Kingdom Race Theology #1 - Sermon by Dr. Tony Evans

[Music] eleven years ago i wrote a book on race called oneness embraced tracking the both the historical theological biblical and spiritual elements of issues related to race and justice and like topics in light of all that has occurred in our culture over the last couple of years it was determined to update that book which is in process now relative to include a response reaction and the critique of the more contemporary issues related to uh what's happening in our society today so we're currently in that process as we speak that'll come out in january but it's being worked on currently at the core of the racial debate today and racial conflict and in many places animus is the issue of critical race theory crt on the fourth of july they're fire crackers that explode all over things are shot up into the air things that start off as solid once the explosion occurs spreads and so lights are flickering everywhere so that you can no longer see what was originally launched because what was originally launched has exploded this is what has happened to the issue of race in america and critical race theory in particular an explosion has occurred from an original uh theory that has left everybody asking me and each other the question what in the world is critical race theory it's hard to find a definition because of the explosions that have occurred so i want to give you a definition before the explosion so that you can grab what we are saying it is and what the originators of it say that it is just a group of about five who crafted critical race theory and then i want to look at the explosion that occurred that has led to the crisis and confusion that we deal with today and then i want to conclude with a biblical response how should we as christians uh respond to this because we ought to be people of the truth and so let me start with a definition of critical race theory before the explosion that is at its core at its foundation critical race theory crt is a post-civil rights social construct i'll say something about that in a moment that seeks to demonstrate how the embedded foundation and filter through which racist attitudes behavior policies and structures have been rooted throughout the fabric of america american life and systems even after those laws were changed let me say that again it's a post-civil right social construct a social construct is where people have come together on a conclusion about a matter in society you can have social constructs related to education you can have social constructs related to money you can have social constructs related to uh sexual orientation those are we we're facing a social construct related to what is being concluded about a certain matter so this social construct of crt wants to look at how unjust laws that were racist in nature filtered themselves into the operating systems of the culture so when the unjust laws filtered themselves it became a way of life these unjust laws racist in nature accrued to the benefit of one part of the population meaning the white race to the detriment of another part of the population meaning african americans and to a lesser degree uh other minority groups because these were laws it was the way that things were operating by permission because they were laws we all know about slavery laws and there were many of those many of us grew up with jim crow laws of the south where there were official standards inculcated and established that allowed one group to benefit and another group to be disenfranchised when the laws changed and bad laws were made right like the 1964 civil rights act the 1965 voters rights act when the laws changed the system had already been infiltrated with the previous unrighteous laws and unjust laws so that even though laws changed the effect of those laws did not automatically end to varying degrees still today did not change with it so the fruit like adam's sin carries fruit the fruit of unrighteous laws still expressed themselves in the structures of society whether they're educational whether they're political whether they are social whether they deal with criminal justice issues whether they're economic because the laws previous affected all of society it therefore infiltrated all of society the argument of crt goes so even today many people have to struggle with the issue of racism not because it's a law but because it's an environment that was affected by laws so critical race theory seeks to track how the legal implications of the unjust laws manifest themselves today take the law for example of redlining redlining in the 1930s was established to segment populations tied to location and race and the color red which is why it's called red lighting was given to predominantly african-american communities and a red line meant this was a hazardous community a hazardous community meant that mortgages would not be loaned out to home buyers it meant this investment you wouldn't invest in a red lined community because it was viewed as hazardous well what that meant for those communities that was the ability to to buy a home to establish neighborhoods to get loans to put in businesses were not allowed well in those red line districts what happened was generations were born into those districts and when generations were born into those districts that meant the repercussions of the red line was being transferred to one generation after another because they were locked out and weren't fully allowed to participate well redlining laws got changed but some of the generational influence of those laws still had effect because the people uh who were affected by it were transferring that reality because they were never able to get out of it and they were locked into it and so that is the concept of of this now when the subject of systemic racism comes up which is where this winds up racism tied to systems well let me let me first define racism uh so that we make sure we talk about the same thing racism i define as the conscious or subconscious or unconscious belief in the superiority of one race over another race or ethnicities which manifest itself in a variety of dismissive oppressive exploitative ways racism shows up in the use of the power of influence use of power to influence resources or communication which is employed to discriminate against marginalize exploit or subjugate people of another race or ethnicity let me put in a little syllogism when unaddressed prejudice gets married to power there is going to be an unintended pregnancy that will give birth to the evil of racism when when an unaddressed present prejudice gets connected to power gets married to power then it's going to have an unintended consequence which gives birth to the evil of racism so racism is the decision consciously or unconsciously to discriminate against a person of another race when we talk about systemic racism i'll define that because all this comes together systemic racism is the presence or secular resultant effects of racist practices and processes embedded in and shaped shaping the social political economic legal educational infrastructural medical uh systems and policies of a society initially established and perpetuated by the government these then overlap and interconnect in such a way as to give an unjust advantage of resources rights mindsets and privilege for majority number of one race while denying or limiting it to a majority number of another race or ethnicities now this is often called white privilege the benefits that accrue because of the laws that were established and the systems that continue to benefit those who benefited from the original laws to the disadvantage to minority groups and so let's talk about systems crt is not concerned with your individual racial profile it's not concerned with whether you are a racist crt is concerned about racism infiltrating the structures and the systems of society and how those structures continue to have negative effects on minority people let me give you a relevant illustration that you and all of us are participating in be white or black as everyone knows we now own the golf course across the street that is 155 or so prime acres in the southwest section of oak cliff i wanted us to buy that land not having anything to do with golf but controlling what happens in our community so the motivation was related to golf it was related to kingdom influence in the community but let me tell you the story of the gulf coast cross street it used to be a farm in 19 mid 1950s a man or sold it and it was purchased and turned into a golf course the rule was black people could not play on the golf course that was the rule so we'll call that an unjust law it then got turned over into membership ownership so it was owned by like a hundred members the rule was we don't have the law because things were changing in society we don't have the law that blacks can't be members but we're going to set up a system that does not allow them to be members so what the system was was before you become a member an existing member had to recommend you okay but when the existing member recommended you two-thirds of the membership had to vote for you so let's say an anglo-man has a great black friend nothing about him is racist and he goes to the club and he says i want my african-american friend to become a member of this club well he's gotta do that up against the system and that system says two-thirds of us have to agree with the way you feel and no until 1994 no black would be voted in because of the system not because there was this law it was this system that came from a law but let's say you're part of the one-third if you're anglo you're part of the one-third that voted to let him in well you still lost because the two-thirds did not vote that way now you could come out and argue but i am not one of those people i am not a racist and you could be absolutely right but the system that you are a part of is and because you're part of that system you get swept up even though you're not a personal racist and even though you voted the other way because the system didn't allow your non-racist perspective to win crt is concerned with systems that operate unfairly in all of these different areas that doesn't allow in health for people to get good food or proper care or whatever them because systems were set up that have rollover effect even if people in the system are not personally racist so when a person says i am not a racist they could be absolutely true absolutely true but crt is concerned with the system not with an individual person so you make that distinction so that is the concept of crt now that's fine that deals with laws that deals with infiltration that deals with contemporary effects so far so good probably don't have too much of a problem there until the iteration set in so this is where it gets interesting uh in august 2019 nicole hannah jones wrote a series of articles in the new york times magazine and it became known as the 1619 project in jamestown virginia in august of 1619 20 african-american slaves came to this country as indentured servants meaning you work for so many years and then you can work out your freedom but they came when these 20 or so slaves came that led to a growth in slave trade to make a long story short where indentured servantry was replaced with slavery which was cheap or free labor in order for the profitability and the economic development through workers here in the colonies the 1619 project said that the american revolution was not about freedom from england the american revolution was about 13 colonies preserving slavery so the 1619 project says america really didn't begin in 1776 america began in 1619 when slavery was first introduced codified so there's a revolutionary war because the 13 colonies want to be free from england for the purpose of not having england interfere with the economic productivity of slavery so they threw a whole nother concept into the race discussion and when they threw this concept now the issue became the definition of america does america exist for freedom from england english tyranny or does america exist to protect slavery well once that happened follow me now that got plugged into crt crt was concerned about racist laws crt was not concerned with 1619 1619 came after crt but it got plugged into it so now the issue is is crt saying that america was established to be a racist nation so now crt has gotten pregnant with a bigger issue about the definition of america may 2020 george floyd is killed in minneapolis minnesota when george floyd is killed in minneapolis minnesota there is this national outcry about systemic racism particularly with related to police brutality and the like and the growth of black lives matter black lives matter though is two things not one it's an emphasis and an entity it's a movement and an organization the movement said the lives of black people matter in the same way that uh white evangelicals would say the lives of the unborn man or all of us as evangelicals say that uh the lives of the unborn man well black lives matter okay so there was this movement out of the movement or concurrent and concomitant with the movement is an entity that says black lives matter but they both use the same name so when you say black lives matter are you talking about the movement you talk about the entity you talk about both well because the entity black lives matter if you look it up on the web wants to dissolve the black nuclear family because the entity wants to promote transgender rights and they say this that's the entity but you got an entity in a movement using the same name it gets plugged into crt so crt is growing now on one side that's 16 19 plugged into it on another side there's the black lives matter so now if you're against black lives matter the entity you could also be accused of being against black lives matter the movement because folks are not necessarily making the distinction if you agree with the movement you could be accused of agreeing with the entity and all of that gets plugged into crt something else comes to the forefront are y'all with me now i hope i'm gonna bore you it's silly so something else comes to the forefront [Applause] because the originators of crt some are overtly marxist somewhat more socialist than marxism we can get into a discussion between the difference between socialism communism fascism and all of that that's but but to varying degrees of marxists at the core of marxism to make a long story short is dividing people into tribes into groups into divisions uh marx would call it the proletariat the worker versus the bourgeoisie so what are you seeing today in schools a clash what are you seeing today white's feeling like you're calling me part of the oppressor i haven't done anything black's feeling you calling me part of the oppressed you got one group that wants crt you got another group that's against crt because it's got now convoluted the in other words the firecracker has exploded now and it's all over the place and we are we are divided because now the disciples of these movements depending on their own bent toward black lives matter their own bench was 1619 their own bent toward marxist philosophy when they talk about crt they'll put that spin on it and so when parents hear this in the schools white parents are saying what are you what are you doing teaching my child this some black parents are raising up what are you doing teaching my child is then you have the other side the teachers union said we going to teach this because we need to teach true history well the problem is so much has gotten attacked to it and convoluted it that it is now taking on a whole new life of definition so this problem of race and there's so much we could talk about i don't have time to go to it i mean when i started getting on radio there was a system in place all the all the the christian radio stations across the the nation they would not let on a daily black speaker but not because there was a law but because there was a system and that system would not allow for it and one told me why he says the reason we can't let on a black speaker daily is that would offend too many of our white listeners okay so so so he gave me some inside scoop and so we set up a system where where we just don't have room we don't have times available we don't have so so you get these denials and of course god will rule that but the point is that there were systems in place that weren't necessarily based on laws and crt at its root wants to track how that is showing up today in different ways and i don't i don't know how to get off through all this stuff but anyway uh that's some of the see because now it's been blown up uh i didn't get into intersectionality because now all other kind of things sexism has gotten attached to it and transgender has gotten attached to it and now you've got critical sex theories and all that that gets plugged in this critical race theory so it's it's now all over the place we're leaving lack of clarity confusing christians christians across racial lines are divided on this thing my phone's blowing up from all over the country what are we going to do my congregation is divided i got parents calling me saying the the black kids or the white kids we used to play together not think about it now we can't even have fellowship because we got we got voices coming over here and voices coming over there and and now it's it's interfered with our personal relationships and all of that that's because of the iterations have taken one thing blown it up made it a bigger thing the bigger thing is confusing and it is infiltrated now all or many or most of the sectors of society including the military so now everybody talk about critical race but they don't know what they're talking about because they could be talking about any iteration of critical race which means they're never going to agree so that that that's where we are now where do we go with this all right i would like to propose in humility the tony evans theory [Applause] and i'm going to call it krt not crt krt krt kingdom race theology all right all right so let me define kingdom race theology i define kingdom race theology as the reconciled recognition affirmation and celebration of the divinely created ethnic should be ethnic differences through which god displays his multifaceted glory as his people justly righteously and responsibly function personally and corporately in unity under the lordship of jesus christ now my concern is that we as christians will spend so much time fighting off a crt we don't get around the krt now let me defend my new thing okay go to ephesians 2 ephesians 2 and i'll highlight i'll walk through this and and hit the high points therefore remember that formerly you the gentiles in the flesh who are called uncircumcision by the so-called circumcision okay that's the way the jews the circumcision called the gentiles they called them names they called him the n word the jews circumcision would look at a gentile and call them uncircumcision or and sometimes they call them uncircumcised dogs so it was a demeaning this is paul writing the christians at ephesus these are jews and gentiles in the same church and paul says y'all used to call each other names you know why they did because that was their history their background it was their reality black and whites have a history and it included laws and name calling and oppression the jews were privileged they had benefits that the gentiles did not possess but now the gentiles have entered in and paul has to make this point y'all are now christians you're going to the same church so it's time for new rules in other words i know you got your background i know they used to call your names i know there was racial division and there's a lot of racial issues in the bible i know all of that but let me tell you how we gonna move forward from here he says call the uncircumcision uh by the so-called circumcision remember that you were at times separated from christ excluded from the commonwealth but here's the word beginning in verse 13. but now i know how it was i know how bad it was i know they didn't like you i know they had benefits you didn't have but now he now is going to give a crystal-centric perspective a kingdom if you will send it perspective in christ you were formerly far far off have been brought near by the blood of christ now watch this verse 14 he himself is our peace who made both groups into one broke down the barrier barrier of the dividing wall look at the end of verse 15. make the two groups into one new man thus establishing peace verse 16 reconcile them both into one body verse 17 preach peace to you who are far off you who've been isolated and peace to those who were near the jews verse 18 in one spirit to the father verse 19 no longer strangers outcasts second-class citizens aliens but you are fellow citizens with the saints of god's household verse 22 being built together into a dwelling place of god my two words are but now now here's the deal if you're spending more time discussing crt then you are krt that is this then you've been tricked by the world you should know about it you should understand it i've tried to give you a brief overview but but no no no he says no we got to start now we got the history he even says we were calling but now in christ there are new rules and if you will abide by the new rules of christ we will create something new so while they're fighting out there we have peace in here because we're operating on one new man [Applause] when i drink my coffee i got black coffee but i got white cream i got black coffee but i got white cream well what i do is i put white cream in black coffee when i put white cream in black coffee i got something new because what i started with is not how it looks right now what was white and black is now brown because i have put something new together which makes it drinkable for me god can't drink what we're offering him because black people are offering him black white people are offering him white and god said you better put some cream up in this coffee one new man we are to be crafting something new but let me make sure you understand god is not colorblind i know people don't well we need to be colorblind no you don't god is not colorblind revelation 5 9 revelation 7 9. john says i saw people from every nation every tribe every kindred and every tongue and i could see their differences god is not colorblind but he doesn't want us to be blinded by color he doesn't want our hue to define our relationship we are going to be different we're supposed to be different but he says christ is supposed to be all in all so the issue are what are his rules kingdom rules that all of us are so supposed to abide by and he says when you decide to do that you become part of one new man when an orchestra is warming up and everything and they're warming up uh and uh uh it's discord it's just noise this instrument's playing this this is it's just noise until a conductor comes out the conductor comes out and he taps down everybody gets silent and now what was noise is now a song but the instruments aren't the same there's the saxophone is the violin there's a there's that piano that i mean all the instruments were as different than as they are now what's the difference the conductor has come out and once the conductor is coming out he is controlling what the instruments are playing even though the instruments are still different but they're playing his song see what we've got is black and white playing their own songs well you can do that in the world if you want to still cuss and fuss and fight but in the kingdom of god we're playing his song and when we're playing his song you can use your own racial instrument as long as you're playing his song and so what he is saying is i am after one new man and in this new man the bible makes it clear racism as we've defined it not racial differences is to never be tolerated okay but now let's make sure we understand because of history there are racial sensitivities okay i was um talking to a gentleman he was about five years younger than me angelo guy and i was talking to him at the house and in the conversation he called me boy okay now there's a history to boy and black people okay for those of you who don't know that history goes all the way back where old men will be called boy by kids because they were black and the kids were white and so they had the privilege of demeaning an older man so there's a history so when he said boy i felt that i felt that okay because there's history to the term so i felt that and and i'm debating now do i say something and do i sound like a christian when i say it do i say something no just kidding now a few minutes later another guy comes in who's like my age who's white and he called him boy when it when he called him boy it changed how i looked at him i looked at him one way because i just heard boy but when i saw him do that to his own race it was my age then i concluded well this is evidently how he talks but because i had sensitivity that i didn't have clarity on i reacted out of my sensitivity when black's wife come together they come together with the sensitivity the reason why we have a talk with our boys the talk is because of sensitivities when the police comes up behind me i've had experiences of being pulled over asked being asked why are you in this neighborhood so that creates a sensitivity and when i know how some might feel toward african americans that sensitivity is there at a higher level now that policeman may not be racist he may be as scared as me as i am or him okay he may not be but the sensitivities are there that's why at least in the body of christ and our racial commitment to each other has to through the bible give deference to people creating the opportunity to either correct or to clarify because when you don't do that you could be passing illegitimate judgment okay some people do what they do because of the system they're in not because of the person they are but if you take the system and put the system on top of the person you may be letting a system judge a person when the person is not agreeing with the system and unless that exists at least within the church within the body of christ we will not have the kind of impact and influence that god wants us to have paul corrected peter when peter was a racist uh god uh corrected uh mary uh miriam when she objected to moses marrying a black wife uh uh moses married black wife god turned miriam white because of her her rebellion against a god ordained a god authorized relationship uh so god judges sin so sin of racism should not be skipped it should be judged but it must always be done with the biblical principle of love where we give the opportunity to correct or to clarify so that we come with an understanding the the church of jesus christ right now is a bad testimony to the healing that needs to occur in our country and in our culture well that may be true out there but it won't be true at oak cliff bible fellowship because we are one new man okay and the white person or the indian person or the because we're predominantly african-american or the hispanic person is to be given as much value as much significance as much embracing as you would do a black brother or a black sister why here's why because i'm crucified with christ nevertheless i live yet not i is christ who lives in me the life which i now live i live by the faith of the son of god here's the principle win your race trump god's word you have made your race an idol when you're raised trumps god's word you've made your race an idol and god rejects idolatry okay whether it's white privilege idolatry or whether it's black overreaction idolatry like the movement black lives matter not the emphasis but the movement that becomes idolatry okay and so where you have idolatry god rejects it but now this thing is all over the place it's now in politics it's there all kind of division it's all now in uh in social arenas educational arenas and it may not be able to be fixed out there i don't know they're trying but they don't agree so when they don't agree can two walk together unless they agree bible says no our kids to agree in there and hear and let it be known what our agreement is out there to stick with god's standard to tell history and tell the truth you don't marginalize it you don't whitewash it you tell the truth the whole truth you know slavery was horrible uh and then jim crow you got 4500 men who were who were slaughtered you got black wall street who was uh burned down you got rosewood uh a whole town that was burnt out simply for illegitimate racial reasons you go on and on and on you don't skip those stories you don't pretend like they're not in history but you come you must move forward to one new man okay so that's where we are going

Channel: Tony Evans

Views: 95,525

Rating: 4.8139215 out of 5

Keywords: Critical Race Theory, Tony Evans, Tony Evans sermon, powerful sermons

Id: ao7sNItCkAY

Length: 43min 37sec (2617 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 02 2021