“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…” (Matthew 28:19).
The word “nations” is the Greek word “έθνος”. We get our English word “ethnic” from it which generally refers to a group of people that have a distinct cultural characteristic centered language, origins, and practices. The “nations” are the multitude of people groups that occupy our planet, distinct from other groups.
Race is another label that has described people groups. This was a sociological term appeared during the Middle Ages and, in similar way, was intended to categorize groups of people based on shared physical or social qualities. It was not until the Age of Exploration (17th and 18th Centuries) that race turned into a more pejorative classification inferring some groups of people were superior to other groups.
Racism, in our more “modern” world is a more technical term, communicates a systemic discrimination of people groups with the idea of exploitation, enslavement or colonization. Today it has been a term, weaponized to attach people on both side of the issues. The term “racism” is not my favorite term. Obviously it is here to stay, but I do not use this term to capture the systemic problem of discrimination.
From a biblical perspective (Matt. 28:19) the best term describing people groups is ethnos or ethnic. Do we have widespread, hostile, ethnic discrimination – certainly. Do I use the word “racism” to describe it – certainly not. You might ask why? First, these terms are sociological classification, created by individuals who had good intentions but they are born out of human imagination. Secondly, I am not convinced this is the way the Bible encourages us to think about this.
I believe the Bible tells us there is only one race – humans. There are not different kinds of human races that have different origins. God created Adam and Eve and every human being, regardless of their unique ethnic distinctiveness, all find their origin back to the same couple. We all are descendants of Adam and Eve. One race not many races.
The point is this: exploration certainly does not mean isolation. Every human being, every ethnic group has divine value because every human being is created in the image of God. But NO human being is good (Rom. 3:9-12). We are all infected by a spiritual virus called sin. No ethnic group is superior to another ethnic group in God’s eyes regardless of how we act. Ultimately we all trace our heritage back to Adam and Eve.
When Jesus said “go make disciples of all nations” he was commanding His disciples to live cross-cultural lives, to step into the world of other ethnic groups, and communicate the hope of the gospel to people who are very different, and yet not so different, from their own Jewish ethnicity.
Many churches have little concern for people who are different from themselves. The want to attract people who are just like them; of the same ethnicity as themselves. We do not understand other ethnic groups and (many times) do very little to try and understand the DNA of their unique culture.
The gospel transcends culture and ethnicity, Jesus said so Himself. The question I am asking is do I believe the gospel is powerful enough to help me reach out to those around me that may be of a different ethnicity, or they are simply not like me. Only when I am wiling to get outside my own bubble, can I discover the pure, divine power of the gospel.
Brad Little
