This message is primarily for those who call on the name of Jesus Christ as their own Lord and Savior from sin, and serve as a Chaplain or a gospel minister in a jail, prison or a follow-up ministry such as a rescue mission – in the United States.
All Scripture quotes are usually taken from the New King James Version (NKJV) of the Bible, copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. When quoting a text, any deviation from the NKJV text is placed within parenthesis signs (). These usually occur as direct translations from the original languages, or as notes from the original setting to help apply the text to today’s culture.
ALL CAPITAL LETTERS are sometimes used to emphasize words in a text, or to make a comment about a biblical text, or emphasize a statement.
Last month I began a two-part message to try to help you deal with the sin of ethnic hatred. I went over the first two of four points. I spoke about God as Creator and how He sees each ethnic or racial group which He has made. Then, I spoke about the biblical teaching on how men ought to forgive one another.
This month I want to address the FEAR factor first, and then what I consider the most basic contributor to the sin of ethnic hatred, PRIDE.
Dealing with FEAR as a contributor to ethnic hatred -
Ten years ago a movie about a High School football team in Alexandria, Virginia, forced to integrate in 1971, was released. The movie starred Denzel Washington as the coach. It was titled: “Remember The Titans.” This film is shown quite a bit on television now and probably a high percentage of the inmate population has seen it.
The story showed how some were able to overcome the racial separation between black and white players. In one crucial scene, the white All-American linebacker confessed to his new best friend, a black defensive end, that at first he had been “AFRAID OF” him.
Fear of people from a different culture due to lack of understanding, or due to a past history that makes one group think the other might want to get back at them, has been used by man’s arch enemy (the devil) to fan the flames of racial hatred. In response to that, I want to look at a few passages that will equip you to overcome this kind of fear of others and in turn teach the same thing to the inmates.
To begin, we all must overcome our fear of other people. If we do not, trying to appease them so that they might not hurt us will lead us into a greater trap and even into sin. Proverbs 29:25 says: "The FEAR OF MAN brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD shall be safe."
Additionally, Revelation 21:8 says:
8 “But the COWARDLY (the KJV, the 1901 ASV, and the Darby Translation use the word FEARFUL), unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
The word here translated "cowardly" or "fearful" comes from a root word meaning dread. Dread is the kind of fear that worries about what could happen in the near future. The mind of the fearful coward worries, “What will they do to me IF I don’t join them or do what they tell me to do?” The end of Rev. 21:8 describes eternal death in hell fire. Those condemned to go there because they were cowardly are going to be sentenced that way BECAUSE their cowardly fear of men, made them knuckle under and join those that oppose God.
It’s like being under the threat, “Deny Jesus Christ or die!” and so, because of that threat, someone went ahead and denied Christ. They joined in with the temporarily powerful Christ haters. A different form of the SAME WORD used for "cowardly" in Rev. 21:8 IS USED in 2 Timothy 1:7, where it says:
7 For God has not given us (true believers in Christ) a spirit of FEAR (dread, cowardice, timidity), BUT (implied : He has given us a spirit) of power and of love and of a sound mind.
This statement was originally given to a Christian man that was afraid of people. Timothy wanted to shy away from being bold for Christ BECAUSE HE WAS AFRAID OF PERSECUTION FROM THEM. Instead of giving into that fear, he was encouraged to look to the power, love and self-control he could have from the indwelling Holy Spirit!
There’s more to learn on this. Instead of fearing what other people might do to us, we ought to show God’s love to other people.
In Matthew 7:12 in the New American Standard Bible, Jesus taught His followers to “treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” This teaching has been called “The Golden Rule.” It sums up the Old Testament teaching on our responsibility to others.
Later in His public ministry in Luke 6:27-38, He taught -
27 “ …I say to you who hear: LOVE your enemies, DO GOOD to those who hate you,
28 BLESS those who curse you, and PRAY FOR those who spitefully use you.
29 To him who strikes you on the one cheek, OFFER the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, DO NOT WITHOLD your tunic either.
30 GIVE to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods DO NOT ASK them BACK.
31 (from the NASB translation) Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.
Verse 31 is a summary statement. This command focuses on the future, yet the actions of those described in verses 27-30 can include what has already been happening in the past.
They have hated, cursed, spitefully used, struck and taken from the believers. In fact, they still may be in the process of those bad attitudes and actions. YET, the believer is COMMANDED to do good to them, to bless and pray for them. They are to give to them. They are to treat them with the same care they wish to be treated with, regardless of how they have been treated.
By application to those that are in dread and afraid of another group, the same loving treatment towards that group is always the right thing to do. When you teach this to inmates, they will naturally protest in this way: “If we do that, then they’ll think we are weak and they will take advantage of us.”
Your answer to that kind of reaction (whether it is stated or not, it is thought about) should then be given from verses 32-38. God is good even to evil doers, but God is NOT WEAK!
Note that in these verses there are those described as “sinners,” and those called the “sons of the Most High (God).” There are two groups in view.
32 But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even SINNERS do the same.
34 And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even SINNERS lend to sinners to receive as much back.
36 Therefore, be merciful, JUST AS your Father also is merciful.
Now note the PROMISES from Jesus in verses 37-38:
37 Judge not, and YOU SHALL NOT BE JUDGED. Condemn not, and YOU SHALL NOT BE CONDEMNED. Forgive, and YOU WILL BE FORGIVEN.
38 Give, and IT WILL BE GIVEN TO YOU: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, IT WILL BE MEASURED BACK TO YOU.”
In addition to these verses directing us to love others we might fear, I want to give you a list of verses that teach us NOT TO FEAR MEN. But first, we need to be taught to fear God. Proverbs 14:27 says:
27 The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to turn one away from the snares of death.
Connected to the fear of God, Jesus taught us NOT to fear men. See Luke 12:4-5.
4 “And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.
5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell (God); yes, I say to you, fear Him!”
Then, there is Psalm 27:1
“The LORD is my light and my salvation: Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life: Of whom shall I be afraid?”
And Psalm 118:6
“The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”
6 So we may boldly say: “The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”
IF the LORD God is our salvation, IF He is on our side and IF He is our helper – there is no reason to be afraid of what men might do to us.
Now, I want to look at the sin of PRIDE, and show how it relates to ethnic hatred.
I believe the sin of pride is the most common contributor in racial hatred. One person or group says in their heart, "I AM BETTER THAN THEM!" or, "WE ARE SUPERIOR TO THEM." I want to point out three notable racists and show the link between their ethnic hatred and their pride. In chronological order they were: Charles Darwin, Margaret Sanger and Adolf Hitler.
Adolf Hitler was not the first man that believed in a master race. He borrowed that ideology from Charles Darwin. Strict evolutionists avow the idea of survival of the fittest and a master race. Both Darwin and Hitler saw the dark skinned people of the world as a sub-human species that needed to be wiped out. Of course Hitler hated the Jews most of all, but they weren’t the only ones he united the proud German people against. Both Darwin in the 19th century and Hitler in the 20th century were also known for their proud arrogant words.
The celebrated feminist, Margaret Sanger, was openly a racists. She started Planned Parenthood, which fully supported abortion as a way to lower or get rid of the black population in America. These are little known facts but are backed up by printed quotes. Notice the pride and arrogance in what she wrote in 1926 when she argued that birth control clinics, or bureaus, should be established:
“In which men and women will be taught the science of parenthood and the science of breeding.” For this was the way “to breed out of the race the scourges of transmissible disease, mental defect, poverty, lawlessness, crime ... since these classes would be decreasing in number instead of breeding like weeds”
Pride is also revealed when we can't stand someone else looking better or achieving more than we do. Pride is often behind jealousy and envy. Jealousy wants what another has, but envy simply does not want THEM to have it. Envy is an emotion of anger or a feeling of irritation because someone we wrongly think we are better than, got something we wanted. That's a manifestation of pride.
Like the sin of murder, the sin of pride comes from the devil. Before he fell, Lucifer was not satisfied with what God had designed him to be. He wanted to be the tip top being in all the universe. That is the quintessential attitude of pride.
Note it in Isaiah 14:12-14.
12 How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How are you cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations!
13 For you have said in your heart; “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God (a poetic way of referring to the angels); I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.”
In Ezekiel 28:17 we read about the reason God said this anointed cherub (Ez. 28:14) fell. In the English Standard Version, the LORD said to him:
17 “Your heart became proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground (or, down to the earth)”
Pride brings those who nurture it down. Proverbs 16:4-5 says,
4 The LORD has made all for Himself, Yes, even the wicked for the day of doom.
5 Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD; Though they join forces, none will go unpunished.
Jesus told the Pharisees “You are OF your father, the devil.” (John 8:44). They demonstrated their true relationship to their spiritual father, the devil, by being overcome with pride just like Lucifer who became Satan.
Note and show the inmates the Pharisees’ pride in passages like –
Luke 18:9-11
9 Also He (Jesus) spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, AND DESPISED OTHERS. (That’s pride)
10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men – extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or EVEN AS THIS TAX COLLECTOR.”
In John 9, there was a confrontation with the Pharisees. They are mentioned by the name of their sect in verses 13, 15-16 and 40. Elsewhere in the narrative of John 9, they are simply called “the Jews.” Their pride comes out in their arrogant statement in verse 34
34 They (the “Pharisees,” or, “the Jews”) answered and said to him, “You were completely born in sins, AND ARE YOU TEACHING US?”
Additionally, here is a brief list of SIX things that the Bible relates to pride:
1. Proud people are un-teachable. Look again at John 9:34. Look at some of the history of the Israelite nation recounted in Nehemiah 9:16,17; 28-30
16 But they and our fathers ACTED PROUDLY, hardened their necks, and did not heed Your commandments.
17 They refused to obey, …
28 But after they had rest, they again did evil before You. Therefore You left them in the hand of their enemies,… many times You delivered them according to Your mercies,
29 And testified against them, that You might bring them back to Your law. YET THEY ACTED PROUDLY, AND DID NOT HEED YOUR COMMANDMENTS, …
30 Yet for many years You had patience with them, and testified against them by Your Spirit in Your prophets, YET THEY WOULD NOT LISTEN; …
2. Proud people must have things their way – again note it in the example of the Pharisees in John 9:22, 34 and 12:42
22 His parents said these things BECAUSE THEY FEARED THE JEWS (a reference to the Pharisees in that passage), for the Jews had AGREED ALREADY THAT IF ANYONE CONFESSED THAT HE (Jesus) WAS CHRIST, HE WOULD BE PUT OUT OF THE SYNAGOGUE. ….
34 … And they (the Pharisees) cast him out (of the synagogue).
John 12
42 Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, BUT BECAUSE OF THE PHARISEES they did not confess Him, LEST THEY SHOULD BE PUT OUT OF THE SYNAGOGUE.
The proud Pharisees resorted to INTIMIDATION TO GET THEIR OWN WAY!
3. Proud people imagine wrong things. See. Isaiah 9:9-10,
9 All the people will know— Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria— who say in pride and arrogance of heart:
10 “ The bricks have fallen down, but WE WILL REBUILD with hewn stones; the sycamores are cut down, but WE WILL REPLACE them with cedars.”
And look at Luke 1:51,
51 “He (the Lord) has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered THE PROUD IN THE IMAGINATION OF THEIR HEARTS.”
4. Pride takes the true God out of our thoughts - Psalm 10:3-4
3 For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire; he blesses the greedy and renounces the LORD.
4 The wicked in HIS PROUD COUNTENANCE DOES NOT SEEK GOD; GOD IS IN NONE OF HIS THOUGHTS.
5. Pride causes people to lie.
Psalm 31:18
18 Let the lying lips be put to silence, which (lying lips) speak insolent things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.
Psalm 59:11-12
11 … Scatter them by Your power, and bring them down, O Lord our shield.
12 For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips, let them even be taken IN THEIR PRIDE, and for the cursing and lying which they speak
Psalm 119:69
69 The proud have FORGED A LIE against me, …
6. Pride deceives people - Obadiah 3, "The pride of YOUR heart HAS DECEIVED YOU,"
Self-deception is the worst kind of deception. Obadiah 3 speaks of the source of deception being one’s OWN HEART. If one is deceived from within, there is little hope of them EVER embracing the truth!
Prov. 26:12 says: “Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.” Wow! It is BETTER to even be a fool than to be self-deceived by pride.
In conclusion, as you deal with PRIDE as a contributor to ethnic hatred -
LEARN and TEACH from 1 Corinthians 4:6-7. It is a key passage in dealing with pride, especially as it relates to thoughts of ethnic superiority and racial hatred. Note verses 6-7,
6 Now these things (about parties and factions), brethren, I have figuratively transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, (so) that you may learn in us (from our example) not to think beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up (arrogant – the expression of pride) ON BEHALF OF ONE AGAINST THE OTHER.
Another translation renders the final phrase of verse 6: “that none of you will be inflated with pride in favor of one person over another.” Paul was correcting the proud Corinthians penchant for favoring one teacher over another, but that is also how pride feeds racism. It FAVORS one ethnic group OVER ANOTHER.
Verse 7 asks three great questions intended to make the reader THINK!
7 For who makes you differ from another? And WHAT DO YOU HAVE THAT YOU DID NOT RECEIVE? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? (implied – ‘as if you had gained it by your own efforts)
WHO makes me different from any other person? ANSWER: God. WHAT do I have that I did not receive (implied as a gift)? Answer: NOTHING! Now that truth runs counter to everything we’ve been taught by the world, so it is COUNTER TO OUR OWN PERSONAL PRIDE!
The text here is designed to make the reader think further. What do I have in the way of inherent abilities and strengths and WHO gave those things to me? The answer again is GOD, MY CREATOR and SUSTAINER.
The third question in verse 7 really hits the pride target – bull’s-eye! WHY do I ever boast AS IF I THROUGH MY OWN SUPERIORITY ACHIEVED ANYTHING? The message then, from God through His word is this: Do not think you are better than anybody else. Rather, praise God for who He is and for what He has done for you AND RESPECT WHO HE IS AND WHAT HE’S MADE OTHERS TO BE!
By respecting those of a different ethnic group, we show our humble respect for their Creator – whom WE MUST FACE AS OUR JUDGE. He will judge the sin of ethnic hatred (for believers He already has). For those that have been guilty of this sin, THERE IS forgiveness, cleansing and a real change that causes us to love them. BUT, this is ONLY in Christ Jesus as our Lord and Savior from sin through His cross where He bore the sin of racism for the guilty.
Rich Hines – Aurora Ministries, Chaplain Help Ministry Director
