“Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”

~ Ephesians 6.11

In Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus, he pens a most striking image of spiritual warfare and the necessary protection needed to survive the attacks of our spiritual adversary. Described as “the whole armor of God,” Paul employs the metaphors of a warrior’s armor to describe the equipment needed to withstand attack and to defend one’s spiritual life. Tonight, I wonder what the armor of race equips us for and what it entails.

Put on the whole armor of race that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the enemy races. For you wrestle not against human beings but against animals, against barbarians, against the people of darkness in this world, against aesthetic wickedness in marginalized places. Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of race that you may be able to withstand in that evil day, having done all, to stand.

Stand, therefore, with stereotypes around your waste like a belt, having the breastplate of nationalism and your feet fastened in footwear with readiness for the good news of color supremacy. In every situation, take the shield of history, with which you will be able to extinguish the flaming arrows of the next generation whose visions do not include race or its progeny. And take the helmet of prejudice and the sword of ignorance, which is the word of race; denying always with all pseudo- scientific fact and unyielding pride in your flesh.

How about you? What do you think that the armor of race would include and what does it defend us from? One thing I am certain of is that we cannot wear both as the enemies of race are not the same as the enemies of God and God’s people, despite our attempts to merge the two. Paul told the church at Ephesus, “we wrestle not against flesh and blood” so why do we continue to wear the armor of race? Take off the armor of race today; there is no use for it in spiritual warfare.