God doesn’t see color.

That’s what someone sent me, based on the picture I posted on my story timeline. Another person wrote: “there is only one race, the human race”.

For the record, I am not writing this post because I feel the need to defend my “blackness”. There is very real trauma and a sense of tiredness that African-Americans feel in relation to that. (If you’re interested click here for medically focused viewpoint on the concept of white ignorance).

The reason I’m writing is because the message sent to me is not about sociology - it’s about theology. Whenever someone addresses me with what they believe God does or doesn’t do, it gets my attention.

Now, this idea that God doesn’t see color is one of the reasons why I have advocated and spearheaded gospel-centered, biblically-based conversations around ethnicity and race as a church leader. For years. I actually don’t think I need to explain why the notion that God doesn’t see color is a misreading of the Bible story. To be fair, this person did also say, “we are all equal in God‘s eyes” - which I completely agree with. As a matter of fact, the biblical vision of God’s people who have been redeemed by Jesus from every nation, tongue and tribe shows said unity. Incidentally, this vision also shows that God sees the various colors, or at the very least, ethnic nuance and diversity. When the apostle Paul wrote that there is neither Jew or Gentile, he wasn’t white-washing (pun intended) ethnic diversity. In his writings, you can see that he was very aware of his ethnic, cultural identity. His point was that his ethnicity was not salvific, to the point that it warranted elevation above other ethnicities.

Here’s the deal: Jesus didn’t save me because I am African/Haitian American. I’m not a Christian because of the color of my skin. At the same time, my identity as a Christian does not remove or erase my cultural identity. God sees me. All of me. One of the root issues in this world is when others choose not to.