Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in Southern California addressed racism in his sermon in the wake of the deadly ambush of police officers following the shooting deaths of African Americans, describing seven attitudes to racism and identifying the one which Christians should have.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur nation is desperate for healing … and the Church cannot be silent,\u201d Warren told the congregation in a recent sermon he delivered after a shooting in Baton Rouge, Louisiana left three police officers dead.<\/p>\n
The megachurch pastor quoted Titus 2:11: \u201cGod has revealed his grace to save the whole human race.\u201d<\/p>\n
God has never made a person He doesn\u2019t love, Warren stressed. \u201cRace was God\u2019s idea,\u201d he said. \u201cRacial reconciliation is at the heart of the Gospel.\u201d<\/p>\n
How you and I treat other people matters deeply to God, he added, quoting 2 Chronicles 19:7, \u201c … the Lord our God does not tolerate perverted justice, partiality, or the taking of bribes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The word for \u201cjustice\u201d and \u201crighteousness\u201d is the same in the Bible, he explained, and acknowledged, \u201cThere is still injustice against black Americans … and other minority groups.\u201d<\/p>\n
Partiality is an old English word for racism and prejudice, the pastor said. This means treating one group of people better than another group, he explained, adding that the Church must not be silent when racism is practiced.<\/p>\n
He said there are seven different attitudes towards racism.<\/p>\n
Warren defined a \u201cracist,\u201d the worst of all, as someone who \u201chates another race or bullies another race or discriminates against another race.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are also \u201cbigots,\u201d just slightly better than the racists, the pastor said, defining a racist as someone who \u201cbelieves stereotypes about a particular race, and belittles other people.\u201d<\/p>\n
And then there is an \u201cavoider,\u201d Warren continued. \u201cAn avoider is somebody who … is uncomfortable around people who aren\u2019t like\u201d him, he explains.<\/p>\n
Then, there are people who are \u201cinsensitive,\u201d the pastor added, explaining that such persons are insensitive to what hurts others.<\/p>\n
There are also those who are \u201capathetic,\u201d Warren went on to say. And they are people who just don\u2019t care about racism.<\/p>\n
But a follower of Jesus Christ has to care, the pastor underlined.<\/p>\n
Then, looking at the positive side, Warren said there are those, who are \u201csensitive.\u201d They are \u201ckind and inclusive,\u201d he explained. But this attitude is not the best, he added.<\/p>\n
God wants us to be a \u201creconciler,\u201d someone who is an \u201cactive bridge builder,\u201d and reflects biblical values.<\/p>\n
The Bible says that if you are a Christian, you must be a reconciler, Warren told the congregation. \u201cBlessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God,\u201d he quoted Matthew 5:9.<\/p>\n
Warren also said there are four reasons why God hates prejudice. One, racial prejudice questions God\u2019s creation. Two, racial prejudice is a sign of ignorance. Three, racial prejudice disobeys the Great Commandment. Four, racial prejudice is a serious sin.<\/p>\n
\u201cRacism is the most common sin in the world,\u201d said Warren, who has traveled around the world. However, law is not the solution as it cannot change hearts, he clarified. People can change with the Gospel, and therefore the Church has to play its role, he added.<\/p>\n
There are three steps Christians can take to deal with racism, Warren continued.<\/p>\n
One, \u201cwe must see people as God does,\u201d he said, quoting 1 Samuel 16:7, \u201cThe Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two, we must change the way we listen, by listening to everyone with respect, he added. Prejudice is a result of our failure to listen to people, he explained.<\/p>\n
Three, he concluded, we must love everybody the way Jesus does, quoting John 15:12, where Jesus says, \u201cMy command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in Southern California addressed racism in his sermon in the wake of the deadly ambush of police officers following the shooting deaths of African Americans, describing seven attitudes to racism and identifying the one which Christians should have. \u201cOur nation is desperate for healing … and the Church cannot […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1064,235,131],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7524"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7524\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}