One Blood

The issues of ethnic identity and misidentification are topics of concern for many multiethnic individuals because they do not necessarily resemble one—or sometimes either—of their parents. Additionally, the blending of their diverse ancestries may obscure aspects of their ethnic heritage, or cause them to resemble another people group to which they are not related. [1] Misidentification can be a source of frustration if the issue is iterative, and variations of the question “what are you?” can become a source of irritation. Counselees who struggle with the issue of misidentification will need to put several principles into practice in order to avoid as much frustration as possible. [2] First, they must recall that all Christians must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger in their interactions with others (cf. Jas. 1:19). Some questioners will focus on the issue of ethnicity out of spite, or because they view a multiethnic person as “something other than them.” Others...

            Joshua 2 relates that, during the period of the Conquest, Israel’s spies received assistance from an unexpected source when Rahab the harlot hid them among the stalks of flax that were drying on her roof. She convinced Jericho’s search party that the two spies already had escaped and were headed toward the Jordan River (Josh. 2:3-7). Rahab’s confession that God rules both Heaven and earth (Josh. 2:9-11) amounted to a rejection of her Canaanite idols and an unwavering commitment to the God of Israel. [i] The result of Rahab’s courageous actions and her newfound faith was a treaty with the covenant people that saved her and her entire family from the Israelite extermination of Jericho’s population (Josh. 2:12-14, 17-20).             After their deliverance, Rahab and her relatives resided “outside the camp of Israel” for a time (Josh. 6:23b), but assimilation into the covenant people soon ...

            In the 1970s, large populations of Asians and Hispanics filtered into the United States in unprecedented numbers. Their arrival “altered the [country’s] ethnoracial composition” [1] and produced new ethnic admixtures. In spite of these developments, sociological research continued   to focus almost exclusively on the pairing of African Americans and Anglos, as well as the children they bore. The presumable reasons for this fixation were, 1) the persistence of historical problems that defined interactions between African Americans and Anglos; 2) African American and Anglo pairings were the most controversial admixture in the United States because of strained interrelations; [2] 3) the nation still perceived race through the binary lens of “Black and White” because it had not yet acclimated to the presence of sizeable Asian and Hispanic populations.             On May 12, 1977, the O...

            Acts 6:1-7 relates one of the first internal conflicts that faced the early church. The text explains that the issue that troubled them was ethno-cultural in nature. As Jesus’ followers increased in number, the church’s capacity to meet the needs of its most vulnerable members understandably became strained. As a result, the Hellenistic Jews brought a complaint against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked when it came to their daily allotment of food (6:1). The Hellenistic Jews were part of the Jewish diaspora that had settled in other parts of the world, and as a result preferred the Greek language and Greek customs. [1] Some of them may have had Greek ancestry as well, but identified as Jews due to conversion (cf. Esther 8:17). The Hebraic Jews, on the other hand, were natives of Israel, adhered to the Jewish culture, and spoke Aramaic. [2] It is no surprise, therefore, that ethno-cultural c...

Contrary to popular belief, the sons of Israelite did not leave Egypt by themselves. Exodus 12:38 records, And indeed many foreigners went up with them, as well as flocks and cattle, very many livestock . The term foreigners (Heb. עֵרֶב) indicates a “mixed company” [1] (cf. Jer. 25:20, 24; 50:37). In Ezekiel 30:5, a differently pointed form of the Hebrew word with the same root letters (Heb. הָעֶרֶב) is translated Arabian (cf. 2 Chron. 9:14). In Leviticus 13:53, the word carries the idea of weaving fabrics [2] because the term symbolically relates to weaving diverse people groups together. Israelites were not the only people the Egyptians enslaved, and many of these ethnic groups escaped Egypt alongside God’s covenant people. [3]  Old Testament scholar Umberto Cassuto understood the foreigners to be “a motley mob who were not of Israelite origin,” [4]  and he is correct that the ethnic composition of this group was complicated. While many would have been Semitic ...

          Today is the 50 th anniversary of the tragic death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. As you likely know, on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee, Dr. King was standing on the balcony outside of Room 306 at the Lorraine Motel. At 6:01 p.m., James Earl Ray shot a bullet at King from the window of a nearby boarding house, cutting short the life of a man who had labored tirelessly for thirteen years to draw attention to racism and ethnic disparity.             When I first heard this horrible account as an elementary student in the small Midwestern town where I grew up, I had no context by which to understand these events. I had no idea where Memphis was located, and did not understand the reason why someone would hate Dr. King so much that he wanted to silence him (by the way, Ray failed miserably in his attempt to silence King). Three decades later, I now know Memphis quite well because I’ve lived in...

As discussed in previous blog posts, Timothy, the apostle Paul’s disciple, enjoyed a wide variety of ministry opportunities because he was half Greek and half Jewish. In order to proclaim the gospel to people who did not believe that Jesus is the Messiah, and to train Christians who needed to learn more about the faith, he undoubtedly drew on both aspects of his heritage in order to reach people from both sides of his family tree. In the New Testament, Timothy is one of the premier   examples of a multiethnic Christian who used wisely his multicultural skills in ministry. For this reason, Timothy is an excellent example for multiethnic Christians in the 21 st century who wish to use their multiethnic skills for the glory of Christ.             In the first place, multiethnic people tend to be able to maneuver well between various cultures. One young woman described this ability: “You pick and choose parts of your own cultur...