There are wounds in our world that aren’t caused by a single act—but by centuries of systems, stories, and silences that have allowed injustice to thrive.

Systemic racism isn’t just about personal prejudice—it’s about the way injustice gets built into the very structures of society: into our schools, our healthcare systems, our housing policies, our legal systems, even our churches. It’s the quiet but consistent pattern that keeps certain groups from flourishing, generation after generation.

And let’s be clear: God sees it. God grieves it.
Because systemic racism is not just a political issue. It’s a spiritual one.

God of Justice, Not Partiality

Scripture is saturated with God’s heart for justice. Over and over, we see a God who defends the oppressed, uplifts the marginalized, and calls His people to do the same.

“Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” — Amos 5:24
“God shows no partiality.” — Romans 2:11

God’s justice is not passive. It is active. It doesn’t just wait for heaven; it demands action here and now.

Racism—especially when built into systems that advantage some while disadvantaging others—is the opposite of God’s justice. It assigns value based on skin tone instead of sacred worth. It dehumanizes what God has declared as “very good.” It sows division where Christ came to bring unity.

Why It Matters to God

Systemic racism harms people God created in His image.
It distorts the Imago Dei.
It crushes opportunity.
It inflicts trauma.
It fuels generational pain.

And for those who follow Jesus, it also compromises our witness. How can we proclaim a Gospel of reconciliation while upholding systems of exclusion? How can we say “Jesus loves you” while ignoring the ways society continually treats some lives as more valuable than others?

Jesus turned over tables in the temple not just because of corruption, but because the place that was meant to be a house of prayer for all nations had become a place of exploitation. He still does not tolerate injustice dressed up in religious respectability.

The Church’s Role

The Church is called to be a prophetic presence in the world—not a silent bystander.
We are called to name injustice, confess our complicity, and commit to change.
Not once. Not for show. But as a posture of discipleship.

To love our neighbor means confronting what harms them.
To follow Jesus means standing where He stands—always with the oppressed, never with the oppressor.

Reckoning and Repair

Racial injustice didn’t appear overnight—and it won’t heal overnight. But we can begin:

• By listening to voices we’ve ignored.
• By lamenting out loud instead of staying quiet.
• By examining the systems we live in—and our role within them.
• By asking hard questions of our churches, our schools, our workplaces, and ourselves.
• By choosing justice, even when it costs us comfort.

This is not about guilt. It’s about responsibility. It’s about waking up to the truth that racism is not just “out there”—it’s in the structures we navigate daily.

A Gospel Big Enough for Justice

The Gospel is not just about going to heaven. It’s about the inbreaking of God’s Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. A Kingdom where every tribe, tongue, and nation is welcomed. A Kingdom where justice and mercy walk hand in hand. A Kingdom that will not tolerate the walls we’ve built.

God is not indifferent to injustice.
And neither can we be.

Because in God’s economy, there is no “us and them”—only beloved.
And when we work for racial justice, we are not being “political”—we are being faithful.