We honor God when we acknowledge all members of the human race have equal worth. We dishonor Him when we ascribe certain sins to people based on skin color. //

Critical race theory is the most discussed and debated academic theory in America today. Its advocates believe it is a tool for understanding the pervasiveness of systemic racism ever since the country was founded. Its detractors have called it a Marxist framework that causes racism and teaches people to judge each other based on skin color.

One institution that has been particularly damaged by the spread of critical race theory is American evangelicalism. A recent book entitled “Fault Lines,” by Dr. Voddie Baucham Jr., pastor and dean at the African Christian University, directly addresses the social justice movement and how it threatens the unity of Christian believers. //

A critical social justice worldview is not simply a set of beliefs. It is a way of viewing the world that is built on assumptions about, among other things, humanity, authority, evil, and justice. The theories Baucham presents in “Fault Lines” can be thought of as a stone wall that is supported by an arch. Critical social justice is the keystone theory that holds the arch together and critical race theory is the capstone that sits on top of the wall.

The wall itself is built on four cornerstones: Karl Marx’s conflict theory, Antonio Gramsci’s theory of cultural hegemony, the Frankfurt School’s critical theory, and Derrick Bell’s critical legal studies. These theories, some of which go back more than 150 years, describe society as a struggle between social classes competing for finite resources. The dominant class uses politics, law, and culture to impose norms on society that maintain the status quo and perpetuate societal inequities.

The Christian faith is built on a different foundation. The Bible states Jesus is the chief cornerstone of the church, the collection of genuine believers in the past, present, and future who are described as a holy temple for the Lord.

A Christian worldview uses scripture as the basis for absolute moral truth as well as the standard by which good, evil, equity, and justice are defined. Critical race theory sees oppression based on skin color as society’s main problem and the transformation of structures and systems as solutions. The scriptures, by contrast, see sin as humanity’s main problem and faith in Jesus Christ as the only solution. The tension between these two competing worldviews is a central theme of the book. //

“Fault Lines” shows that the weapons Christians need for this ideological battle are spiritual, not physical. Christians should be a shining example to the rest of the world of what it looks like to have unity across ethnicity, tribe, and nation.

We honor God when we acknowledge all members of the human race have equal dignity and worth. We dishonor Him when we ascribe certain sins to people based on ancestry and mistreat others because of their skin color.

The sin of racism, whether expressed through ethnic hatred or partiality, is a problem of the human heart. Its solution is the gospel of Jesus Christ, not the work of antiracism.