Dr. Tony Evans is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, founder and president of The Urban Alternative and author of over 100 books, booklets and Bible studies. The first African American to earn a doctorate of theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, he has been named one of the 12 Most Effective Preachers in the English-Speaking World by Baylor University. Dr. Evans holds the honor of writing and publishing the first full-Bible commentary and study Bible by an African American. His radio broadcast, The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, can be heard on over 1,400 radio outlets daily and in more than 130 countries. Dr. Evans’ sermons are also streamed and downloaded over 20,000,000 times annually.
[Music]
eleven years ago i wrote a book
on race called oneness embraced
tracking the both the historical
theological
biblical and spiritual elements of
issues related to race and justice and
like topics in light of all that
has occurred in our culture over the
last couple of years
it was determined to update that book
which is in process
now relative to include
a response reaction and the critique of
the more contemporary issues related to
uh what’s happening in our society today
so we’re
currently in that process as we speak
that’ll
come out in january but it’s being
worked on currently
at the core of the racial debate
today and racial conflict
and in many places animus
is the issue of critical race
theory crt
on the fourth of july they’re fire
crackers that
explode all over things are shot up into
the air
things that start off as solid
once the explosion occurs spreads
and so lights are flickering everywhere
so that
you can no longer see what was
originally launched
because what was originally launched has
exploded
this is what has happened to the issue
of
race in america and critical race theory
in particular
an explosion has occurred from an
original
uh theory that has left
everybody asking me and each other the
question
what in the world is critical race
theory
it’s hard to find a definition because
of the explosions that have occurred so
i want to give you a definition
before the explosion so that you can
grab
what we are saying it is and what
the originators of it say that it is
just a group of about five who
crafted critical race theory
and then i want to look at the explosion
that occurred that has led to the
crisis and confusion that we deal with
today
and then i want to conclude with a
biblical response
how should we as christians uh respond
to this because we ought to be people of
the truth
and so let me start with a
definition of critical race theory
before the explosion that is at its core
at its foundation
critical race theory crt is a post-civil
rights
social construct i’ll say something
about that in a moment that seeks
to demonstrate how the embedded
foundation
and filter through which racist
attitudes behavior policies
and structures have been rooted
throughout
the fabric of america american life
and systems even after those laws were
changed let me say that again
it’s a post-civil right social construct
a social construct
is where people have come together
on a conclusion about a matter
in society you can have social
constructs related to education you can
have social constructs
related to money you can have social
constructs related to uh
sexual orientation those are we we’re
facing
a social construct related to what is
being concluded
about a certain matter so this social
construct
of crt
wants to look at how unjust laws
that were racist in nature
filtered themselves into the operating
systems of the culture
so when the unjust laws filtered
themselves it became a way of life
these unjust laws
racist in nature
accrued to the benefit of one part of
the population
meaning the white race to the detriment
of another part of the population
meaning african americans and to
a lesser degree uh other minority
groups because these were laws
it was the way that things
were operating by permission
because they were laws
we all know about slavery laws and there
were many of those
many of us grew up with jim crow laws of
the south
where there were official standards
inculcated and established
that allowed one group to benefit
and another group to be disenfranchised
when the laws changed
and bad laws were made right
like the 1964 civil rights act the 1965
voters rights act when the laws
changed the
system had already been infiltrated
with the previous unrighteous laws and
unjust laws so that even though
laws changed the effect
of those laws did not automatically
end to varying degrees still today
did not change with it so the fruit
like adam’s sin carries fruit the fruit
of unrighteous laws still expressed
themselves
in the structures of society
whether they’re educational whether
they’re political
whether they are social whether they
deal with criminal justice issues
whether they’re economic because the
laws previous
affected all of society it therefore
infiltrated all of society the argument
of crt goes
so even today
many people have to struggle with
the issue of racism not because it’s a
law
but because it’s an environment that was
affected
by laws so critical race theory seeks to
track
how the legal implications
of the unjust laws
manifest themselves today
take the law for example of redlining
redlining in the 1930s was established
to
segment populations tied to location
and race and the color red which is why
it’s called red lighting was given
to predominantly african-american
communities
and a red line meant this was a
hazardous community
a hazardous community meant that
mortgages
would not be loaned out to home buyers
it meant this investment you wouldn’t
invest in a red
lined community because it was viewed as
hazardous well what that meant for those
communities that was the ability to
to buy a home to establish neighborhoods
to
get loans to put in businesses were not
allowed
well in those red line districts
what happened was generations were born
into those districts
and when generations were born into
those districts
that meant the repercussions of the red
line
was being transferred to one generation
after
another because they were locked out and
weren’t
fully allowed to participate well
redlining laws
got changed but some of the generational
influence of those laws still had effect
because the people uh who were affected
by it
were transferring that reality because
they were never able to get out of
it and they were locked into it and so
that is the concept
of of this now when the subject
of systemic racism comes up which is
where this winds up
racism tied to systems well let me let
me first define racism
uh so that we make sure we talk about
the same thing
racism i define as the conscious or
subconscious or unconscious belief
in the superiority of one race over
another race or ethnicities
which manifest itself in a variety of
dismissive
oppressive exploitative ways racism
shows
up in the use of the power of influence
use of power to influence resources or
communication
which is employed to discriminate
against marginalize
exploit or subjugate people of another
race or
ethnicity let me put in a little
syllogism when unaddressed prejudice
gets married to power
there is going to be an unintended
pregnancy that will give birth to the
evil of racism
when when an unaddressed present
prejudice
gets connected to power gets married to
power
then it’s going to have an unintended
consequence
which gives birth to the evil of
racism so racism is
the decision consciously or
unconsciously
to discriminate against a person of
another race
when we talk about systemic racism
i’ll define that because all this comes
together
systemic racism is the presence or
secular resultant effects
of racist practices and processes
embedded in
and shaped shaping the social political
economic legal educational
infrastructural medical
uh systems and policies of a society
initially established and perpetuated by
the government
these then overlap and interconnect in
such a way as to give an
unjust advantage of resources rights
mindsets
and privilege for majority number of one
race while denying
or limiting it to a majority
number of another race or ethnicities
now this is often called white privilege
the benefits that accrue
because of the laws that were
established and the systems that
continue to benefit those who benefited
from the original laws
to the disadvantage to
minority groups and so let’s talk about
systems
crt is not concerned
with your individual racial profile it’s
not concerned
with whether you are a racist crt is
concerned
about racism infiltrating the structures
and the systems of society and how
those structures continue to have
negative
effects on minority people
let me give you a relevant illustration
that you and all of us are participating
in be
white or black
as everyone knows we now own the golf
course across the street
that is 155 or so
prime acres in the southwest section of
oak cliff
i wanted us to buy that land
not having anything to do with golf but
controlling what happens in our
community
so the motivation was related to golf it
was related to
kingdom influence in the community but
let me tell you the story
of the gulf coast cross street
it used to be a farm in 19
mid 1950s a man or sold it
and it was purchased and turned into
a golf course
the rule was
black people could not play on the golf
course that was the rule
so we’ll call that an unjust law
it then got turned over into membership
ownership so it was owned by like a
hundred members
the rule was we don’t have the law
because things were changing in society
we don’t have the law that blacks can’t
be members
but we’re going to set up a system that
does not allow them to be members
so what the system was was
before you become a member an existing
member
had to recommend you okay
but when the existing member recommended
you
two-thirds of the membership had to vote
for you
so let’s say
an anglo-man has a great black friend
nothing about him is racist and he goes
to the club and he says
i want my african-american friend
to become a member of this club
well he’s gotta do that up against the
system
and that system says two-thirds of us
have to agree with the way you feel
and no until 1994 no
black would be voted in because of the
system not because
there was this law it was this
system that came from a law
but let’s say you’re part of the
one-third if you’re anglo
you’re part of the one-third
that voted to let him in
well you still lost because the
two-thirds
did not vote that way now you could come
out and argue
but i am not one of those people
i am not a racist and you could be
absolutely right
but the system that you are a part of is
and because you’re part of that system
you get swept up even though you’re not
a personal racist
and even though you voted the other way
because the system didn’t allow
your non-racist perspective to win
crt is concerned with systems
that operate unfairly in all of these
different areas
that doesn’t allow in health for people
to get good food
or proper care or whatever them
because systems were set up that have
rollover effect
even if people in the system
are not personally racist so when a
person says
i am not a racist they could be
absolutely true
absolutely true but crt is concerned
with the system
not with an individual person so you
make that distinction
so that is the concept
of crt now
that’s fine that deals with laws that
deals with infiltration that deals with
contemporary effects
so far so good probably don’t have too
much of a problem there
until the iteration set in
so this is where it gets interesting
uh in august 2019
nicole hannah jones
wrote a series of articles
in the new york times magazine
and it became known as the 1619
project
in jamestown virginia in august of 1619
20 african-american slaves came to this
country
as indentured servants meaning you work
for so many years and then you can work
out your freedom
but they came when these
20 or so slaves came
that led to a growth in slave trade to
make a long story short
where indentured servantry was replaced
with slavery
which was cheap or free labor in order
for the profitability and the economic
development
through workers here in the colonies
the 1619 project said
that the american revolution was not
about freedom from
england the american revolution
was about 13 colonies preserving slavery
so the 1619 project says america really
didn’t begin
in 1776
america began in 1619
when slavery was first introduced
codified so there’s a revolutionary war
because the 13 colonies want to be free
from england for the purpose
of not having england interfere with the
economic productivity
of slavery so they threw
a whole nother concept into the race
discussion
and when they threw this concept now the
issue became
the definition of america
does america exist for freedom
from england english tyranny or does
america
exist to protect slavery
well once that happened follow me now
that got plugged into crt
crt was concerned about racist laws
crt was not concerned with 1619 1619
came after crt
but it got plugged into it so now the
issue is
is crt
saying that america was established to
be
a racist nation so now crt has gotten
pregnant
with a bigger issue about the definition
of america
may 2020
george floyd is killed in minneapolis
minnesota
when george floyd is killed in
minneapolis minnesota
there is this national
outcry about systemic racism
particularly with related to
police brutality and the like
and the growth of black lives matter
black lives matter though is two things
not one
it’s an emphasis and an entity
it’s a movement and
an organization the movement said the
lives of black people
matter
in the same way that uh
white evangelicals would say the lives
of the unborn man or all of us as
evangelicals say that
uh the lives of the unborn man well
black lives matter okay
so there was this movement
out of the movement or concurrent and
concomitant with the movement
is an entity that says
black lives matter but they both use the
same name so when you say black lives
matter are you talking about the
movement you talk about the entity you
talk about both
well because the entity
black lives matter if you look it up on
the web
wants to dissolve the black nuclear
family
because the entity
wants to promote transgender rights and
they say this
that’s the entity but you got an entity
in a movement using the same name
it gets plugged into crt
so crt is growing now
on one side that’s 16 19 plugged into it
on another side
there’s the black lives matter so now if
you’re against black lives matter
the entity you could also be accused of
being against black lives matter the
movement
because folks are not necessarily making
the distinction if you agree with the
movement you could be accused of
agreeing with the entity
and all of that gets plugged into crt
something else comes to the forefront
are y’all with me now i hope i’m gonna
bore you it’s silly so something else
comes to the forefront
[Applause]
because the originators
of crt some are overtly marxist somewhat
more socialist than marxism we can get
into a
discussion between the difference
between socialism communism fascism and
all of that that’s
but but to varying degrees of marxists
at the core of marxism to make a long
story short
is dividing people into tribes into
groups into divisions
uh marx would call it the proletariat
the worker
versus the bourgeoisie so what are you
seeing today in schools a clash what are
you seeing today
white’s feeling like you’re calling me
part of the oppressor i haven’t done
anything
black’s feeling you calling me part of
the oppressed you got one group that
wants crt you got another group that’s
against crt
because it’s got now convoluted the
in other words the firecracker has
exploded now
and it’s all over the place and we are
we
are divided because now
the disciples of these movements
depending on their own bent toward black
lives matter their own bench was 1619
their own bent toward marxist philosophy
when they talk about crt they’ll put
that spin on it
and so when parents hear this in the
schools
white parents are saying what are you
what are you doing teaching my child
this
some black parents are raising up what
are you doing teaching my child is
then you have the other side the
teachers union said we going to teach
this because we need to teach
true history well the problem is
so much has gotten attacked to it and
convoluted it
that it is now taking on a whole new
life
of definition so
this problem of race and there’s so much
we could talk about i don’t have time to
go to it i mean
when i started getting on radio there
was a system in place
all the all the the christian radio
stations across the
the nation they would not let on a daily
black speaker
but not because there was a law but
because there was a system
and that system would not allow for it
and one told me why
he says the reason we can’t let on a
black speaker daily
is that would offend too many of our
white listeners
okay so so so he gave me some inside
scoop
and so we set up a system where where we
just don’t have
room we don’t have times available we
don’t have so so you get these denials
and of course god will rule that but the
point is that there were
systems in place that weren’t
necessarily based on laws and crt
at its root wants to track
how that is showing up today in
different ways
and i don’t i don’t know how to get off
through all this stuff but anyway
uh that’s some of the see because now
it’s been blown up
uh i didn’t get into intersectionality
because now all other kind of things
sexism
has gotten attached to it and
transgender has gotten attached to it
and now you’ve got critical sex theories
and all that that gets plugged in this
critical race theory so it’s it’s now
all over
the place we’re leaving lack of clarity
confusing christians christians across
racial lines are divided on this thing
my phone’s blowing up
from all over the country what are we
going to do my congregation is divided
i got parents calling me saying the the
black kids or the white kids we used to
play together not think about it
now we can’t even have fellowship
because we got we got voices coming over
here and voices coming over there
and and now it’s it’s interfered with
our personal relationships and all of
that
that’s because of the iterations have
taken one thing
blown it up made it a bigger thing the
bigger thing is confusing
and it is infiltrated now all or many
or most of the sectors of society
including the military
so now everybody talk about critical
race but they don’t know what they’re
talking about because they could be
talking about any iteration
of critical race which means they’re
never going to agree
so that that that’s where we are now
where do we go with this
all right i would like to propose
in humility
the tony evans theory
[Applause]
and i’m going to call it krt
not crt krt
krt kingdom race theology
all right
all right so let me define kingdom race
theology
i define kingdom race theology as the
reconciled recognition
affirmation and celebration
of the divinely created ethnic
should be ethnic differences through
which
god displays his multifaceted glory
as his people justly
righteously and responsibly
function personally and corporately
in unity under the lordship of jesus
christ
now my concern
is that we as christians will spend so
much time
fighting off a crt we don’t get around
the krt
now let me defend
my new thing okay
go to ephesians 2
ephesians 2
and i’ll highlight i’ll walk through
this and and hit the high points
therefore remember that formerly you the
gentiles
in the flesh who are called
uncircumcision
by the so-called circumcision okay
that’s the way the jews the circumcision
called the gentiles they called them
names
they called him the n word
the jews circumcision would look at a
gentile
and call them uncircumcision or and
sometimes they call them uncircumcised
dogs
so it was a demeaning
this is paul writing the christians at
ephesus these are
jews and gentiles in the same church
and paul says y’all used to call each
other names
you know why they did because that was
their history
their background it was their reality
black and whites have a history
and it included laws and name calling
and oppression the jews were privileged
they had benefits that the gentiles
did not possess but now the gentiles
have entered in
and paul has to make this point y’all
are now christians
you’re going to the same church so it’s
time for new rules
in other words i know you got your
background i know they used to call your
names
i know there was racial division and
there’s a lot of racial issues in the
bible
i know all of that but let me tell you
how we gonna move forward
from here he says
call the uncircumcision uh by the
so-called circumcision
remember that you were at times
separated from christ
excluded from the commonwealth but
here’s the word beginning in verse 13.
but now i know how it was
i know how bad it was i know they didn’t
like you
i know they had benefits you didn’t have
but now
he now is going to give a
crystal-centric perspective
a kingdom if you will send it
perspective
in christ you were formerly far far off
have been brought near by the blood of
christ
now watch this verse 14 he himself
is our peace who made
both groups into one broke down the
barrier
barrier of the dividing wall look at the
end of verse 15.
make the two groups into one
new man thus establishing peace
verse 16 reconcile them both
into one body verse 17
preach peace to you who are far off you
who’ve been isolated
and peace to those who were near the
jews
verse 18 in one spirit
to the father verse 19 no longer
strangers
outcasts second-class citizens aliens
but you are fellow citizens with the
saints of god’s
household verse 22
being built together into a dwelling
place of god
my two words are but now
now here’s the deal if you’re spending
more time discussing crt
then you are krt that is this
then you’ve been tricked by the world
you should know about it you should
understand it i’ve tried to give you a
brief overview
but but no no no he says no we got to
start now we got the history
he even says we were calling but now
in christ there are new rules and
if you will abide by the new rules of
christ
we will create something new
so while they’re fighting out there we
have peace in here
because we’re operating on one new
man
[Applause]
when i drink my coffee
i got black coffee
but i got white cream
i got black coffee but i got white cream
well what i do is i put white cream
in black coffee when i put white cream
in black coffee i got something new
because what i started with is not how
it looks right now
what was white and black is now brown
because i have put something new
together
which makes it drinkable for me
god can’t drink what we’re offering him
because black people are offering him
black white people are offering him
white
and god said you better put some cream
up in this coffee
one new man
we are to be crafting something new
but let me make sure you understand god
is not colorblind i know people don’t
well we need to be colorblind no you
don’t god is not colorblind
revelation 5 9 revelation 7 9.
john says i saw people from every nation
every tribe
every kindred and every tongue and i
could see their differences
god is not colorblind but he doesn’t
want us to be blinded by color
he doesn’t want our hue to define
our relationship we are going to be
different
we’re supposed to be different but he
says christ
is supposed to be all in all so the
issue are what
are his rules kingdom rules
that all of us are so supposed to abide
by
and he says when you decide to do that
you become
part of one new man
when an orchestra is warming up and
everything and they’re warming up
uh and uh uh it’s discord it’s just
noise
this instrument’s playing this this is
it’s just noise until a conductor comes
out
the conductor comes out and he taps down
everybody gets silent and now what was
noise is now a song
but the instruments aren’t the same
there’s the saxophone is the violin
there’s a there’s that piano that i mean
all the instruments were as
different than as they are now what’s
the difference the conductor has come
out
and once the conductor is coming out he
is controlling
what the instruments are playing even
though the instruments are still
different
but they’re playing his song see what
we’ve got
is black and white playing their own
songs
well you can do that in the world if you
want to still cuss and fuss and fight
but in the kingdom of god we’re playing
his song
and when we’re playing his song you can
use your own racial instrument
as long as you’re playing his song and
so what he is saying is
i am after one new man
and in this new man the bible makes it
clear
racism as we’ve defined it not racial
differences
is to never be tolerated
okay but now let’s make sure we
understand
because of history
there are racial sensitivities
okay
i was um talking to a gentleman he was
about five years younger than me
angelo guy and i was talking to him at
the house
and in the conversation he called me boy
okay now there’s a history to boy
and black people okay for those of you
who don’t know that history goes all the
way back where
old men will be called boy by kids
because they were black and the kids
were white
and so they had the privilege of
demeaning an older man
so there’s a history so when he said boy
i felt that i felt that okay
because there’s history to the term
so i felt that and and i’m debating now
do i say something and do i sound like a
christian when i say it do i
say something no just kidding
now a few minutes later
another guy comes in who’s like my
age who’s white
and he called him boy
when it when he called him boy it
changed how i looked at him
i looked at him one way because i just
heard boy but when i saw him do that to
his own race it was my age then i
concluded well
this is evidently how he talks but
because i had
sensitivity that i didn’t have clarity
on
i reacted out of my sensitivity
when black’s wife come together they
come together with the sensitivity the
reason
why we have a talk with our boys the
talk
is because of sensitivities when the
police comes up behind me
i’ve had experiences of being pulled
over asked being asked
why are you in this neighborhood so that
creates a sensitivity
and when i know how some might feel
toward
african americans that sensitivity is
there at a higher
level now that policeman may not be
racist he may be as scared as me as i am
or him
okay he may not be but the sensitivities
are there
that’s why at least in the body of
christ
and our racial commitment to each other
has to through the bible
give deference
to people creating the opportunity
to either correct or to clarify because
when you don’t do that
you could be passing illegitimate
judgment
okay some people do what they do because
of the system they’re
in not because of the person they are
but if you take the system
and put the system on top of the person
you may be letting a system judge a
person
when the person is not agreeing with the
system
and unless that exists at least within
the church
within the body of christ we will not
have the kind of impact
and influence that god wants us to have
paul
corrected peter when peter was a racist
uh
god uh corrected uh mary uh miriam
when she objected to moses marrying a
black wife
uh uh moses married black wife god
turned miriam white
because of her her rebellion against a
god ordained a god authorized
relationship
uh so god judges sin so sin of racism
should not be skipped
it should be judged but it must always
be done
with the biblical principle of love
where we give the opportunity to correct
or to clarify so that we come with an
understanding
the the church of jesus christ right now
is a bad testimony
to the healing that needs to occur in
our country and in our culture
well that may be true out there but it
won’t be true at oak cliff bible
fellowship
because we are one new man
okay and the white person or the indian
person
or the because we’re predominantly
african-american or the hispanic person
is to be given as much value as much
significance as much embracing
as you would do a black brother or a
black sister why
here’s why because i’m crucified with
christ nevertheless i live yet not i is
christ who lives in me the life which i
now live
i live by the faith of the son of god
here’s the principle
win your race
trump god’s word you have made your race
an idol
when you’re raised trumps god’s word
you’ve made your race an idol
and god rejects idolatry okay
whether it’s white privilege idolatry
or whether it’s black overreaction
idolatry like the movement black lives
matter
not the emphasis but the movement that
becomes idolatry okay
and so where you have idolatry god
rejects it but now this thing is all
over the place it’s now in politics it’s
there
all kind of division it’s all now in uh
in social arenas educational arenas
and it may not be able to be fixed out
there i don’t know they’re trying
but they don’t agree so when they don’t
agree can two walk together unless they
agree
bible says no our kids to agree in there
and hear and let it be known what our
agreement is out there
to stick with god’s standard to tell
history and tell the truth you don’t
marginalize it you don’t whitewash it
you tell the truth the whole truth you
know slavery was horrible
uh and then jim crow you got 4500
men who were who were slaughtered you
got black wall street
who was uh burned down you got rosewood
uh a whole town that was burnt out
simply for illegitimate racial reasons
you go
on and on and on you don’t skip those
stories you don’t pretend
like they’re not in history but you come
you must move forward to one new
man okay so that’s where we are going