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Sure Sounds Good
By Evan D. Baltz, B.S., M.Div
I recently received a packet of promotional information in the mail from a campaign known as "E-Race the Hate." Now at first glance to most people, this would probably seem a "good" thing. One might say, "Oh, yes, I don't want hate in my community." While this is most likely true, at what cost does it come, and what baggage is attached to it?

Several items mentioned in the campaign's 19 Things you can do to E-Race the Hate include:

  • Put a light in your front window on the first day of every month. Yep, that will just go miles to establishing peace!
  • Wear your button. Again, wow the hate is almost gone already.
  • Learn the E-Race Hate Song. There it goes--we now live in a world of peace. Isn't it wonderful?
  • Put a bumper sticker on your car. Saying what? "Racially, religiously, and ethnically diverse people on board?"

And on and on it goes. These are the least innocuous of the suggestions however. Others obviously have another agenda behind them.

  • Insist on respect for everyone - all ages, all genders, all races, all languages, all people deserve respect. Read, you must be in agreement with these people, or otherwise you hate them. You must support their causes, including homosexuality and who knows what else, or you are a bigot.
  • Help fund more Unitown experiences. Ah, there it is, the plea for money. I knew it would be in there somewhere.
  • Join Scottsdale Community Diversity Council. There it is again, a plea for support for some organization. Listed objectives of this organization are anti-harassment policies (which, as we have seen in the past, often include something like a Bible on one's desk at work) and seeking to increase the diversity of district staff (which generally includes some form of reverse discrimination).

Now I may sound a bit sarcastic, but it is merely to drive the point home. Listen my friends, why do we want to celebrate diversity? Would it not be a better thing to celebrate unity? Celebrate righteousness? Celebrate the soverignty of God? The campaign would like churches to choose readings and songs that reflect commitment to tolerance and ask members to share visions of world peace and harmony. The only "vision" of peace I am interested in is God's. Under the guise of peace, the world would love nothing better than to emasculate and weaken the true church of Christ beyond all recognition. Let's look to the Word for some ideas about this issue.

Look at Jesus' comments about those who mislead, misinterpret and advocate ritualistic, meaningless actions. "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!...Woe to you, blind guides!...You blind fools...You snakes! You brood of vipers!" (Matthew 23). And James 4:4 reminds us that "friendship with the world is hatred toward God." Does God want violence and hatred? Absolutely not! But, does he want tolerance of sin and accommodation to the standards of the world. Absolutely not! One day, in the name of peace and tolerance Christians may be forbidden to preach against sin or to teach moral values. To some degree, this has already happened. Its name is "Political Correctness." Our instructions for how to live come from His Word, a word filled with Truth and real advice for how to live. Paul states what our goal should be in Colossians 3:12-14: "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."

Lets let that be our campaign as Christians. We must always view the world's plans and ideas with skepticism and discernment, testing the motives and "small print." But God's Word is wholly true and a great source of practical advice for how we are to live our lives. So instead of "E-Race the Hate," lets "Do the Word!"