Outsiders: Persecuted

A disturbing trend in America in recent years has been rise of hate groups and crimes.  In 2015, Dylann Roof entered the Emanuel Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina and murdered 9 church members at a Bible study.  He told them, "I have to do it. You rape our women and you're taking over our country. And you have to go."

Last year, Robert Gregory Bowers used the online social network Gab to write anti-Semitic statements about the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS).  Referring to caravans of Central Americans heading to our border and to immigrants, he posted “HIAS likes to bring invaders in that kill our people. I can't sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I'm going in." 

He went to the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and murdered 11 Jews who were attending a Sabbath service.  According to police reports, Bowers allegedly told a SWAT officer that he wanted all Jews to die, and that Jews were committing genocide against his people. 

Roof and Bowers had several things in common.  One was that they were emotionally disturbed.  Another was that they felt a race war was on and they needed to defend the White race.  Another was that they didn't get these ideas from nowhere.  These ideas are "in the air" in America and the world.

In relation to the Tree of Life shooting, this was far from the first time Jews have experienced persecution.  It goes all the way back to Exodus 1, where pharaoh enslaves the Hebrews because he perceived them as a threat.  

We find one of the most common justifications for anti-Semitism in Esther 3:8-9.  There, Haman says to King Xerxes:

There is a certain people dispersed and scattered among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom whose customs are different from those of all other people and who do not obey the king's laws; it is not in the king's best interest to tolerate them. If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will put ten thousand talents of silver into the royal treasury for the men who carry out this business.

They're different.  They're disobedient to the law.  They must be dealt with for the good of the nation.

Thankfully, God rescued the Jews from the pogrom Haman planned.  But Haman's ideas would persist throughout history.  In 1934, the President of the Southern Baptist Convention, M. E. Dodd, defended Hitler's persecution of the Jews.  He said that while Jews “were not to be blamed for the intelligence and strength, so characteristic of their race, which put them forward,” they were using influential positions gained by these characteristics “for self-aggrandizement to the injury of the German people.”  He went on to suggest that the way Germans dealt with Jews could instruct white people in the South how to deal with negroes.

The New Testament tells the story of how early Christ followers learned that God loved everyone and wanted them to do the same.  Acts 10 tells how the apostle Peter learned that God loved Gentiles just as much as he loved the Jews.  He said (v.34), “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.”

Today, we Christ followers need to guard against prejudice and hatred in our hearts and stand against such things in our world.  First, we need to know that all forms of racism, including anti-Semitism, are contrary to Christ. Second, for this reason, we need to make sure that we never get pulled into or adopt any racist movement. Third, we need to focus on proclaiming the true gospel and at the same time proclaiming that this gospel stands against all forms of racism and prejudice.

The best hope in America for overcoming racism and prejudice is Christ.  As they say, “The ground is level at the foot of the cross.”  Let’s help the atmosphere in our country and the world by standing with him in loving everyone everywhere!