Last April celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide. Neighbor killed neighbor. In just 100 days, up to one million died.
How could it happen? Could it happen here in America? Could it happen to ME?
While living and teaching in Ethiopia, I wrote a book chapter about the struggle to maintain biblical unity in the face of powerful ethnic forces. Titled “Ephesians 6:12: The ‘Powers’ and Ethnic Identity,” it was published in Global Perspectives on the Bible (2013).
I recently realized that what I wrote seven years ago about Africa now speaks to our current moment in America as well. (All quotes below are from that chapter.)
Structures of Existence
Human life flows through various “structures of existence” that give coherence to our lives— government, family, religion, social expectations and traditions, and so forth.
One’s clan, tribe or ethnic group is a prime example of these structures that bring order and cohesion to life for many of the world’s people.
In Ephesians 6:12, Paul warns that these structures of existence can be invaded by and even taken over by evil powers. When he speaks of the “principalities and powers,” he is referring to the fact that good structures God created for the benefit of the world (Col 1:16) have been warped from their good purpose and now stand in opposition to God and Christ (Col 2:8).
Theologian Stanley Grenz offers this helpful summary in Theology for the Community of God (p. 233):
“Despite God’s good intention for the structures, however, they can be manipulated for evil purposes. In this manner, what God intends as a means to promoting community can actually weaken it. Rather than aiding people in building community, the powers enslave them. Structures become a channel for evil, whenever they are pressed into the service of evil ends.”
So the structures God intends for good, to bring meaning and stability to human life, can (and often do) become warped and evil.
Christians take different views of these “principalities and powers” Paul speaks about in Ephesians.
Some reject the whole notion of evil supernatural powers, just as some readers might laugh at Williamson’s “dark psychic forces.” Others assume these powers influence only individuals, like the above-mentioned mass murderers. A third group understands this influence can be much deeper than individuals, corrupting structures of existence like government, family, religion in demonic directions. I’m in the third group.
Presidential candidate Marianne Williamson was spot-on in the first Democratic debate when she diagnosed the increasingly violent racism in our country (shooting Hispanics in El Paso, Jews in Pittsburgh) resulting from a “dark psychic force of… collectivized hatred.”
What does it say when a loopy new-age guru sounds the alarm while many evangelical leaders keep their heads down and stay silent, acting as though all is normal, as though there is no rising tide of racism, bigotry and violence in America?
When Ethnic Identity Kills
Here in Ethiopia, as in much of the global south, ethnic identity is THE primary structure that not only tells people “who they are,” but makes life both meaningful and livable day to day. Ethnic diversity—Ethiopia has more than 80 distinct people groups—enriches the society in the same way biological diversity enriches our natural world.
But exactly because ethnic identity is such a primal structure of existence, it is always susceptible to being co-opted by the “principalities and powers” to spawn great evil.
The Hutu vs. Tutsi ethnic cleansing in Rwanda where more than 800,000 died was a dramatic demonstration of what continues to happen under the radar of worldwide attention.
About two years ago, deadly conflict that erupted between two tribal groups in western Ethiopia included Christians taking up arms to fight one another, even at times members of the same congregation. Ethnic identity trumped Christian identity.
The Rwandan genocide took place in a country that is 56.9% Roman Catholic, 26 % Protestant, 11.1% Seventh-day Adventist, and 4.6% Muslim.
In other words, most of the 800,000 Tutsis died at the hands of their fellow Christians. These murders were not only carried out by soldiers, but by ordinary people, hacking their neighbors (men, women, and children) to death with machetes.
Last month my wife and I visited the new African-American museum in Washington DC. It offered another sobering example. Beginning with slavery in the 1600’s, Christians in American let their whiteness—not their allegiance to Jesus—determine their view of black people. Churches aided, abetted and biblically validated whites’ sub-human treatment of black people in the most depraved and despicable ways, all the while knowing that many were also their own Christian brothers and sisters.
The Allure and Danger of Tribalism
When Christians consider their ethnic identity, we encounter a paradox. Unlike Islam, which forces Muslims worldwide to worship in the Arabic language, Christianity promotes exactly the opposite—planting faith and worship as deeply as possible in every indigenous culture.
In Ethiopia, vast resources are being expended translating the Bible into many tribal languages because we Christians believe (especially after the mistakes of 19th century mission colonialism) that every human being has the right to grow as a disciple of Jesus Christ without having to reject his or her own ethnic/cultural identity and join someone’s else’s.
But tribalism—giving ultimate loyalty to one’s own ethnic group—is idolatry.
Ethiopian Christian leaders struggle against ethnic identity being co-opted by the “principalities and powers” and turned into the false god of tribalism.
I have ultimate respect for many Ethiopian church leaders, including several personal friends, who have taken stands against tribalism within their churches and denominations, often at great personal cost.
The counter argument to tribalism is to believe that human beings are complex. We are not binary, either/or creatures. We are more than our skin color, economic status, political party or nationality. One thing does not define us.
But now in America, we are bombarded by messages that go “all-in” for simplicity over complexity.
Much of political culture, epitomized by our current President (but not limited to him), increasingly uses dehumanizing language that promotes simplistic stereotypes. All Muslims are dangerous potential terrorists. All immigrants are alien invaders. All Republicans are heartless capitalists. All Democrats are crazy socialists. All evangelicals are Trumpian stooges.
Make no mistake. If you feel besieged in a changing and complex world, choosing a single identity offers great clarity. It simplifies everything. There are no longer complex issues needing solutions, just “us” and “them.”
Commentator David Brooks sums up the consequences:
Unfortunately, if you reduce complex individuals to one thing you’ll go through life clueless about the world around you. People’s classifications now shape how they see the world.
Plus…this mentality makes the world more flammable. Crude tribal dividing lines inevitably arouse a besieged, victimized us/them mentality. This mentality assumes that the relations between groups are zero sum and antagonistic. People with this mentality tolerate dishonesty, misogyny and terrorism on their own side because all morality lays down before the tribal imperative.
Paul Sacrificed His Precious Identity Marker—Will We?
The apostle Paul engaged in the same struggle [i.e. tribalism] throughout his ministry. Listen to his own confession in Phil 3:4-7:
“If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.”
In relative terms, his new identity in Christ is far MORE important to him than his ethnic identity.
Paul’s radical Magna Charta of Christian identity is: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave or free, male or female, for you are all are one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal. 3:28)
If a modern apostle Paul wrote “There is neither Latino nor white, Democrat or Republican, pro-life or pro-choice, for you are all one in Christ Jesus,” can we agree?
Do you have trouble believing that you are “one in Christ Jesus” with those on the other side? Can a Christian ALSO be a Democrat? Can a Christian ALSO be pro-choice? Do you believe that human beings are more complex than the binary either/or boxes we shove them into?
Paul cherished his Jewish identity and was proud of it (you hear it clearly in these verses). Yet he was willing to set his Jewish identity aside—literally, throw it away—so that Christ might shape his worldview and control his actions.
Can we do the same with our cherished identity markers—especially our political affiliations?
“All Are One in Christ”
The Book of Revelation offers a beautiful panorama of diversity—“all tribes, tongues and nations” worshiping around God’s throne.
This God on the throne is no fascist “blood and soil” pagan deity, as was the god worshipped in Nazi Germany (and still lurking behind white nationalism today). This God is no civil-religion deity of “American exceptionalism,” as misguided patriotism becomes a god for some Americans today.
No, this is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings! God displays His majesty and power precisely because only God can create amazing unity (“all are one in Christ Jesus”) out of extreme diversity (“Jew and Greek, male and female, slave and free”).
In our era, evil supernatural powers want to do MORE than destroy the church’s fragile unity.
They want to WARP the church into their own instrument, so the world sees the church denying its own Lord. Christians spewing hate instead of love. Christians condoning incendiary racist appeals (“it’s just politics”) rather than standing with the poor and vulnerable, as Jesus did. And yes, Christians (by their political choices, if not their words) rallying around “white-alone” rather than “Christ-alone.”
It Could Never Happen Here
A recent article in The Atlantic by Kennedy Ndahiro, editor of the Rwandan daily The New Times, was titled “In Rwanda, We Know All About Dehumanizing Language”:
“Within 100 days, an estimated 1 million people, the overwhelming majority of whom were Tutsis, lay dead. The worst kind of hatred had been unleashed. What began with dehumanizing words ended in bloodshed.
Mr. Ndahiro tells a harrowing story. Read it if you want a firsthand look at how the principalities and powers work through human structures. It ends with these words:
Today, the leaders of powerful nations use dehumanizing language in describing certain groups of people. In mass-shooting incidents, people die because someone has deemed them subhuman on account of their race or religion.
In Rwanda, our history shows where talk of cockroaches and snakes can lead. Rwanda is recovering, but it is a wonder that the country is still intact.
A nation of Christians put their political aspirations and their ethnic solidarity above their allegiance to Jesus Christ.
Oh, wait. Are we still talking about Rwanda?
Powerful message, especially relevant today! I was particularly struck by your question, “If a modern apostle Paul wrote… can we agree?” Sadly, it doesn’t appear we can. Where has the spirit that “all are one in Christ” gone? It seems more time and effort is being spent by mainline Protestant denominations defining our differences, rather than proclaiming our wholeness in Christ.
Very powerful especially today. So many people are misguided and using god small g intended as an excuse for hate and intolerance instead of embracing the one true God big G who loves us and wants his family open to those regardless of color, money, background etc
They spew hate and split communities. They only want certain people to qualify for gods love and membership in the club. They forget that Jesus loved the Samaritan , the woman at the well, the tax collector and you and me. I worry about the future for the children I love as hate seems to grow. We must fight back with love.