Christians who embrace critical race theory are right about one thing: many white Christians are not loving black people. Except, they don’t know they are speaking about themselves.
If you love black people, you should hate critical race theory. If you love critical race theory, you’ll be tempted to hate people—especially black people who hate critical race theory.
When we choose to disagree with God to agree with critical race theorists, we’re not loving God and we’re not loving black people. When we choose to love critical race theory, we’re not choosing to love people, we’re choosing to love a philosophy—a philosophy that encourages us to love sin.
This is why some of the most hateful words I’ve ever received are from white people who believe they are loving black people by hating me.
If that surprises you, don’t be. Critical race theorists believe their racist ideas are antiracist. They believe their lies are truth. So why wouldn’t they believe their hate for black people like me is actually love for black people like me?
After all, isn’t that inevitable? Ideologies created out of hate for God cannot produce love for people. Since critical race theorists like Derrick Bell and Kimberlé Crenshaw hate Jesus, why should I expect their disciples to love any of Jesus’ disciples, including black Christians like me?
If critical race theorists are foolish enough to suggest God is racist, why wouldn’t white critical race theorists be foolish enough to suggest black Christians like me are racist too?
This is why I wasn’t surprised when earlier this week, one white critical race theorist said to me:
“I have absolutely no problem telling you directly that you promote racist, anti-black ideology for profit.”
Indeed, he has absolutely no problem telling me that—he has absolutely no problem telling me the only possible explanation for why I reject critical race theory is because I hate myself and my black mother for giving to birth me, her black son.
He has absolutely no problem telling me that because he doesn’t love black people—otherwise, he would love me. He doesn’t love black people, he just loves critical race theory.
Critical race theory has convinced many white Christians they are actually loving black people by refusing to love them. This is why a prominent white evangelical recently said:
“My very best black friends have trouble trusting me, for really good reasons. Because people like me have been doing awful things to them and to their families for four centuries.”
I respect and admire this prominent evangelical. I am not nearly as wise or as godly as he is. However, if a donkey can honour God by correcting a prophet, I believe donkeys like me can honour God by correcting prominent evangelicals too.
Anyone who suggests it’s justifiable to distrust a white person because of their skin colour is justifying sin. It’s not a really good reason to distrust a person because of their skin colour. It’s partiality—it’s racism.
But that isn’t just racism against white people—it’s racism against black people too.
The Bible says: “[Love] does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (1 Corinthians 13:6-7)
It’s not loving to rejoice at or justify black people’s wrongdoing. When black people refuse to assume the best of or refuse to hope all things for white people, it’s not loving to justify our sins. That isn’t love—it’s hate. It’s racism.
If a white person assumed the worst of a black person because of their skin colour, would we justify that? Wouldn’t love for both the black person and the white person compel us to correct and rebuke that white person’s sin? So why are prominent evangelicals allowing critical race theory to rob black people from that kind of love? Why are they less committed to promoting godliness for black people than they are with white people?
God loves black people as much as he loves everyone else. That’s why he rebukes black people just as much as he rebukes everyone else. Christ shows no partiality. We should be more like him, and less like critical race theorists.
The Bible is just as sufficient for teaching you how to love black people as it is for teaching you how to love everyone else. You don’t need to follow critical race theory to learn how to love black people, just follow Christ.
Critical race theory will teach you how to hate black people. Christianity, however, teaches you how to love God and everyone made in his image—including black people.
So, do you love black people? If you do, obey our creator—Christ—not critical race theory.