About a year ago or more, I had a conversation with a Christian woman who told me that she was taught from a child to not see color. The point she was trying to make was that we are all human beings and therefore should all treat each other as equals regardless of race. And, of course, that latter part of her philosophy is absolutely correct. 

I had this same conversation about five years ago with another Christian woman whom, at that point, I had known for about eight years. She also always believed that we should not see color. And one day she expressed that to me while we were in a conversation about the latest racial issue in the news. Needless to say, both of these women, who are dear to me, were White and had not grown up around Black people.

My response to them was simple. I am a Black man, and I fall into the well-known category of “people of color”. And while I don’t totally agree with the term, it is not an inherently racially prejudiced term, and so I refuse to create a battle over it. My simple contention is that literally everybody has skin color. But I digress.

So in keeping with the fact that there are “people of color” all over the world, I contend that we most certainly should see color. Saying we should not see color may have great intentions, but, on the surface, the statement at a minimum falls miserably short of reason and logic.

Here’s what I mean…

In the beginning, God created everything (including human beings). Genesis 1:31 tells us that…

God saw all that He made, and behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”

The Bible doesn’t mention anything concerning what Adam and Eve’s skin color was, but one thing is certain; all of us have descended from them. This fact makes me wonder how we would see each other today if God allowed us to see Adam and Eve, and we found that their skin colors were as dark as the darkest people in southern Sudan.

Or, what if Adam was Black and Eve was White, and, therefore, all the other skin colors across the globe made up the spectrum that has evolved between their tones? What would become of all of our Adam and Eve paintings and movies that have so subliminally programmed us to see the original man and woman as Caucasian? And, by the way, Adam and Eve very well could have looked totally like White people or totally like Black people.

These questions might seem silly, but their implications are seriously important to consider.

So should Christians see color? An easy way to answer that question is to ask ourselves if when God created humanity, did He not equip us with the ability to see colors? And did He not create some of the most beautiful colors that we all continually enjoy in so many other aspects of life each day?

A beautiful blue sky, a calming red setting sun, a tranquil bubbling aquarium filled with a variety of tropical fish, the color of the deepest ocean or shallow tropical lagoon, the color of a perfectly manicured lawn, or a delicious apple, all declare to us that we have a God who delights in color. And thus, so do we.

Imagine visiting one art museum after another only to find that none of the paintings have color. How quickly would you become bored or frustrated? Imagine if all clothes, cars, and homes were made of just one color. Or imagine if there were no colors in the eyes staring up at you from a precious newborn baby? Would you want to exist in such a world? Of course not.

So why is it so important to have color in everything from the places we go, to the food we eat, and the movies we watch, but when it comes to the crown of God’s creation—human beings—we say we shouldn’t see color? God created color and gave us the ability to see and enjoy it as one of the many wonderful things in His creation which continually glorifies Him.

Christian, please hear me out. Let the world in its lack of good godly understanding choose to not see color all it wants. I assure you, it won’t do a thing to solve racial prejudice, because racism is and will always be a sin issue, not a skin issue. The reason Satan would love for you to “not see color” is because he knows that color glorifies God. The Bible is replete with colorful descriptions of God and of heaven.

And besides, we who are truly in Christ are all but commanded to see color, because we are commanded to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. When God saved us in Christ, He made us partakers of His divine nature. And as the God who created all things (humanity included), we are now equipped to look directly at color, see it for how beautiful it is, and know that it is part of the spectrum of ethnicities that spans the globe.

We see the colors of humanity as a microcosm of the heavenly family of God, made up of people who, may or may not retain the skin colors each has had in this life, yet who will all return to the very source of all things… and colors—GOD.

Do you know why you’ve never seen a rainbow in the sky at night? It is because a colorful rainbow cannot be seen without the brightness of the sun. Likewise, people of color (WHICH WE ALL ARE) cannot exist in perfect peace without the light that is THE SON of God. And because Christ is our light, we shine with a beauty, brilliance, and array of colors that would make any rainbow jealous.

So I ask again, should Christians see color? And I unequivocally say that they should and will IF they are looking through the eyes of Christ. And if they are, they will not just see color, but they will also appreciate, embrace, and glorify God with it by taking a real interest in knowing and loving “people of a different color”—which, by the way, is a much better term than “people of color”—than their own.

Until we see Jesus face to face, may we see Jesus in the panoply of nations, tongues, and kindreds, and know that in Christ, we are all one. The truest unity is in racial diversity, and should be exemplified by the Church more than by any other institution in the world. And in the churches (especially the White and the Black churches) we clearly have work to do.

May God bless you to not play games with your eyes (and your heart) when it comes to the beautiful colors of all peoples’ skin, beloved. Glorify God in this issue by lifting up rather than not seeing… color.

About a year ago or more, I had a conversation with a Christian woman who told me that she was taught from a child to not see color. The point she was trying to make was that we are all human beings and therefore should all treat each other as equals regardless of race. And, of course, that latter part of her philosophy is absolutely correct.

I had this same conversation about five years ago with another Christian woman whom, at that point, I had known for about eight years. She also always believed that we should not see color. And one day she expressed that to me while we were in a conversation about the latest racial issue in the news. Needless to say, both of these women, who are dear to me, were White and had not grown up around Black people.

My response to them was simple. I am a Black man, and I fall into the well-known category of “people of color”. And while I don’t totally agree with the term, it is not an inherently racially prejudiced term, and so I refuse to create a battle over it. My simple contention is that literally everybody has skin color. But I digress.

So in keeping with the fact that there are “people of color” all over the world, I contend that we most certainly should see color. Saying we should not see color may have great intentions, but, on the surface, the statement at a minimum falls miserably short of reason and logic.

Here’s what I mean…

In the beginning, God created everything (including human beings). Genesis 1:31 tells us that…

God saw all that He made, and behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”

The Bible doesn’t mention anything concerning what Adam and Eve’s skin color was, but one thing is certain; all of us have descended from them. This fact makes me wonder how we would see each other today if God allowed us to see Adam and Eve, and we found that their skin colors were as dark as the darkest people in southern Sudan.

Or, what if Adam was Black and Eve was White, and, therefore, all the other skin colors across the globe made up the spectrum that has evolved between their tones? What would become of all of our Adam and Eve paintings and movies that have so subliminally programmed us to see the original man and woman as Caucasian? And, by the way, Adam and Eve very well could have looked totally like White people or totally like Black people.

These questions might seem silly, but their implications are seriously important to consider.

So should Christians see color? An easy way to answer that question is to ask ourselves if when God created humanity, did He not equip us with the ability to see colors? And did He not create some of the most beautiful colors that we all continually enjoy in so many other aspects of life each day?

A beautiful blue sky, a calming red setting sun, a tranquil bubbling aquarium filled with a variety of tropical fish, the color of the deepest ocean or shallow tropical lagoon, the color of a perfectly manicured lawn, or a delicious apple, all declare to us that we have a God who delights in color. And thus, so do we.

Imagine visiting one art museum after another only to find that none of the paintings have color. How quickly would you become bored or frustrated? Imagine if all clothes, cars, and homes were made of just one color. Or imagine if there were no colors in the eyes staring up at you from a precious newborn baby? Would you want to exist in such a world? Of course not.

So why is it so important to have color in everything from the places we go, to the food we eat, and the movies we watch, but when it comes to the crown of God’s creation—human beings—we say we shouldn’t see color? God created color and gave us the ability to see and enjoy it as one of the many wonderful things in His creation which continually glorifies Him.

Christian, please hear me out. Let the world in its lack of good godly understanding choose to not see color all it wants. I assure you, it won’t do a thing to solve racial prejudice, because racism is and will always be a sin issue, not a skin issue. The reason Satan would love for you to “not see color” is because he knows that color glorifies God. The Bible is replete with colorful descriptions of God and of heaven.

And besides, we who are truly in Christ are all but commanded to see color, because we are commanded to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. When God saved us in Christ, He made us partakers of His divine nature. And as the God who created all things (humanity included), we are now equipped to look directly at color, see it for how beautiful it is, and know that it is part of the spectrum of ethnicities that spans the globe.

We see the colors of humanity as a microcosm of the heavenly family of God, made up of people who, may or may not retain the skin colors each has had in this life, yet who will all return to the very source of all things… and colors—GOD.

Do you know why you’ve never seen a rainbow in the sky at night? It is because a colorful rainbow cannot be seen without the brightness of the sun. Likewise, people of color (WHICH WE ALL ARE) cannot exist in perfect peace without the light that is THE SON of God. And because Christ is our light, we shine with a beauty, brilliance, and array of colors that would make any rainbow jealous.

So I ask again, should Christians see color? And I unequivocally say that they should and will IF they are looking through the eyes of Christ. And if they are, they will not just see color, but they will also appreciate, embrace, and glorify God with it by taking a real interest in knowing and loving “people of a different color”—which, by the way, is a much better term than “people of color”—than their own.

Until we see Jesus face to face, may we see Jesus in the panoply of nations, tongues, and kindreds, and know that in Christ, we are all one. The truest unity is in racial diversity, and should be exemplified by the Church more than by any other institution in the world. And in the churches (especially the White and the Black churches) we clearly have work to do.

May God bless you to not play games with your eyes (and your heart) when it comes to the beautiful colors of all peoples’ skin, beloved. Glorify God in this issue by lifting up rather than not seeing… color.

​

About a year ago or more, I had a conversation with a Christian woman who told me that she was taught from a child to not see color. The point she was trying to make was that we are all human beings and therefore should all treat each other as equals regardless of race. And, of course, that latter part of her philosophy is absolutely correct.

I had this same conversation about five years ago with another Christian woman whom, at that point, I had known for about eight years. She also always believed that we should not see color. And one day she expressed that to me while we were in a conversation about the latest racial issue in the news. Needless to say, both of these women, who are dear to me, were White and had not grown up around Black people.

My response to them was simple. I am a Black man, and I fall into the well-known category of “people of color”. And while I don’t totally agree with the term, it is not an inherently racially prejudiced term, and so I refuse to create a battle over it. My simple contention is that literally everybody has skin color. But I digress.

So in keeping with the fact that there are “people of color” all over the world, I contend that we most certainly should see color. Saying we should not see color may have great intentions, but, on the surface, the statement at a minimum falls miserably short of reason and logic.

Here’s what I mean…

In the beginning, God created everything (including human beings). Genesis 1:31 tells us that…

God saw all that He made, and behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”

The Bible doesn’t mention anything concerning what Adam and Eve’s skin color was, but one thing is certain; all of us have descended from them. This fact makes me wonder how we would see each other today if God allowed us to see Adam and Eve, and we found that their skin colors were as dark as the darkest people in southern Sudan.

Or, what if Adam was Black and Eve was White, and, therefore, all the other skin colors across the globe made up the spectrum that has evolved between their tones? What would become of all of our Adam and Eve paintings and movies that have so subliminally programmed us to see the original man and woman as Caucasian? And, by the way, Adam and Eve very well could have looked totally like White people or totally like Black people.

These questions might seem silly, but their implications are seriously important to consider.

So should Christians see color? An easy way to answer that question is to ask ourselves if when God created humanity, did He not equip us with the ability to see colors? And did He not create some of the most beautiful colors that we all continually enjoy in so many other aspects of life each day?

A beautiful blue sky, a calming red setting sun, a tranquil bubbling aquarium filled with a variety of tropical fish, the color of the deepest ocean or shallow tropical lagoon, the color of a perfectly manicured lawn, or a delicious apple, all declare to us that we have a God who delights in color. And thus, so do we.

Imagine visiting one art museum after another only to find that none of the paintings have color. How quickly would you become bored or frustrated? Imagine if all clothes, cars, and homes were made of just one color. Or imagine if there were no colors in the eyes staring up at you from a precious newborn baby? Would you want to exist in such a world? Of course not.

So why is it so important to have color in everything from the places we go, to the food we eat, and the movies we watch, but when it comes to the crown of God’s creation—human beings—we say we shouldn’t see color? God created color and gave us the ability to see and enjoy it as one of the many wonderful things in His creation which continually glorifies Him.

Christian, please hear me out. Let the world in its lack of good godly understanding choose to not see color all it wants. I assure you, it won’t do a thing to solve racial prejudice, because racism is and will always be a sin issue, not a skin issue. The reason Satan would love for you to “not see color” is because he knows that color glorifies God. The Bible is replete with colorful descriptions of God and of heaven.

And besides, we who are truly in Christ are all but commanded to see color, because we are commanded to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. When God saved us in Christ, He made us partakers of His divine nature. And as the God who created all things (humanity included), we are now equipped to look directly at color, see it for how beautiful it is, and know that it is part of the spectrum of ethnicities that spans the globe.

We see the colors of humanity as a microcosm of the heavenly family of God, made up of people who, may or may not retain the skin colors each has had in this life, yet who will all return to the very source of all things… and colors—GOD.

Do you know why you’ve never seen a rainbow in the sky at night? It is because a colorful rainbow cannot be seen without the brightness of the sun. Likewise, people of color (WHICH WE ALL ARE) cannot exist in perfect peace without the light that is THE SON of God. And because Christ is our light, we shine with a beauty, brilliance, and array of colors that would make any rainbow jealous.

So I ask again, should Christians see color? And I unequivocally say that they should and will IF they are looking through the eyes of Christ. And if they are, they will not just see color, but they will also appreciate, embrace, and glorify God with it by taking a real interest in knowing and loving “people of a different color”—which, by the way, is a much better term than “people of color”—than their own.

Until we see Jesus face to face, may we see Jesus in the panoply of nations, tongues, and kindreds, and know that in Christ, we are all one. The truest unity is in racial diversity, and should be exemplified by the Church more than by any other institution in the world. And in the churches (especially the White and the Black churches) we clearly have work to do.

May God bless you to not play games with your eyes (and your heart) when it comes to the beautiful colors of all peoples’ skin, beloved. Glorify God in this issue by lifting up rather than not seeing… color.

​