The Pride of Race

From the Black & White Blog

As mentioned in my last post, because of the blatant racism I’d been seeing, I decided to pray about it and what I found out is that racism is rooted in pride which means that if I continued to get upset about someone else’s blatant racism which also was rooted in pride, then I’d be just as much of a hypocrite if I didn’t check my own....pride.

Matthew 7:3 says, “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?” In the context of race, what this is saying is that the reason we’re able to see someone else’s RACISM, is because its rooted in PRIDE. We (meaning you and me) are able to see someone else’s pride because we have pride of our own. Therefore, you (meaning we) shouldn’t judge someone else’s because, ‘with what judgment you judge, you will be judged.’ I use the term we interchangeably so that you’ll know I’m talking about we, as people of color and we, as in my White brothers and sisters in Christ.

Bottom-line, racism is an issue of pride. And as such, it would behoove us not to point out someone else’s pride when we have prideful issues of our own. You can be proud of the fact that you’re light skinned, that you hold a doctorate in Black Studies, that you have a degree in Divinity, that you make 8 figures, or that you come from the hood. Whatever you’re proud of, it’s still the pride of life (1 Jn 2:16). So, no matter whether its racial pride, spiritual pride, or financial pride, it’s still pride. It just manifests and looks different.

Therefore, instead of trying to, ‘…say to [White people], ‘Let me remove [that] speck [of racial pride] from your eye’, when there’s, ‘…a plank in your own eye’; you should instead, ‘…first remove the plank [of pride] from your own eye, and then you will see clearly [how] to remove the speck [of racial pride] from [White people’s] eyes.’ (Matthew 7:4,5)

After reading Matthew 7:1-5, I had to make a choice and so do you.

I could chose to be offended that I once again had to defer to White people, or I could check myself and make the decision to call out and work on my own pride. This is not saying that certain conversations shouldn’t be had and neither does it excuse systemic racism. But remember, this race war is not just about the color of someone’s flesh, as we learned in ‘Skin Is Flesh’. It’s a spiritual war and as such, as Christians, our job is to look beyond the COLOR BIAS, discern the SPIRITUAL INFLUENCE, and take authority accordingly. The way we can do this successfully is by first battling the spirit of pride within ourselves.

Pray this with me: Heavenly Father, please forgive me of my pride. Though my pride may differ from someone of another color, it’s still pride and as You said in James 4:6, You resist the proud and Lord, I don’t want You to resist me. So Lord, show me areas where I’ve been prideful and teach me how to humble myself to see people as You see them so that when I’m faced with racism, I can respond with the grace You’ve given and take authority over the spirit that once had me bound. In Jesus’ name.

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