Rioters are wanting to tear down statues of Jesus because he is “white and European.”

Now, I understand some of the reasoning:  some churches have made Jesus white, republican and American.  This, sadly, is true.  But, it’s the rare exception and certainly not the norm. Rioters, of course, themselves serving as judge and jury, have no intention of stopping with statues of Jesus.  Churches are next.  And pastors are ready to defend their churches.

All that said, this blog is for the sole purpose of helping people understand the cultural context of the historical, and biblical, Jesus of Nazareth.

For those who may not know – Jesus wasn’t white. He was Middle Eastern. Jewish. Poor. From “the other side of the tracks.” (“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?,” mocked Nathanael.)

What follows is sound and factual data, providing sane, reasonable context for those who ridiculously believe Jesus was a nice white guy from the suburbs and, as such, so is everyone identifying with the Christian faith.

Rebecca McLaughlin earned her Ph.D. in Renaissance Literature from Cambridge University and possesses a theology degree from Oak Hill College.  In her outstanding book,  Confronting Christianity, she writes:

“Many of us associate Christianity with white, Western imperialism… But most of the world’s Christians are neither white nor Western, and Christianity is getting less ‘white Western’ by the day.

“This is partly thanks to the missionary activities of non-Westerners. For instance, despite its small population and Christian minority (29 percent), South Korea exports the second largest number of missionaries of any country in the world.

“As Yale law professor and leading black public intellectual Stephen Carter has observed, there is ‘a difficulty endemic to today’s secular left: an all-too-frequent weird refusal to acknowledge the demographics of Christianity.’

“Carter points out that in the US, black women are by far the most Christian demographic, while ‘around the globe, the people most likely to be Christians are women of color.”

“He warns, ‘When you mock Christians, you’re not mocking who you think you are.”

McLaughlin concludes:

“If you care about diversity, don’t dismiss Christianity; it is the most diverse, multiethnic, and multicultural movement in all of history.” [end excerpt]

So, to those who direct mockery and bigotry toward Christians, I offer the following wisdom from Inigo Montoya to Vizzini, “I do not think you know what that word (Christian) means.”

There are those (not just during these days) who, like Pol Pot, Marx, Stalin and Lenin of history, devote their lives to eradicating the Christian faith from society.

Impossible. A fool’s errand.

As with contemporary evidence in India, China , Africa and Iran – the more you hate Christians and try to eradicate them, the stronger we (He) grows.

They couldn’t kill Him 20 centuries ago. And they can’t kill Him now.

Solus Christus, Nick