Jesus Is NOT White
By: Yana Conner
Jesus is not white. Jesus, the descendent of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David, is a Middle Eastern Jew. And even though the color of his skin or ethnicity should not come into question for us, here we are. Yet again, in need of clarifying Jesus' ethnicity.
In response to the United Methodist Church’s announcement that they would be partnering with the author of White Fragility, Dr. Robin DiAngelo, to curate the video series “Deconstructing White Privilege”, Eric Metaxas tweeted, “Jesus was white. Did he have ‘white privilege’ even though he was entirely without sin? Is the United Methodist Church covering that?” There are many problems with Metaxas’ statement, but I'm interested in two:
Why Metaxas believes Jesus is white even though we know he was born in the Middle East.
Why he thinks a white Jesus absolves him (and his people) of the responsibility to use their privilege to care for the marginalized.
I also want to discuss how this reasoning is not very different from that of a Hebrew Israelite’s need of a black Jesus to cope with the pain of being black in America. Why is it important for Christ to be clothed in the color of their flesh? What is the significance in having a Savior that looks like them?
In her article, "Why We Must Be Careful When Watching Beyonce's 'Black is King,'" Judicaelle Irakoze wisely and brilliantly points out that black people "don't have to be associated with a monarchy to matter." To borrow from her insight and apply it to the discussion of Jesus’ skin color: You don’t need to have the same skin color of the Divine to matter. Before Him, your skin color neither increases or decreases your value. Jesus determined your worth when He created you in His image. He affirmed the significance of us all when He died on the cross. You know the song: "Native, Asian, Black, and White. We’re all precious in his sight."
When you pick up the crayon closest to your skin color and use it to color Jesus in your image to add value and significance to your existence, you allow the ideals of racism to deceive you. Like Eve, you eat its fruit, thinking you have to bear Christ's skin color to matter, forgetting He has already clothed you with his image. And instead of just wanting to matter, you end up wanting superiority.
The Tales of “Othering” in Our Nation
For centuries, many white men and women have peddled a white Jesus to convince themselves (and others) they are a superior race. The doctrine of a blond-haired and blue-eyed Jesus helped shape white supremacy ideology, allowing them to classify people of different ethnicities as "other.” In her book, The Origin of Others, Toni Morrison explains that racism is a form of "othering" by which we define ourselves (and others) and assign worth to ourselves (and others) in light of our differences. Through this evil game of comparison, we create a hierarchy in which whatever ethnic group we’re a part of is on top. We see this in the New Testament as Paul continuously tries to level the religious hierarchy between Jews and Gentiles (Romans 1:18 - 3:31, Ephesians 2:11-22). Jews claiming to be superior to the Gentiles because they received the law, “othered” Gentiles in the kingdom of God and required circumcision to make Gentiles more like them. Circumcision would allow the “othered” Gentiles to assimilate into their fold.
More than 2,000 years later, "othering" led Anglos seeking refuge from religious oppression to displace Native Americans and enslave Africans. Easily justifying their actions with “othering,” they found no fault in their actions, how could they? They classified them as savages and chattel.
This method of “othering” is pervasive. It goes far beyond race and creates more “others:” money “others”, education “others”, and gender “others.”
“Othering” also does not imply power. To cope with living in a world under the subjective and oppressive structures of racism, black people "othered" white folks. Under the leadership of Black Nationalists like the honorable Elijah Muhammed and Rev. Albert Cleage, black people constructed for themselves a heaven that was for “blacks only.” They claimed superiority by designating themselves the chosen people of God, destined for heaven. The white race, damned to hell. It's the same supremacist ideology that elevates on race over another. It just says, "If we can't have the earth, we'll take heaven! It's eternal anyway! Heaven is a better reality for the better people." Can you hear the "othering” mentality in this statement? They’ve glorified their suffering and use it to rationalize their superiority against their white counterparts.
“Othering” Absolved in Christ
We have grown up conditioned to assign value and worth to people based on skin color, wealth, education, gender, etc. In turn, we construct our identity around these factors to determine how we fit (or rank) in this world. This way of navigating the world is not the way of Jesus. He has created a new reality for us which frees us from defining ourselves and others by these categories.
In His flesh, "othering" has been absolved. With the brutalization of his body, he broke down the dividing wall of hostility that existed between ethnicities and created one new humanity (Ephesians 2:11-22). Therefore, in Christ, we are no longer defined by our ethnicity but by the blood Christ shed for us on the cross (Galatians 3:28). However, this does not mean your ethnicity doesn't matter. It does.
Ethnicity Matters
Ethnicity is woven all throughout Scripture. We encounter it in the story of Hagar. The Holy Spirit inspires the author of Genesis, Moses, to note her ethnicity. Hagar, Sarah’s servant, was an Egyptian woman. When it seemed like God wasn’t going to make good on his promise and give Abraham and Sarah a son, Sarah suggested Abraham have sex with her maidservant, Hagar. Hagar wasn’t consulted. Her opinion didn’t matter. She was an Egyptian slave. She was “othered” in their household.
This proved to be true when Sarah threw Hagar and her son out because of her jealousy. Hagar was dispensable. Her life and that of her sons didn’t matter. You see, Hagar was an improvised double minority who suffered abuse in light of the societal norms of her time. However, this invisible woman was seen by God. Oh, how knowing her ethnicity and social status causes her encounter with God to jump off the pages as she says to him, "You are the God, who sees me" (Genesis 16:13). For every brown girl, who ever felt invisible, Hagar’s encounter with God lets you know, without a doubt, that God sees you.
We are again met with the Bible's multi-color reality when the Apostle John is swept up into the new heaven and the new earth. You've probably heard of the great hallelujah chorus that will take place around God's throne. People of every ethnicity will sing out in their native tongue the praises of God, who redeemed their life from its awful pit (Revelation 7:9-17). What's significant about this holy gathering is that God didn't make their new heavenly bodies monolithic. He didn't make them all blue-eyed with fair skin or cocoa brown with curly lox. He allowed their ethnicity to pass over from the temporal to the eternal. That's how much he values ethnicity. That's how much he loves it. "Native, Asian, Black, and White." All very precious in his sight.
Is it precious in yours?
Fam, I know, It’s hard out here. The temptation to “other” those different from us is real. We may not go to the extreme of a racist or Black Nationalist, but we can still live under less egregious categories of “us,” “them,” and who can or cannot come to the cookout. However, in Christ, we are called to no longer live conformed to the historically depraved pattern of “othering” and be transformed by renewing our minds (Romans 12:2). This is the sanctifying work - to make every effort to untether ourselves from an “us” and “them” mentality to a “we” (Ephesians 4:1-6). In his flesh, Christ created one new multicolored, multiethnic humanity to reconcile us as one back to God (Ephesians 2:15-16). Let’s allow Christ’s agenda to shape our views of one another.
To learn more about the presence of ethnicity in the Bible, you can purchase a copy of “Through Eyes of Color.” In chapter two, we cover the presence of Black people in the Bible.
Yana Conner is a proud St. Louis native residing in Durham, NC. She recently graduated with a Master of Divinity in Christian Ministry from Southeastern Theological Seminary. She also is a staff writer with Gospel-Centered Discipleship and the Docent Research Group where she helps develop articles and Bible studies that help people think well about faith and culture.