“It is you who light my lamp; the Lord, my God, lights up my darkness.”
– Psalm 18:28
There are hundreds of images for the attributes of God found throughout the bible. God is creative, almighty, all-knowing, loving. God is described like an eagle, a rock, a potter. We all know that these are just metaphors used to describe God in terms we can understand. None are intended to be worshiped in place of God.
One of the most popular images in hymns and sermons is God as light. The imagery in scripture of God as light is contrasted with “the powers of darkness,” which are evil. Most of us don’t even give it a second thought, but why is it so prevalent, when there are so many others to choose from?
I hate to tell you this, but it is due in large part to colonialism and the racial hierarchy imposed by Europeans. The bible isn’t racist. Racism didn’t exist until 1400 years or so later, when Europeans needed an excuse for exploiting the peoples of Africa, Asia, and South America. Europeans assumed supremacy based on their culture, and of course, color. They used the bible to support that belief.
Missionaries would communicate that the lighter the skin tone, the closer to God. John Elliot a puritan clergyman and missionary to New England (1600s) set up praying villages of Native Americans. He forbade them any of their own traditional customs as inherently un-Christian. And forced them to adapt European customs. Cotton Mather, a Puritan Clergyman in colonial America, said that it was imperative that Africans be enslaved by Europeans in order to be converted to the Christian faith.
The marriage of whiteness to Christianity is a stain on the church. Not the only one, but possibly the one with the greatest impact on our church today. This is why many (maybe all) my colleagues of color wince when they see the light/dark motif emphasized so much. And now you can understand why.
It is highly unlikely that anyone in the bible was Caucasian. The closest would have been the Romans, who were hardly the heroes of the story. Yet I am not aware of anyone in history blaming all Europeans for the crucifixion. In fact, quite the opposite.
I think we all desire to recognize how we are created in the Image of God. It is not a sin to recognize that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. The sin is to deny this of others. God created humanity in an amazing variety. Let us recognize the light of God shining in each one.
