As evolution took hold on society in the early 1900’s and people took interest, the hunt for man’s missing link began. As people saw that Darwin’s work showed that not all species are equal, they started to realize that not all people would be equal either. Finally, their racism had justification. Ken Ham’s book One Blood begins a chapter by talking about Darwin’s body snatchers and their racist and barbaric search for missing links.

As the frenzied search took off, British museums collected as many as 10,000 remains of Australia’s Aborginal people. Paper’s like the New York Tribune published headlines such as “Kindred of Stone Age Men Discovered on Antarctic Island.” These 10,000 were not simply burial remains, but as interest ticked, museums, anthropologists, and biologists needed fresh remains. They wanted pickled brains and cured skins to showcase evolution. Their are accounts of specific scientists like Amalie Dietrich going to Australia to ensure she had the best quality “specimens” killed and stuffed for her collections. She did not only order the slaughter of people she deemed less than human, but she went and chose her own specimens.⁹

This disregard for humanity was not limited to the aboriginals, but included many other ‘less evolved races.’ The Pygmy people of the Congo were also captured and placed in zoos for people to see and be amused at. The point of this is not so much to see the horrors that evolution can justify, but to ask where is the church in all of this? Racism still exists today, it has not disappeared. The church's response to racism should not be one of indifference. God defines people as being made in His image and of more value than the rest of creation, further God says His church is to be defined by love. As a Christian, we should find value in all cultures and see humans as one race. Skin color does not convey any less inherent worth, or more. The Bible shows that you and I and all others are descended from Noah. We all have the same genetic lineage. As Christians we know that the world may have different cultures, but that there is only one human race. We are not given any justification to believe one group of humans are inherently better than another.

Racism also has no place to exist in the church. When we allow ideologies like racism or humanism into the church, we weaken ourselves. Paul writes that the church is like one body with many organs functioning. It is harmful to the whole body when members think of one part as worth less than another, whether that view is of race, gender, or wealth. With views like evolution, we remove the special dignity that all humans have. We in turn allow racism and allow unconditional love for our neighbor to have requirements. As a follower of Christ you and I know that racism is dumb. We are from the same genetic pool with the same heritage and the same need for Jesus.

Historically, the spread of Christianity has been one of removing barriers of hate. When we look at the history of countries, even Rome, we see that as people came to know Christ, societies changed for the better. When we look at historically Christian nations we see women with more rights than the nations around them. In these same nations, we see more safeguards offered to the poor. We also see more rights and liberties for the politically powerless. America is an exception at the nation level, but we see in historical Christianity, a rejection of slavery and undue subjection of others. Again, the Christian response, is that we are all from the same recent ancestor. In the last two centuries we have been able to watch as Missionaries go out to new cultures and these same cultures increase women's rights and make peace with historic enemies.

As Christians we are to love all of our neighbors and see that one neighbor is not less of a human as another. We should be showing the world this love. As Christians, we stand against racism, we abhor it’s hate. Racism is not something to ignore, if we see it in the presence of a fellow Christian, it is something to confront like all other sin. What is the Christian response to those outside of Christ who carry such hate? This is not just a hypothetical issue, some of us who are reading this, may have been the ones who have experienced racism. When you and I speak to someone hurt by race, they need to see our care for them. They need to see that their value isn’t based on the sneers of hate or prejudice, but in the worth that God gives them. We do this by showing an unconditional love for them based on the love God has for us. We do this with a servant hearted attitude. We may find it easy to connect with this person or difficult. Either way, we show this person respect and love.

Before we assume that love is some sort of mushy response that stands against justice, let’s look at two examples that Jesus gives for love. Our first example is a look at Romans 5:8, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” While we stood against Jesus and hated Him, he still sacrificially loved us. The second example is looking at how Jesus took action to defend something He loved, “His Father’s house.” When Jesus arrived at the Jewish temple, His love and zeal brought Him to anger. In the court of the gentiles, a place for non-Jews to worship and know the true God, he found money changers and salesmen taking advantage of the people. Jesus’s response was one of chasing this defilement out with whips. I am not saying that violence is an answer, but I do want us to see that Jesus defended what He loved. From these two examples, I hope we can see the following. As Christians, we should intervene and stop hate. Our love for the oppressed should move us to defend and want to protect them. That love may also involve sacrifice for the oppressed at Roman’s 5:8 shows us. Our love for the hurting is also not just limited to those hurt by racism, but those of other religious beliefs or views that are not Christian. We should love and show kindness to those who are being oppressed, even if it is not popular or will cause us to be liked by those around us.

The Christian response is not hate for hate, but is a response of love - to the oppressed, and the oppressor. Roman’s 5:8 also helps us see our response to the oppressor. Our emotions may call us to violence or a desire to harm or hate the oppressor (perhaps even our oppressor), but we do not see that response from Jesus in Roman’s 5:8 or when He is being escorted to the cross. We see a sacrificial love for the ones who hated Him. We leave judgement and condemnation to God. We do not want evil to happen to even the thuggish racist. We want good, we want them to repent of their evil. What we want is more than an attitude change. We want these individuals to have a new heart. These racists and other spewers of hate, should not be hated by us. We should pray for them and desire good for them. When we speak to them, every word should be tempered with the knowledge that they do not need merely a new attitude, but a new life. When we look at the change the Apostle Paul was given, we should realize that Jesus can give them a complete transformation too. The love Jesus has and gives us, should move us to love both oppressed and the oppressor. For one, it may be tampered with compassion and the other mercy, but our call to both is one from love.

For those of us who know racism, it may be hard to think of loving the one who is oppressing you. There was a group in Britain from the black community preaching the gospel to any who would hear, when a white street thug started shouting slurs back at the preachers. Instead of giving hate for hate, they shared their love for this thug. They shared the gospel. This man heard Christ, and was given a new heart. Where the encounter started with the man yelling hate from a distance, it ended with him tearfully clinging to our brothers. This thug had come with hate, while the other group came with Christ’s love. It ended with the thug becoming a fellow brother to those he had moments ago persecuted.

Nathan Bedford Forest was a businessman and famous Confederate General who found a way to make every moment of his day sinful. He spent his days making millions in the slave trade, and he spent his evenings gambling it a way. He was known as a man with a temper and quick to violence. He was a murderer and womanizer. He even managed to take over leadership of the Ku Klux Klan. Susan Verstraete wrote, “Had the apostle Paul known him, he might have hesitated before declaring himself the chief of sinners.²⁶”

Yet, likely after many years of prayer and heartache from his wife, Forest agreed to sit in a church pew. It was there that he finally heard the gospel. At the end of this sermon, he would tearfully go to the preacher and say, “ 'Sir, your sermon has removed the last prop from under me,' he said, 'I am the fool that built on the sand; I am a poor miserable sinner.”

Nathan Bedford Forest needed a new heart. It likely took years of prayer and sorrow from his wife, yet she kept pushing him to meet her savior; and when he met his savior, those other vices that needed to be changed in his life, were removed. The once leader of the Klu Klux Klan became a prominent speaker at civil rights rallies. His friends would revile him. He would tell the black community, possibly the same people he once sold, that “When I can serve you I will do so” and “and shall do all in my power to elevate every man, to depress none.” This once grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, now humbly calls himself a servant to those he once bought and sold. Those we see captivated in hate, need Christ. How can a Christian respond to racism? We can either give hate for hate, or be like Forest’s wife by praying and showing love.