Dr. Tony Evans, senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, TX preached on “Race, Culture & Christ” from John 4:1-9. This was shortly after several police-involved shootings that preceded a sniper attack on Dallas police officers that left five officers dead and seven others wounded on July 7.
Dr. Evans gave this sermon on July 17, but I didn’t see it until this weekend. Regardless it shares some timeless truths.
Here is the video below:
https://youtu.be/KbhNCTJ-dUI
An excerpt:
We have voices about which life matters. All life is created in the image of God. All lives matter. However, underneath the banner that God has created all people in his image, there are inequities that must be addressed. For example, the life of the unborn matters. And so there is this emphasis on injustice in the womb. But that injustice in the womb must be under the umbrella that all life matters. Black lives matter, as a subset of all lives matter. So any injustices to a particular group must be addressed specific to that group but under the banner that all life is created in the image of God…
Once you extract any specific scenario and remove it from the umbrella of God’s creation, you create your own independent cause. There is no discussion of sociology that, at least from a Christian point of view, shouldn’t be plugged into theology; that is God’s view of it…
…It is technically incorrect, technically, to call yourself a “black Christian,” or a “white Christian,” or a “Hispanic Christian.” Then you make your color or culture an adjective. It’s the job of the adjective to modify the noun. If you put Christianity in the noun position and your color or culture in the adjective position you have to keep shaping the noun so it looks like the adjective that describes it. So if your color stays in the adjectival position you got to keep shaping Christianity to look black or to look white or to look red…