It Don't Matter if You're Black or WHite

"I said if
your thinkin’ of
Being my brother
It don’t matter if you’re
Black or white” –Michael Jackson

Over the past year, myself and a couple of friends have been faced with the question of, ‘Does the bible say that dating someone of the opposite race wrong?’ When I was first presented with this question, I did not google the answer, which is something I normally do, but I grabbed my bible and went straight to the index. I looked under ‘race’ and ‘marriage.’ In my search for the answer to this question, I found some great bible verses to help support my opinion of what God wants for us when it pertains to not only interracial marriage, but also being married to someone in general.

Let’s first address the answer that people give in saying that interracial marriage is wrong. The one bible verse that seems to be taken out of context for this answer is, 2 Corinthians 6:14 “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?” This verse is usually under the assumption that Jesus was talking about race. Unequally yoked = people of different races. This is not what the Lord is saying to us. The bible is telling us BELIEVERS to not marry UNBELIEVERS, because when we play with temptation (sin) then we will get burned.

The bible has told us to love our neighbors as OUR SELVES. This includes people of other races. God does not see color. He created color and other languages because of the tower of Babel and their attempt to build their way to heaven. He wanted them to understand it is not about how high you build or how much work you put forth, but it is about the relationship and surrendering of your life to Jesus Christ.

Now, to address the issue of people who do not believe that races should mix, let me throw some examples your way. Number one, Moses Marriage. In Numbers 12: 1-9, Moses’ friends condemned him for marrying an Ethiopian woman, a woman outside of Moses’ race. The Lord defended Moses saying that Moses was faithful to him for marrying this woman. Therefore, if marrying another race was wrong, then the Lord would not have defended Moses for marrying outside his race, but instead of condemning him, he affirmed him by saying that he was FAITHFUL to marry this woman. Thus, this disproves that God does not want us to marry outside our race.
Number two, another passage used against interracial marriage is Deuteronomy 7: 1-4. This passage is discussing how God did not want his people to marry the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, or the Jebisites. He specifically said in verse three, “Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt take unto thy son.” But in verse four he explains why he did not want his people marrying any of these –ites people, “For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve OTHER GODS: so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.” He is clearly saying that the reason that he did not want his people marrying anyone of these races is because their eyes were not on him, they were focused on other Gods, and that would lead his people astray. This goes back to confirm on why God does not want Christians marrying Non-Christian. (And in my opinion, a non-Christian is a person who does not KNOW and FOLLOW Christ.)

Number three, we are going to look at Bathsheba and David. David was condemned for what he did to Bathsheba’s husband, because purposely killed him in order to not be caught with impregnating Bathsheba and to have her to him. What many people do not understand is that Bathsheba was of a different race than David. The fact that they were of different races was not the reason they were condemned, they were condemned because adultery was committed.

Acts 17:26 says, “And hath made of ONE blood ALL nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation.” People today take the bible out of context to support their sin. Racism is sin. Point blank. And all sin is equal. I am no better than a murderer because of the sin in MY life. People just need to understand that God does not see our skin, and he surely does not judge us because of our color, he just sees our SIN! That is what we need to understand. Also, it is not out place to put judgment upon others for their sin. I hope that this answered or shed some light on the constant conflict about what the bible says about race. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ. We need to remember that and love each other.

God Bless.

Fix you...

Fix You
“Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you..” –Coldplay

These famous song lyrics describe a song that many people use and adore. I think this song describes what humans naturally tend to do, whether it is with a parent, friendship, or significant other, we always try to fix other people. I feel as if we attempt something that is not our place to attempt. We want to fix other people by showing them our mistakes, our faults, and our failures. However, the reality is that people have to fall alone. People have to face the bottom to understand how great the top feels. As I sit here and write this blog, I ponder for scripture to come to mind.

Acts 3 I think is the best example one could use for this situation. I feel that many people, including myself, feel that helping other people is okay. It is but only to an extent. There is a fine line between helping and fixing and unfortunately many of us cross this line before we realize there is any danger.
Acts three is the story about the lame man whom Peter healed. Or so the people thought. Peter did the physical act of touching the man and allowing him to walk, but it was God who presented the healing through Peter. The people who saw this miracle began to marvel at Peter and John and offered them worship and praise, when in reality they had done nothing at all. Peter addressed the crowd and asked them why they marveled him when he was not the one who provided the healing of a life.

I think this passage is parallel to our human nature in trying to fix people. Many people ‘help’ others in hopes of recognition, pride, or just the feel good feeling that comes with it. This is not good nor is it holy. God does not want us to shun everyone and not offer assistance, but he needs us to understand that we, physically, as only mere humans, cannot fix other people. That is his place. We cannot heal a heart. We cannot mend a soul. Those tasks are reserved for Christ and him only.

So, I know for me I try to fix things right after I mess them up. However, unfortunately, some things cannot be fixed automatically. You have to wait. And wait. And still continue to wait. You have to completely surrender to God’s timing. So to answer the question of fixing people, no. We cannot fix people. When we try to fix people, I personally think that we are going against God’s plan for us and we are sinning. We can guide, pray, and love but not fix. There is only one fixer in this world and that is God himself.

God Bless.