As It Is in HeavenPrøve

Day 1: The Human Race : Thanks for beginning this plan! While a 7-day journey can’t completely equip you to battle the racial prejudices that plague some, it can certainly begin the process and empower you to take critical first steps. As we begin our discussion, we must start with God’s perspective of race. The surprising thing is that God is less concerned about race than we are! Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying He is disinterested in prejudice. Nor am I saying that the color of our skin is unimportant to Him. He created us all equally in His image, choosing different colors to reflect some of His amazing diversity. God chose our colors, and they are all beautiful! But this is not what is most important to Him. In the eyes of God, there is one race: the human race. And what is most important to God is not the color of our skin (outside) but the salvation of our souls (inside). In fact, in 1 Samuel 16:7 (NIV), we see the Lord say to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” What would the modern-day church look like if we looked only at the heart instead of external attributes? While we may never be able to completely put a stop to racism and prejudice on this side of heaven because we live in a broken world full of broken people, I do believe we already have what it takes to drastically change the world we live in today. In the coming days, we will dig deeper into God’s perspective on race, explore practical steps to help us view others as God sees them, and learn to grow atmospheres where every nation, tribe, and people can live together in harmony. Then and only then can we move closer to what Jesus prayed in the Lord’s prayer in Matthew 6:10 (NIV, emphasis added): “...Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven .”