Donald Sterling

"Not A Sterling Attitude"

This time last week the name "Donald Sterling" didn't mean anything to me. A week later, probably a large percentage of America now knows him as the man whose racist comments brought down a torrent of condemnation. Though one of the wealthiest men in California, he is now forbidden to attend even one basketball game played by a team he owns! In fact, he may soon be forced to sell that team.

Sterling's attitude is typical of many: They believe that people can be judged simply by the color of their skin. It's the same error made by Adolph Hitler and the Nazis last century; they believed that one race was superior to all. It is an inherent, inborn advantage, they claim. Sadly, there are many who still hold such views.

A simple experience that dispels such thinking is the exchange of blood between people. Those who undergo surgery or who've been injured in accidents often need infusions of blood. While there are differences in blood based on types, there is no difference based on race. My blood type is A-positive. Should I need blood, that's the only relevant factor. There is no need to search for A- positive blood from a Caucasian male; as long as it's the right type, blood from any race will work in my body.

When the apostle Paul spoke on Mars Hill in Athens, he made this affirmation: "And [God] has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth ..." (Acts 17:26). The earliest Greek manuscripts don't have the word for "blood", but the idea is the same: We have all descended from a common ancestor. That being the case, the idea of one race being superior to another is blatantly false.

Prejudices are nothing new. Peter was raised in a culture that regarded all non-Jews (Gentiles) as unclean. Yet after receiving a vision from God, he expressed his new understanding to Cornelius - a Gentile in whose house he was a guest: "... In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him" (Acts 10:34,35). If God shows no partiality to people based on their appearance, how can we?

Part of the good news Jesus brought to humanity is that "He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation" (Ephesians 2:14). Once there was a distinction between God's chosen people (i.e. the Jewish race) and all others (i.e. Gentiles). Now there are no distinctions.

The bottom line is this: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28). To have a "Sterling attitude" today is to reject the good things Christ has done for us.
Timothy D. Hall