Following the Father

That may seem like a strange title, for those of you who have a light skin color.  White Jesus may just make you think of the "light" of Jesus, his purity, ability to make us white as snow and so on.  To those of you with dark skin often our thoughts flip over, even if briefly, to the color of Jesus' skin.  What color was it anyway?  This subject popped up in a round about way one evening a few weeks ago when I was reading Samuel and Grace their bed time story.  Daddy and Mommy were gone for the evening and Mercy had already been put to bed  For some reason night time is deep thinking time.  At least it is for me and the kids.  That's where I seem to have the most convicting and Jesus filled experiences, and where kids often seem to start the most serious conversations.

So as we finished reading our story in the Bible, our discussion wandered into the area of race and color of skin.  I asked the question at one point
"Why do think it is that the Bible doesn't talk much about the color of  people's skin?" 
Samuel and Grace really thought about this one and didn't seem to have a clue.  I commented that I thought it must not matter too much or God would have had someone write about it. 
After all what's most important to God is talked about in the Bible!  This was something I myself had been thinking about quite a bit so I felt compelled to share my thoughts on it and have them share theirs.

After they'd pondered on that a minute I then said, "You know that Bible never mentioned the color of Jesus' skin either, people seem to just get ideas about what He looked like from pictures that other people have drawn."
Grace then said,
"Yes, but I KNOW that Jesus had white skin." 
I looked her strait in the eye and said, "How?  How do you know that?" 
She looked confused and acted like I had asked a rather dumb question,
"Well just look at the pictures in all our children's Bibles!"

Think about this for a minute please.  Pick up just about ANY children (or even adult) Bible that has pictures in it and all the people are illustrated with light skin.  Jesus himself is this white robbed with a blue sash thing, light skinned, flowy brow hair, and sometimes even blue eyes.  Where on earth did we get THAT picture?  Most of the most famous painting of Jesus also fall into these descriptions.  My Sunday school teacher once asked when we think of Jesus what's the first image that comes to mind.  I was disappointed to realize that everyone else in that class, myself included, basically had a picture of some sort of famous painting come to mind.  And how can we not when that's all the input that's given?  Now I also do not know how Jesus looked, so I'm not about to give an opposite detailed description.  I DO remember in one verse in the Bible it saying that he wasn't anything special to look at.  I'll have to search the scriptures to find that reference before I share the exact words, but that was the meaning I gathered from it.  That his physical appearance wasn't anything amazing, so I do imagine that he looked pretty native to the area and fit the looks of his heritage.  Think about all the Pharisees and Sadducees that kept scoffing at the idea that He could be anything from God because they KNEW where He came from, this "Jesus of Nazareth."

So after that declaration from Grace I quickly said,
"Yes, but where does it actually say that in the Bible?  Ignore that pictures for a minute, that's just what other people drew, people that never actually met Jesus face to face any more than you have."  (I'm sure this is not exactly what I said, but I'm just trying to give you the gist)
I looked over at Samuel's deeply furrowed brow as he thought about this one.  Neither of them could come up with anything and neither could I.
We moved on from there to talk about other racial things. 
We live in a town where AA people are in an extreme minority, something that is a bit difficult for a family like ours with huge skin tone differences.  We haven't had any racial problems or people treating any of us badly because of it, but it still makes someone feel weird and stuck out to be in such a minority.
Samuel and Grace both expressed their feelings of anxiety and frustration on this.  When we first joined our church, the 3 in our family with dark skin were the only ones in the church, now they make up about half of the darker skinned people in our church.  Samuel shed some tears over it all, as he out of all of them really struggles with his background.  He doesn't really like remembering his past or being reminded in any way of West Africa.  He usually doesn't react strongly enough for others to notice, but when you really talk with him about it he is quite emotional.

I would love someone to research and study the heritage of Jesus extensively and work with some artists to make a beautifully illustrated children's Bible with authentic looking people.  Unless this is God inspired and done well resulting in a quality Bible, there is no point.   There are thousands of types of Bibles out there, I don't want this to be just another one to add to the stack.  It needs to have new ideas and fresh, God given inspiration.
Another idea is, if they make all these "western" children's Bibles with these white white people in them, then forget all the research and just make a "black" Bible.  One with ALL dark, brown skinned people in it. 
"Well," some might be thinking, "but that wouldn't be accurate and would be giving the kids the wrong impression!"  Does it?  Anymore than all those "white" Bibles?  Where did we get our info about that?
If this project is a success, why not do it for other people groups?  Make Asian looking and South American looking children Bibles.  It's just a thought. 

I'm not trying to make everything "fair" for this is impossible!  But because of all our white illustrated Bibles and resources, it seems that people all over the world think now that Jesus, God himself, is only a WHITE God!!  When my family was given resources on the mission field in Ghana for churches and Sunday schools and Pastor and Bible conferences, anything with illustrations had these perfect, clean, light, pale looking people. 

Imagine, (if you aren't already) you were a person in another country with dark shiny brown skin.  You are the one sitting in a chair or on the floor on the other side of things and looking at this felt board, or bulletin board or whatever with these pristine illustrations.  Would you feel like you were being presented the gospel truth about God who came in man form to save the whole world from their sin, or would you think that these white people were just trying to bring their white religion into their country.

Being Christian isn't being a white American, it isn't being a black American, it isn't being European or from European decent.  It is not confined to any race, language, tribe, country or continent.  When we trace it back to the beginning we'll realize we all descend from the same man and woman, and made in God's image.  Let's show our brothers and sisters that.  Let's remember God is not confined to any race. 

 In HIM,
~Elizabeth