I read this book by Trevor Noah some weeks ago and I loved it. I think Trevor is smart and funny so I listen to him once in a while. The book's title is one that invokes curiosity, I’ve heard him talk about the story over and over again so I wasn’t in the dark about the book’s overview.
Surprisingly, Trevor does a lot of swearing in this book. I never expected it because he rarely does it in his shows or maybe the shows I’ve watched. So, heads up, guys.
He still manages to keep his sense of humour intact while discussing one of man’s greatest atrocities-apartheid. He talks about his childhood and life growing up in post-apartheid South Africa.
Apartheid - was a system of institutionalized racial segregation that existed in South Africa and Southwest Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. According to this system of social stratification, white citizens had the highest status, followed by Indians and Coloureds, then Black Africans. The economic legacy and social effects of apartheid continue to the present day, particularly inequality.
My most memorable character is Trevor’s mom. A real firecracker and a woman of faith too. I didn’t agree with some of her methods, but she is a great woman, nonetheless. Trevor shares a lot of his experiences about growing up in a Christian household, it is based on one of such experiences that I write this post.
My grandmother always told me that she loved my prayers. She believed my prayers were more powerful, because I prayed in English. Everyone knows that Jesus, who’s white, speaks English. The Bible is in English. Yes, the Bible was not written in English, but the Bible came to South Africa in English so to us it’s in English. Which made my prayers the best prayers because English prayers get answered first. How do we know this? Look at white people. Clearly they’re getting through to the right person. Add to that Matthew 19:14. “Suffer little children to come unto me,” Jesus said, “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” So if a child is praying in English? To White Jesus? That’s a powerful combination right there. Whenever I prayed, my grandmother would say, “That prayer is going to get answered. I can feel it.”
Excerpt from "Born a crime: stories from a South African childhood."
I believe Trevor was being sarcastic, but I know that many people are of the view that Jesus was a white man. This is so far from the truth.
Was Jesus a white man?
Technically, we do not know what Jesus looked like. He was born in the Middle East so He is expected to look like someone from Iraq or Palestine. Depending on your classification of race, He could be white or brown. Most of them are considered as people of color not white.
Proponents of this mindset are of the view that Christianity has been tool of oppression by colonizers which is mostly due to the church's apathy toward the transatlantic slave trade and colonization. The church could have done better in voicing out its displeasure against some of these atrocities but that does not mean that the tenets of the faith support such acts. Throughout scripture and history, there are examples of men and situations that God used to show the inclusion of Africans in His divine agenda. Let us look at some of them.
1. God loves and is impartial towards all men.
Christianity is all-inclusive.
The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. ’There is no commandment greater than these.- Mark 12: 31
Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism
but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. - Acts 10:34-35
There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. - Gal 3:26
2. Africans played prominent roles in Christianity.
Long before the birth of Jesus, the Queen of Sheba went to visit Solomon and heard about his God. According to historians, Sheba is found somewhere in the Horn of Africa. Many say it is in the regions of Ethiopia and Yemen. So, someone from Africa travelled to hear about Solomon’s God and returned with the story.
Oh, that’s Old Testament. Jesus wasn’t even in the picture yet. Let’s come to the New Testament.
Do you remember Simeon of Cyrene? The guy who helped Jesus carry the cross. Well, it turns out Cyrene is in present-day Libya which is in Africa. (Luke 23: 26)
The Ethiopian eunuch had trouble understanding the scriptures when he was returning home from Jerusalem, but God sent Philip to explain things to him. He got baptized that very day. (Acts 8:26-40)
On the day of Pentecost, among those who were saved when they heard the 120 speak in tongues were people from territories including ones from present-day Africa.
When the sound occurred, a crowd came together and was confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language. They were astounded and amazed, saying, “Look aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? Parthians, Medes, Elamites: those who live in Mesopotamia, in Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts), Cretans and Arabs – we hear them declaring the magnificent acts of God in our own tongues.” – Acts 2:6-11.
There were Christians in leading positions in the early church.
Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, a close friend of Herod the Tetrarch, and Saul. - Acts 13:1
These were not baby Christians; they were established enough to lay hands on Paul and Barnabas and send them off to the mission field.
In early church history, we have records of church fathers who were from Africa. Tertullian, Saint Augustine, Origen, Athanasius and many others who played major roles in the Body of Christ.
3. We do not judge a whole religion based on its excesses.
It is true that our colonial masters used religion to cover up a lot of their crimes. The word of God is clear about things like freedom and equality of all men, selfish men have however twisted it to suit their own pleasures. However, we do not judge a whole group based on the wrongs of a small section of people in its long history.
You probably use an iPhone. Your dream car might be a Mercedes. The search engine you’re using to access this site is most probably the one owned by an American company. The clothes you’re wearing now might even be from an American brand with a warehouse in China.
Do we discard them because they are the creations of the white man?
No, we don’t.
The gospel is God's message which makes comparing it to man-made creations very unbalanced. But we can take a cue from these examples and realize that no matter the pathways the gospel took to reach a wider audience, we must understand the heart of the Originator. We must understand that its role and importance supersedes every activity of man.
If you had any doubts, I hope this piece was enough to clear them. Regardless of Jesus's race, His purpose and mission were for all of mankind.
See you guys soon. Byeeee
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