Love is color-blind

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another. (John 13:35)

In 1976, my mother, sisters, and I moved from Papillion, Nebraska to Woodlawn, Maryland – a suburb of Baltimore. In many ways, this move changed my life. I was an awkward, pimply-faced sixth grader with little glasses, buck-teeth, and twin braids, transplanted from the cornfield to the coliseum. The culture shock was unquantifiable and fitting in was never an option.

In Nebraska, I walked two blocks to my elementary school. My best friend had horses to ride, and her father bred black Angus cattle for a living. Apart from the harsh winter snows and unpredictable summer tornados, life in Nebraska was pretty great. I felt safe, secure, and happy. 

In contrast, being bused to a Baltimore County school meant I had to walk four blocks and cross a busy street to wait for a school bus to escort me to middle school each morning. Once on-board, I was lucky to find a seat. No one wanted to sit with the misfit and her duct-taped, antique saxophone case.

Most days, I walked back and forth on the moving bus while students shifted to the middle of their seats to prevent me from sitting with them. I would frequently sit on a seat’s edge, wherever I could find one, to keep the driver from yelling at me to sit down. The trip home after school presented the same problem in reverse – complete with plenty of mockery and name-calling.

Besides the above, I had a skin problem. I was white in a school that was ninety-eight percent black. I was the outcast, the outsider, the persona non grata. I will never forget the student who decided it was his mission to teach the “prairie girl” every four-letter word he could think of during art class when the teacher wasn’t listening. I felt utterly alone and afraid in nearly all of my classes. 

Nevertheless, it was during this time that I sought God.

My mom always listened to daily radio sermons when I was growing up, and as a gawky teenager, I made a conscious decision to do the same.

“Insight for Living,” with Dr. Charles Swindoll, was my favorite program. I tuned in to Pastor Chuck’s messages each weeknight and studied along with his mail-ordered, sermon notes. By doing so, I learned to lean on God when the world rejected me. I knew that my Heavenly Father never ceased to love me – in spite of my awkwardness – and His love strengthened my soul. 

I know what it’s like to be bullied, to be shunned by others because of the color of one’s skin. While a lot of forces were working against me in middle and high school, I always knew that God accepted me. His plan of salvation is for everyone – in spite of their skin color or appearance.

Perhaps one of the earliest songs I remember learning was “Jesus loves the little children,” whose words said, “Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.” 

Political correctness would deem those words inappropriate now, but the message is as relevant today as when I first learned it. Jesus loves us. The pigment of our skin was created by God and shouldn’t matter to anyone. Jesus told us to love one another – without judgment or discrimination. We are commanded to love everyone – regardless of skin color or nationality.

Racism is a perpetual problem in every culture. Throughout history, humanity has seen hatred, prejudice, and hostility expressed from one people group to another – frequently due to skin color, nationality, or religion. For example:

• The Assyrians captured and enslaved millions of conquered foreigners in the 9th through 7th Centuries. (1)
• Greeks, Romans, and Babylonians continued this practice. 
• Roman persecution against Christians began under Nero in 64 AD and continued for over two centuries until 313 AD – killing hundreds of thousands of Christians. (2) 
• Jewish populations were expunged from European nations in Europe in the Middle Ages. (3)
• Jews and Muslims were forced to convert to Christianity in 17th Century Spain. (4)
• Pioneers worked to eradicate North American Indian tribes while settling the mid-west in the mid-1800s. (4)
• Between 1915 and 1920, the Turkish government massacred approximately one and a half million Armenians. (5)
• Joseph Stalin is believed to be responsible for the execution of an estimated one-million Russians between 1936 and 1938. While his initial exterminations were aimed at members of Lenin’s Communist Party and Bolsheviks, Stalin’s massacre included “peasants, ethnic minorities, artists, scientists, intellects, writers, foreigners, and ordinary citizens.” Stalin’s bloodbath continued with the killing of women and children for the perceived liability of their husbands and parents. (6)
• Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party killed an estimated six million Jews between 1933 and 1945. (7)
• The Hutus massacred hundreds of thousands of Tutsi’s in Yugoslavia and Rwanda in 1994. (8)
• Sudanese military groups killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions of Darfur refugees, beginning in 2003. (9)
• Current estimates attribute genocidal levels to the millions of Christians killed, uprooted, kidnapped, and imprisoned in the Middle East in an ongoing struggle. (10)

In response to the above, I suggest that we do not have a skin problem in the world; we have a sin problem. Evil and ethnic hatred exist. There is no disputing that reality. 

Nevertheless, so does love – and there is no enmity in love. “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.” (1 Peter 4:8)

As history has proven, we may never eliminate societal prejudice, racism, and malice. It has always existed, and likely always will. 

Nevertheless, we can purposely endeavor to love one another. The Bible tells us, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” (Romans 12:18)

Far better than anything we could ever preach is the outward demonstration of Christ’s genuine love that lives inside every believer.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples,” (John 13: 34-35) C

Color blindness starts with us. No matter how someone treats us, where they were born, or what they look like, we are directed to demonstrate love. Such affection shows what governs us and who we belong to.

After all, they will know we are Christians by our love.

References: 

1. 2019, June 10. Ethnic cleansing. Retrieved from https://www.history.com/topics/holocaust/ethnic-cleansing
2. Lunn-Rockliffe, S. 2011, February 2. Christianity and the Roman Empire. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/christianityromanempire_article_01.shtml#:~:text=Christians%20were%20first%20%2D%20and%20horribly,destroyed%20much%20of%20the%20city.
3. 2019, June 10. Ethnic cleansing. 
4. Ibid.
5. 2019, October 31. Armenian Genocide. Retrieved from https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/armenian-genocide
6. 2018, August 21. Great Purge. Retrieved from https://www.history.com/topics/russia/great-purge
7. 2019, June 10. Ethnic cleansing. 
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid. 
10. Wintour, P. 2019, May 2. Persecution of Christians ‘coming close to genocide’ in Middle East – report. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/02/persecution-driving-christians-out-of-middle-east-report