“There are a handful of things that do cause me to question a person’s profession of faith. One of the things that tops the list: racism. I believe that a person (of whatever color) who is a racist or glories in the color of their skin, knows nothing of the Gospel and very probably has never met the Savior. A person (of whatever color) who creates divides in the Body of Christ around skin-color demonstrates a great deal about just how intimately acquainted they are with God and His Word.
1.) Of course the chief problem here is that the Baptist Durbin does not give a thorough definition of racism, so one can’t be completely sure of what Jeffy is talking about here. Personally, I don’t know anybody who glories in the color of their skin though I know lots of people who think that race is real and being real should be taken into consideration when talking about social order issues.
2.) Jeffy would seem to be suggesting here that the matter of race is only about skin color as if only all the races had the same skin color then the issue of race would no longer exist. But as has been said countless times skin color is only the eponymous name given to a far larger reality. If one could make white people have black skin they would still be white people in every other way. For example, Forensic Pathologist can tell you if somebody who died in a fire who no longer has skin what race the deceased was. For example, bone marrow transplants don’t care what color one’s skin is but they do care what race one is. The idea that race is only about skin color, or the amount of pigment one has is ludicrous beyond naming.
3.) I can’t help but wonder if Jeffy here would consider “creates divides” as meaning something like churches that are specifically “Korean” for example. I know of churches that are specifically Hmong for example. When I lived in the South it was common to speak of “black churches,” and the black folks would speak of “white churches.” Are these kinds of churches examples for Rev. Jeff of “creating divides.” Are the Korean Presbyteries that exist in some denominations guilty of creating divides here according to Jeff? And if if is acceptable for Koreans, or Hmong, or Black to worship in their own churches where is the problem in whites doing so and why is that racist?
I mean, Dr. John Frame doesn’t agree with Rev. Jeff here;
“Scripture, as I read it, does not require societies, or even churches, to be integrated racially. Jews and Gentiles were brought together by God’s grace into one body. They were expected to love one another and to accept one another as brothers in the faith. But the Jewish Christians continued to maintain a distinct culture, and house churches were not required to include members of both groups.”
John Frame,
“Racism, Sexism, Marxism”
I wonder if Jeffy thinks Dr. Frame to be racist?
4.) We have to quit being scared of the word “racist,” or of being accused of “racism,” because the word today, meaning everything, means nothing. I suppose that there does exist people out there who, for example, hate white people merely because they are white and so are “racist” but that doesn’t mean that all people who want to remain distinct in cultural habits, grandchildren, or dispositions or habits are racist against white people. Mohammed Ali was not a racist because he said this;
I take absolutely no offense at what Ali said above. I don’t accuse him of being “racist.” I don’t fault him if he wants to worship with his own people. Because of that I think Rev. Jeff Durbin is intellectually dishevelled.
5.) Jeffy says that “racism is hatred” but as he hasn’t defined clearly what racism is and has not given examples of what he considers “racism” then it is hard to know if hatred is really that which is animating people who do create some divides. I wonder if Jeff would accuse Muhammed Ali of hatred?
I picked on this quote because “racism” is the accusation dujour today. It is what is flung at anybody who won’t conform to the civil rights racial narrative bequeathed to us from the 1960s. It is some of that which lies beneath the whole divide percolating right now between the Moscow Mood and the “Moscow is full of skubala” mood. And Durbin is in the thick of all that.
“Racism is a sin (it’s hatred) that will be judged by God and will send people to hell.”
By the same logic, do you “hate” poor people if you are, for some reason, unwilling to share your resources with them – without any discrimination?
This position, too, could be easily given a semi- or pseudo-Biblical covering, considering all those verses that speak about how serious thing it is to be hard-hearted towards suffering people, like this:
“But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?” (1 John 3:17)
Many medieval ascetics saw verses like this as indications that they should give up all their earthly goods and become monks. And Christian Communism could also be defended with such slick prooftexting, saying that private property is incompatible with true Christian love. It would not be any more far-fetched than the claim that appreciating the reality of race inevitable means sinful, soul-damning hatred.
And let us “give the devil his due” and admit that Durbin is not ENTIRELY making things up (that’s the thing about half-truths, or quarter-truths); brazen flaunting of the glory of your own race can indeed go easily with haughty, worldly spirit. Like in old times noblemen could easily get drawn into deadly duels and vendettas while defending “the glory of their house,” or the reputation of their aristocratic race.
This was probably the most common form of “racism” in pre-modern times – family feuds developing into clan feuds and tribal feuds, very much in the Old Testament pattern (like the quarrel between Edom and Israel):
https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1513/pg1513-images.html#sceneI_30.0
“Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.”
“TYBALT.
What, drawn, and talk of peace? I hate the word
As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee:
Have at thee, coward.”
In the late 60s and early 70s, Ali was bigger than Michael Jordan, Pele, and Joe Namath put together. In the early 1970s Muhammad Ali fought for the heavyweight title against George Foreman. The fight was held in the African nation of Zaire; it was promoted as the “rumble in the jungle.” Ali won the fight, and upon returning to the United States, he was asked by a reporter, “Champ, what did you think of Africa?” Ali replied, “Thank God my granddaddy got on that boat!”
It’s a very real way of saying… “What men meant for evil, God meant for good.” (Gen 50:20) We need to be able to do both. Slavery was evil but God used it for good. Joseph was able to forgive his brothers face to face, the ones who clubbed him over the head, bound him, tossed him in a pit, wanted to leave him to die there but sold him to a band of foreigners to be a slave. God isn’t even asking the blacks in America to forgive the ones who actually enslaved them. But He IS commanding them to forgive the ones who did so in the past. Joseph had to do it face to face with his brothers who betrayed him. The blacks are being asked to do far less today. But they choose to live in bitterness, resentment and hatred because race pimps make a profit off the racial grievance industry. Those who do forgive, notably folks like Jesse Peterson, TJ Sotomayor, the Hodge Twins etc… all move on to fruitful lives of blessing. Choose wisely Black Man.
Don’t forget Ali vs. Frazier and the “Thrilla in Manilla.”
Also we need to keep in mind that black also have a need of forgiving other black who originally captured them and then sold them into slavery. Black also have to forgive the Bagels since the Bagels were often the owners and the chief profiteers of the slave ships. Whites likewise have to forgive. They have to forgive Muslims for all the slavery that was impressed upon them as a race by the Muslims. A number dwarfing the number of blacks enslaved. Yeoman whites have to forgive elite whites for ever importing slaves into their social order to begin with.
All lot of forgiving needed but the race pimps don’t really want forgiveness because that would take away their power.
So undefined “feelings” of racism make one not a Christian? So if he finds out that I notice more black guys crossing busy streets 50 yards from a light, instead of using the crosswalk at the light, does that make me racist? If I say that black music and dancing isn’t as good as what came from more complex and classical arrangements, would Jeff consider that racist?
Does being a cowardly leader who wishes to gain the world’s favor by accepting their definition of racism also run a risk?
‘is a sin (it’s hatred) ‘
Hatred isn’t a sin anyway. Durbins rant is error on error on error on error.
The grace of God is enough to cover even Durbins nonsense, so long as the man has some actual faith in Christ and isn’t just enjoying a position as a priest of humanism. But many in positions like his are just priests of humanism and nothing more, God have mercy on their souls.