Black History Month: 'Colorblindness' is not the Answer

Eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, "Please give me a drink." He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food.

The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, "You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?"

Jesus replied, "If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water."

 

"Please, sir," the woman said, "give me this water! Then I'll never be thirsty again, and I won't have to come here to get water."

"Go and get your husband," Jesus told her.

"I don't have a husband," the woman replied.

Jesus said, "You're right! You don't have a husband – for you have had five husbands, and you aren't even married to the man you're living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!"

 

The woman said, "I know the Messiah is coming – the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."

Then Jesus told her, "I am the Messiah!"

Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked to find him talking to a woman, but none of them had the nerve to ask, "What do you want with her?" or "Why are you talking to her?" The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, "Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?" So the people came streaming from the village to see him.

 --John 4:5-10, 15-18, 25-30

In recognition of Black History Month, Boston Trinity Academy invited ethnicity and evangelism specialist Sarah Shin to speak in Wednesday's Chapel. Ms. Shin is the author of the newly released book "Beyond Colorblind: Redeeming our Ethnic Journey".

Many people, speaking of their feelings against racism, proclaim, "I'm a Christian first." While this is true, Ms. Shin said, too often there is not a "next." If nothing follows, it becomes "I'm a Christian only." In an effort to combat this thinking and the implications of it, Ms. Shin told students, " 'Colorblindness' is not the answer." She said we have all grown up with 'scripts' of what we are supposed to believe about ourselves and others.

The Samaritan woman understood racism. She was a 'half-breed' – and hated by the Jews. She was also a social outcast, and full of 'scripts' about who she was. Women of her time period were low on the societal scale. They could not initiate a divorce, they could not own property, and if divorced or widowed they were at the mercy of others. This woman had been married five times! She was a fighter and a survivor.

Jesus knew more about her than her 'script.' He offered her a chance to move beyond her scars and who she believed herself to be. As a result, she ran to the people who had treated her as "less than" and brought the whole town to Jesus. Despite centuries of hatred between the Jews and Samaritans, Jesus was willing to embrace the 'ethnic other.' "This is not colorblindness," Ms. Shin said. "Jesus was aware of the ethnic difference. Unity – not uniformity – across diversity is what draws the world to us."

"Jesus wants to bring life and healing to our individual scripts," Ms. Shin continued. "You can't be perfect. Just show up! You don't have to be a good person, but a brave person." She told students that we are all broken by sin and damage. We cannot fix ourselves and so pass the damage on. "Only at the cross can both victim and perpetrator die to themselves and become united. That is the power of this cross. We are called to be brothers and sisters. The darkness is great but the resurrection is greater."

She closed by telling the students that 'false scripts' are sometimes carried through entire lives, but concluded by speaking a blessing over them: "May God break the false script given to you."