The Christian Post reported that John Perkins, a Christian, minister, civil rights activist and author, was dying of cancer and had a final message for America. In the interview, he mentioned the story of Jonah to Nineveh, and that the only way to return to God was through repentance. Without it, you would all perish.
His final book pointed out that suffering and the main gospel of Jesus Christ played a part in delivering the U.S. from social ills. Suffering has a positive effect, as he used Psalm 1 to describe the outcome and by sharing his personal suffering and the lessons he had learned from the Gospel. His other books that focused on the main Gospel, explained that the issue of the problem was sin, not skin. To achieve long-term reconciliation, he asked Christians to confront the suffering of their fellow Christians who were suffering from racial prejudice, which he acknowledged was still a struggle.
Christians with different backgrounds may have different experiences from others, either at church, home, workplace, or in their communities. For example, they do not think that Bible verses or biblical events apply to their lives because of their life experiences. They also do not think Christians who do not have a similar background to them do not understand what they have gone through.
In an article titled “Guest Column: Reading the Bible Through a Racial Lens,” the author questions whether Christians in today’s society would fall into the same trap as Christians during the antebellum period. They twisted the scriptures to meet their own economic, political, and theological beliefs. Their preconceptions about American culture and the disparities between black and white people were contrary to what the Bible said. As a result, they distorted or ignored the Bible’s teachings on such things as justice, mercy, love for others, and protection for the disadvantaged.
The author also presented a 2020 study performed by Barna Group and the American Bible Society. In the study, respondents were asked about their level of agreement with the statement, “The Bible leads me to advocate for people who are oppressed by society.” According to the results, whites had the lowest percentage of all races, followed by blacks, Hispanics, and Asians. The author also listed a number of Bible verses to explain why Christians viewed the Bible differently. They were viewing the Bible through their racial and ideological lenses, which made it more difficult for them to see or apply those verses.
Continuing with Dr. Perkin’s interview with Christian Post, he believed the churches development of reconciliation was not based on the Bible. A gapping hole in the gospel led people to believe contrary to what the Bible said. They believed that they could be reconciled to God, but not to the ones who did not look like them. He urged Christians to quit looking at one another through a racist lens, which was contrary to what God intended when he created one human race.
Dr. Perkins’s interview is meaningful. Other people can relate to what he said. It motivates others to bring out what God has in store for them. His article, “Beyond Racial Reconciliation,” taken from his book with Karen Waddles in 2018, is another meaningful article. His writing can be identified with what others experience in church and what the Bible really says. It reflects that his strong sense of identity is in Christ and not in humans. His experiences and relationship with God encourage others to see the world and humans through God’s lens.
