“If at first an idea does not sound absurd, then there is no hope for it.”

~ Albert Einstein

I am not sharing the most popular message.  It has certainly been perceived as naive, misinformed and premature.  I seem to have missed a few steps, be lacking in experience or unable to see the full picture.

But what if I haven’t?  What if I saw the steps and tackled them two by two?  What if I didn’t want any more experience with race, racism, prejudice and stereotypes?  What if I have heard this story before and I know where this is going?  So, let me stop it.

The race-less gospel does not seek to ignore the crimes committed in the name of race.  No, I know that persons believe in race and feel a sense of duty to serve and protect their group based on the social theories of race.   The race-less gospel does not question the accounts of history.  I am informed as to how race came into being and what we have done in devotion to race.  I am aware that persons believe that they are colors, that the social coloring of their skin is the best indicator of their worth and how persons will value them.  But, I don’t.

The race-less gospel is the message of Jesus the Christ, the hope that those who have been baptized with Christ might die to flesh and its social meanings daily.  “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3.27-28, NRSV).  There is no longer socially colored beige/ black/ brown/ red/ yellow/ white.  Our categories do not fit into Christ and once we have put on Christ, everything is covered.  We are one body in Christ and it is category-less.

I know that it sounds absurd but I like the way that it sounds.