RACISM: THE NEW DIVERSION
by Dr. Ken Matto
Well Satan has done it again! He has found another way to divert the church from preaching the true gospel to preaching a political, non-salvation gospel. It is true that racism is wrong and is sinful. If a person is a Christian and still holds to racist views, they must really check to see if they are saved, (2 Cor 13:5 KJV) "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?"
As Christians why does it surprise us that the unbeliever is a racist? Remember in 1 Corinthians 6 where God through Paul gives a list of heinous sins and then in verse 11, God states "that such were some of you." Racism is sin and because it is sin, it will never be abolished from this earth until the Lord returns and ushers in the new heaven and new earth. Why should racism be any different than any other sin and be given a prominent exposure? Let me illustrate:
God created sex,
Sin created fornication.
God created men and women,
Sin created homosexuality and lesbianism
God created grapes,
Sin created wine.
God created the tobacco leaf
Sin created cigarettes.
God created the races,
Sin created racism.
Racism is just another sin which has to be killed but it cannot be killed by running to a stadium and holding hands with other races. It is killed by the preaching of the true gospel which replaces the heart of stone with a heart of flesh (Ezek. 36:26) which is another way of saying salvation.
In the past Satan has engineered false gospels which have been accepted by the church without any investigation. Let me name some: Political gospel, Social gospel, Ecumenicalism, Ritual gospel, Cultic exclusivity gospels, and now the gospel of Racial Reconciliation. Faith comes by hearing the true Word of God and any additions or subtractions to it constitutes adultery. An adulterated gospel is a weak substitute and can save no one.
Satan is a master of diversion. He has driven the church off track thousands of times. Why? Ignorant church leaders either will not check things out in the Scriptures or they fear if they don’t join the ranks of the mentally unemployed they will not be considered good guys and will lose their position.
The most culpable group for defrauding the church is the clergy. They rely on their seminary education and degrees rather than the Bible alone. Their walk with the Lord is not important as long as they have enough degrees to impress the naive sheep.
If the Scriptures were used by the clergy as a the final authority, the church would be a strong, vibrant entity rather than a weak, vulnerable target for every evil movement that surfaces.
A church which diverts from the true gospel is a false church and this is Satan’s goal to make as many true churches into false churches as he can before the Lord’s return. I am sorry to say that the church will never progress with so many Jeremiah 23 and Ezekiel 34 clergy in the pulpits.
If I go to a Promise Keepers meeting as a racist, and I leave that meeting not as a racist, am I saved? The answer is no! When racism or any other sin becomes the focus of any church or spiritual meeting, it has ceased to become spiritual and is become secular, which means of no value, not little value, of no value. I feel sorry for Christians who go to church Sunday after Sunday and are bombarded with secular subjects. Most of it just plain guilt manipulation.
Secular preaching does not build up a Christian in the most holy faith, (Jude 1:20 KJV "But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost").
If your church has ceased preaching the true gospel for the social gospel, then for your own spiritual growth, you must leave that church, even if it is the church your parents grew up in.
Racism is evil and there is no two ways about it and all races are guilty of it, not just a single one. When I read the biography of Al Capone I learned in 1920’s Chicago that the Irish and the Italians hated each other. Why? Racism! Yet, these are two fine races of people.
When Jesus was on earth, He encountered racism between the Jews and the Samaritans. He did not try to mend it according to worldly ways. This is why He gave the parable of the Good Samaritan, to show us that we need to be kind to all. The only way racial barriers are broken down biblically is through the teaching of the true gospel. When someone becomes saved, they receive a new heart and this heart enables them to see past skin color or ethnic origin.
The old unregenerate heart still holds to all the prejudices and hatreds it has been taught and no amount of psychological or guilt manipulation will ever change that heart, only Christ can change it. This is why it is mandatory that the church does not turn from its "first love." When we preach against certain sins, this adds to the message of salvation and causes us to lose our divinely appointed mission and that is to preach the gospel.
Preachers who focus on racism use 2 Cor. 5:19-20 as their source. This is a blatant misuse of God’s Word. The ministry of reconciliation we have is preaching the gospel so the sinner will be reconciled unto God. Reconciliation among the races comes after as a fruit of true conversion (fruit of the spirit). This is why racism is another diversion from truth.