“No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him (Christ Jesus) who loved us.” ~Romans 8.37

If we are more than conquerors in Christ, then why are we so easily defeated by race?  Why do its stereotypes so easily disarm us of our convictions?  Why do we take on its prejudices, turning against people before we have even assessed whether they are an ally or an enemy? 

Because race just makes us want to fight.  It is a perspective based on external battle (i.e. us versus them) and internal struggle, a world where there are only two types of people: those who are for us and those who are against us.  There are no gray areas, no middle of the road, no compromises to be made.  Either you are in or you are out.  There is only black and white.  And even if you’re both, you will still have to choose between them. 

Because everyone is an enemy and we are not excluded.  In the battle with race, we are always in enemy territory as the war is also waged inside of us.  There is no peace.  There is no surrender.  There is no rest in a life lived racially.  There will always be reasons to fight so long as we pick at each other based on appearance. 

Because there will always be difference.  We will never be the same as this is not the goal of creation or creativity for that matter.  I am told that there are no two snowflakes that are alike; why, then, must there be human beings that are alike?  What exactly is the point of this conversion to sameness?  We simply have to stop fighting with others and with ourselves because of race, resolving that what is gained is not worth what is lost. 

Because our skin has become armor.  We must let skin just be skin again.  We must allow ourselves to get close to one another again.  Skin was never meant to be defined by color or labeled untouchable because of its social meaning.  It was to protect us from the elements not each other and to form a barrier around our skeletal structure instead of being used to create circles of influence. 

We are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus so why do we continue to engage in battles not worth fighting, for reasons long forgotten, based on rationales now disproved?  We can conquer race if only we stop fighting each other.