"Put Away Your Race Card ---- I Don't Play"

A few years ago, there was an employee of a minority race that I worked with for approximately a year in our local school district, that always wanted to use the race card, simply because she had a chip on her shoulder from the time she arrived at work, until the closing bell at the end of the day. I felt I was always walking on egg shells when I was around her, for fear that she would take something that I said in the wrong way.

One day, when she saw that I was trying to avoid her, because I didn't want any kind of confrontation with her in the workplace, she confronted me and asked why I was avoiding her. After providing her with a short and to-the-point explanation, which had to do with her attitude, I ended our conversation with this statement, "Put away your race card — I don't play." She turned red in the face and immediately "ran" to my supervisor and began to rant and rave about how I was prejudiced against her by my avoiding talking to her. I told my supervisor that I did not want to confront her and start any kind of argument over something that wasn't worth arguing over, i.e., her skin color and race, of which she made a point in emphasizing almost every day.

Additionally, I explained to my supervisor that the lady's problem with me did not originate with her skin color or race, but with the inward attitude of her heart (1 Samuel 16:7). My supervisor totally agreed with my assessment of the matter and recommended that I do my job and try to work with her as best I could, which I did. About a month later, the lady was terminated by our Human Resources Department, due to the fact that she had been performing an illegal activity in the office, which wasn't authorized by the school district. Once again, in her mind, she thought that she could get away with just about anything she wanted to, simply because she was of a certain race and skin color. She played the race card to the hilt, but in the end, it didn't do her any good. Her sin had found her out! (Numbers 32:23).

In God's eyes, there's only one race — the human race! (Acts 17:24-26). God doesn't care what color of skin we have, or what race we originated from. He doesn't play favorites, no matter what race or skin color we are! (Deuteronomy 10:17; Job 34:19; Acts 10:34; Romans 2:11; Ephesians 6:9). Rather, our attitude of heart is what matters to God. More than anything else, he wants our heart to be right with Him in obedience to His will (Matthew 7:21; Romans 6:16-18).

Beloved, no matter what pigmentation or color of skin we have, let's never play the "race card." If we're going to play any kind of card, let's play the "obedience card" (see here), for that's the only card God will accept (1 Samuel 15:20-23).

—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets