my book, How To Heal Our Racial Divide<\/em>, <\/em>an older, white gentleman in the coffee shop asked me what I was doing. <\/p>\n

When I told him I was writing a book on how to heal the racial divide, he responded that there was no racial divide in America and that he didn\u2019t see people\u2019s color. I said, \u201cBrother, why not? God made me this way, and He made you the way you are. He wants you to appreciate my beautiful color, just as he wants me to appreciate your beautiful color.\u201d<\/p>\n

We take our colors and ethnicities with us in the new heaven and new earth (Revelation 7:9). \u2014 @DerwinLGray Click To Tweet <\/p>\n

In recognizing our different \u201ccolors\u201d and cultures we are acknowledging our equality in Christ as children of Abraham. We take our colors and ethnicities with us in the new heaven and new earth (Revelation 7:9).<\/p>\n

The flaws of colorblindness<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Colorblind ideology is prevalent in the American church, and those who say, \u201cI don\u2019t see color\u201d are often thought to be virtuous. I get the sentiment behind the statement, but it\u2019s flawed and damaging. It is flawed because God created our different ethnicities and colors (Acts 17:26). Every human being bears the image of God, and each ethnicity is a mirror that reflects God\u2019s image back into the world. To be blind to the beauty in our diverse colors and cultures is to miss an aspect of God\u2019s creative genius. I have found white brothers and sisters who say they don\u2019t see color are often those whose color has not been a historic disadvantage for them or their ancestors.<\/p>\n

To be blind to the beauty in our diverse colors and cultures is to miss an aspect of God\u2019s creative genius. \u2014 @DerwinLGray Click To Tweet <\/p>\n

Colorblind ideology also creates a false sense that everything is okay. Colorblind ideology acts like a spiritual sleeping aid that causes some of my white siblings in Christ to ignore certain injustices they will not experience. It takes great gospel-humility to care about issues that may not affect people who look like you. Paul, a first century, racial reconciler wrote, \u201cDo nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others\u201d (Philippians 2:3-4, CSB).<\/p>\n

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Colorblind ideology is bad theology. It diminishes the glory of God and causes people of color to feel unseen and unvalued. In all my years on earth, and in twenty-plus years of ministry, I have never heard a white person say to another white person, \u201cI do not see your color. I am colorblind.\u201d Just as colorblind ideology has distracted the church from its mission of biblical reconciliation, color-blessed discipleship will help us fulfill our mission of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:14-20). God, in an act of unmatched grace, reconciled us to himself so we could experience the joy of siblingship. Our God is a God of reconciliation (Ephesians 2:14-16; Colossians 1:19-20).<\/p>\n

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What is color-blessed discipleship?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Color-blessed discipleship is the process by which God the Holy Spirit forms Christ in the family He promised Abraham (Galatians 3:8, 28-29; 4:19). In the Spirit\u2019s power, as we yield to His loving initiatives, we learn to love, value, advocate for, and celebrate each other\u2019s ethnic and cultural differences (Romans 12:9-21). We learn to lay our lives down for one another (1 John 3:16).<\/p>\n

The reconciliation of Jesus is vertical and horizontal. You cannot have one without the other. It\u2019s not a fad or a trend; rather, it is at the center of the gospel (Ephesians 2:8-16; 3:6-13). \u2014 @DerwinLGray Click To Tweet <\/p>\n

Color-blessed disciples understand that ethnic reconciliation is intrinsic to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Gone are the days of believing Jesus only accomplished vertical reconciliation. The reconciliation of Jesus is vertical and horizontal. You cannot have one without the other. It\u2019s not a fad or a trend; rather, it is at the center of the gospel (Ephesians 2:8-16; 3:6-13).<\/p>\n

Color-blessed discipleship understands that God in Christ gives us good news, so we can be good family members, blessing one another and pursuing justice on behalf of one another. Our love for one another proves that we are Jesus\u2019s disciples (1 John 3:10; John 13:34-35).<\/p>\n

It will take a discipleship revolution to heal the racial divide that is ravaging the church. It will take gospel-soaked, color-blessed disciples. I believe you can be such a person. You have been called, chosen, and empowered by the Holy Spirit for such a time as this.<\/p>\n

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Derwin Gray<\/h2>\n

@DerwinLGray<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Derwin\u00a0is the co-founding and lead pastor of Transformation Church in the Charlotte, North Carolina area. He is a former NFL player and author of several books, including his most recent, How To Heal\u00a0Our\u00a0Racial Divide: What the Bible Says, and the First Christians Knew, about Racial Reconciliation<\/em>. Learn more at DerwinLGray.com.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n