Questions about Race, Ethnicity, Nations, and Christ

Thoughts on Galatians 3:28 and related texts:

Biblical texts can be used, abused and misused in all sorts of ways. One such text is Galatians 3:28 which says, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” But clearly all three distinctions still exist.

Sure, these differences should not matter in terms of being part of one body in Christ. The cross is the great leveller, and we all stand equal – equally condemned – before it, and we all need the grace of God and the shed blood of Christ to become part of God’s family.

But this passage is often misused by many, including homosexual activists and religious lefties. As I said in my 2011 book Strained Relations: The Challenge of Homosexuality:

This is not to suggest of course that all distinctions somehow magically disappear in Christ. It is not as if men and women lose their distinctive genitalia for example. Very real differences still exist, but our oneness in Christ becomes paramount. As Ben Witherington comments,

 

“Gal. 3:28 has sometimes been called the Magna Carta of Humanity and there is a sense in which that label is apt, but it is also well to be aware that Paul is not suggesting here the obliteration of the distinctions he mentions in this verse, but rather their redemption and transformation in Christ. The new creation is the old one transformed and transfigured. These ethnic, social, and sexual distinctions continue to exist but in Christ they are not to determine one’s soteriological or spiritual or social standing in the body of Christ.”

On heaven and its inhabitants

So we still have men and women, and presumably we will continue to have them in the next life. But what about other differences being carried over into the next world? We know that sinful desires and preferences will not be a part of the next life, but will my predilection for pizza still carry over?

We know that those who made post-resurrection appearances – including Jesus – were recognisable by others. How might we appear in the next world? Will a man who died at 80 still appear as an 80-year-old man? What about a baby who died at just two weeks? Will a quite obese person still appear as overweight? Will racial differences still be there?

And what about Jews and Gentiles in particular, and ethnic and national groups in general? The apostle Paul seemed to think there continued to be those two groups, as he discussed in places like Romans 9-11. The Jews did not disappear, nor did the Gentiles.

But as he writes in Ephesians 2:13-14, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility…”

Moreover, what about the broader idea of ethnic groups, racial groups, nationalities, and so on? With some conservative and Christian groups moving in the direction of extreme white nationalism, how should we consider this?

The nations are spoken about repeatedly in Scripture. Some might say that since different languages were part of God’s judgment at the Tower of Babel (see Genesis 11), that perhaps means different nations are also part of that judgment, and come the next world, they will no longer be with us.

But it seems nations and ethnicities were part of God’s overall plan. For example, in Acts 17:26 we see Paul saying this: “And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place.”

And we can mention various psalms that speak about the return of the Lord. Note how they still speak in terms of the nations. Consider for example these two texts. Psalm 22:27-28 says this:

All the ends of the earth shall remember
    and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
    shall worship before you.
For kingship belongs to the Lord,
    and he rules over the nations.

And Psalm 86:9 reads: “All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name.” And in Revelation we still read about the nations in the final state:

“And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb^. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations.” (Rev. 21:22-26)

“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” (Rev. 22:1-2) 

What about races and tribes and people groups, etc? In Revelation 5:9-10 we find this:

And they sang a new song, saying,

“Worthy are you to take the scroll
    and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
    from every tribe and language and people and nation,
and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
    and they shall reign on the earth.”

Similar things are found in Revelation 7:9-10:

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

Indeed, Christians still sing this:

Jesus loves the little children
All the children of the world
Red and yellow, black and white
They are precious in His sight
Jesus loves the little children of the world

Again, all races come together in Christ. But will such racial differences remain in the next life? We do not have all that much detail as to what the next life will look like in terms of the human race. We assume the two sexes will still be there. And racial and ethnic differences may well still be found there also.

Christian nationalism/White nationalism?

But where this can get all rather contentious is when discussions about nationalism are raised by some Christians and some conservatives. Sometimes pro-white talk is heard. A few quick thoughts on these issues can be raised. We do know that often today other racial and ethnic groups are being celebrated and promoted, while whites are often demonised and criticised. We hear about “white privilege” and all the rest.

Thus many today attack whites while upholding all other groupings as paragons of virtue. That is a wrong sense of how multiculturalism should proceed. But in response, should we then promote whiteness and still urge former nations who were predominantly white to remain that way, and work to keep out others – if it is not already too late?

All that is a massive discussion. Recent volumes such as the 2022 book The Case for Christian Nationalism by Stephen Wolfe looked at some of this and caused no small stir and discussion. I penned three articles on the book, seeking to show the volume’s strengths and weaknesses:

https://billmuehlenberg.com/2022/11/15/the-public-square-religious-neutrality-and-the-war-on-christianity/

https://billmuehlenberg.com/2022/11/16/the-case-for-christian-nationalism-preliminary-considerations/

https://billmuehlenberg.com/2022/11/17/a-review-of-the-case-for-christian-nationalism-by-stephen-wolfe/

While his main case was for Christian nationalism, he was accused by some of pushing white nationalism. Other authors in fact have been much clearer and firmer in their advocacy of white nationalism. And one can see somewhat where they are coming from. I have written often about how failed multiculturalism policies are indeed tearing apart the West and destroying much of western civilisation.

So should we demand a ‘white-only’ policy? That would be as unworkable as it is undesirable. But slowing down mass migration – especially of those who clearly do not share Western values and beliefs and have no desire to fit in or even learn our languages – can rightly be promoted.

Some European nations such as Poland and Hungary are now loudly affirming and parading their Christian heritage. Given that those of European descent have overwhelmingly been white (Caucasians), does that now mean that only whites there can be part of this celebration of the Christian roots of these countries?

Today of course there are all sorts of non-white conservatives and Christians in many Western countries, not least of which, America. Would some still insist that they be told to move out, in the interests of preserving the Christian (and white) heritage? Likely some are, but it would be hard for genuine Christians to fully insist on anything like that.

Yes, they can make the case against unchecked mass migration; they can make the case for the superiority of a Christian culture; they can make the case for somewhat homogenous cultures in order to keep the social and national fabric from being shredded apart, and so on.

But they need not insist on a white-only Christian nationalism. Christianity is of course growing the strongest in the developing world: Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Like many others, I have great brothers and sisters in Christ who are black Africans and so on. We are indeed all one in Christ, and will forever continue to be.

We need to more carefully think through all this. In a world split by racial, ethnic and national tensions and polarisation, this is another whole issue that deserves much prayerful reflection. As to how some of this ties in with our heavenly home, much of it we can only speculate on, and may not be of much importance (such as my question about pizza in heaven).

But thinking about nations and races and people groups is well worth reflecting on, since it seems that in one way or another they will be part of the life to come. So seeking to get right these issues now really does matter.

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