Lastly, one could say wicked systems may be present in the world at-large and practiced by those who are not Jesus followers, but they’re not inside local churches. Paul addresses this in Ephesians 4:14 describing how, ‘human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes’ were present inside the church. His phrasing identifies methodized systems of deceit which Bengel connects to the “parent of error” Satan who according to Ephesians 6:11 who operates in schemes against the body of Christ.[10]
Although sinful systems will continue operation in the world at-large until Christ’s return and consummation of His Kingdom (Rev 19-22), it does not mean Jesus’ followers He’s called as missionaries in spaces of influence, should not work for equity outside the Church. In addition, regarding the internal rhythms of local churches, the work of spiritual maturity that’s gained through discipleship centered on following the commands of Scripture, is the preventive measure of not allowing systemic wickedness to take root from the inside or removing it from the root if it’s present. Christians can rest in Jesus’ work of building His church, and be free from the fear that every man-made system from CRT, to Ethnocentrism, to White Nationalism (or Supremacy) will not stop His work.
[1] This means every human regardless of ethnicity, traces our bloodlines back to one common set of parents, Adam and Eve. I explain this further, alongside my call for American Protestants to begin working on Ethnic Conciliation, as opposed to Racial Reconciliation in my book Intensional: Kingdom Ethnicity in a Divided World, (Colorado Springs, NavPress, 2019).
[2] Scripture reveals life begins at conception, from this point on, God forms every life in the womb (Psalm 139:13) and remains engaged through the duration of birth, life, and death. Although every human still bears God’s image because of sin, this image is marred.
[3] Dr. Jarvis Williams says, “…the category of race has a broader use in the Bible than in modern terminology. One important distinction is that the biblical category of race was not constructed with pseudoscience for the purpose of establishing a racial hierarchy. Racial categories were employed apart from any consideration of biological inferiority rooted in whiteness or blackness. In fact, Genesis 11:6 in the Septuagint identifies humanity as one genos (race/kind/class/
[4] I am aware the word conciled is currently not in the dictionary; however, I am compelled to use it, for two reasons. First, conciled describes the state of humanity’s relationship with God pre-fall. Second, Ian Woodley kindly explains the beauty of using the word conciled to understand reconciled (“Are You Conciled?,” Nottingham Grace Communion, April 24, 2015, https://nottingham.
[5] For more historic insights please see; from Mark Charles both, “Regarding the Term ‘Merciless Indian Savages,’” https://
[6] Jarvis Williams, One New Man: The Cross and Racial Reconciliation in Pauline Theology, (Nashville, B&H Academic, 2010), 119—122.
[7] The word υἱός translated as sons is in the masculine plural. The normal reading of this term refers not to spiritual beings rather, human beings (cf. Luke 3:38; Rom 8:14; Gal 3:36). Paul’s argument rests in the fact that Satan uses his influence over those humans, who are without spiritual life (Eph 2:1) and purposefully reject truth, to set up, and to maintain the structures of his wordly system.
[8] Foulkes writes, “by speaking of the devil’s authority as ‘in the air’, Paul was not necessarily accepting the current notion of the air being the abode and realm of evil spirits. Basically, his thought was of an evil power with control in the world (see on vi. 12), but whose existence was not material but spiritual.” Francis Foulkes, The Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1963), 69.
[9] John Hammett, Biblical Foundations for Baptist Churches: A Contemporary Ecclesiology, (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2005), 222.
[10] Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), 350.
Read the Complete Critical Race Theory Series
Part 1: Framing Critical Race Theory
Part 2: What Is CRT and Should We Be Concerned?
Part 3: Cautions Regarding Critical Race Theory
Part 4: Cautions Regarding Critical Race Theory II
Part 5: A Missiological Assessment of Critical Race Theory
Part 6: A Missiological Assessment of Critical Race Theory II
Part 7. A Missiological Assessment of Critical Race Theory III
Part 8: A Missiological Assessment of Critical Race Theory IV
Part 9: Sociological Theory and Precursors to Approaching Critical Race Theory
Part 10: Critical Theory and Precursors to Approaching Critical Race Theory
Part 11: Social Justice, Critical Race Theory, Marxism, and Biblical Ethics
