Spirituality and Race

In Christianity, discipleship is intimately tied to spirituality. Spirituality is notorious difficult to define, to the point that many people dismiss it as an unhelpful term. Some say that religion is the official teachings, doctrines and structures; whereas, spirituality is the actual living out of the teachings, doctrines, and structures of a given religion in one’s daily life. There are some problems with trying to tease these two apart, but regardless, Christian discipleship involves integrating every aspect of one’s life with one’s faith. We might call this integrated faith, integrated spirituality or integrated discipleship. Then we have to deal with the controversies surrounding the definition of race.

I’m going to side step the controversies for the most part, by simply accepting that sociologically people identify themselves and others by racial, ethnic, and national markers. Often these markers are blurred together and it is, like with religion and spirituality, difficult to tease them apart without problems. However, for women and men seeking to be faithful to Christ and seeking to integrate their faith into every aspect of their lives, what should they do about race? This can be a strange question for white people, who can ignore issues of race because of their privilege; others, do not have this option.

The Biblical tradition embraces a tension between highlighting a particular race and affirming the universal nature of Christian faith. Jesus was a Jew. Understanding Jesus and thus understanding Christianity requires at least an elementary understanding of what it meant to be Jewish in first century Israel. Furthermore, to understand the rest of the New Testament, with its controversies surrounding the inclusion of non-Jews into the faith (Gentiles) requires at least an elementary understanding of what it meant to be a Greek or Roman in the first century Mediterranean world.

This may point toward how Christians should approach the topic of race. They need to be self-reflective about who they are and faithfully engaging the challenges and joys related to who they are, while not becoming so racially oriented that they miss the reality that their confession of faith in Christ makes them one with Christians of many tribes, nations, and languages. This will involve painful listening and partnering by white Christians with their oppressed sisters and brothers. This will involve persistent truth telling and partnering by non-white Christians with their white sisters and brothers.

This is all to abstract, discipleship deals with concrete realities, the messiness of individual lives, and the complexities of societal problems. Racism is a sin. Christianity’s earliest proclamation pointed toward a radical inclusion of people across racial and socio-economic divides: “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). Despite this early call for radical inclusion and despite the great heritage of Christian movements laboring for racial equality, race remains a problem in our societies and churches.

Your thoughts on race and discipleship?