Last Updated on June 26, 2018 by OCF Communications

by 1LT Kevin Polosky, USA

“I only see green” is a phrase often heard in the U.S. Army. It’s Army jargon used to deal with racism and sexism: instead of seeing black or white skin, males or females, we only see a person in a uniform. We treat all fellow servicemen and women with the same respect, no matter color or sex.

Jesus might have had a saying like this one, “I only see hearts.” Nothing on the outside of people seemed to matter to Him. Paul wrote, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28). Paul shows exactly what matters to Jesus; not what you are or where you are, but who you are and where you’re going.

You’re probably saying to yourself that it sure seems that whites get promoted faster and that minorities have a better chance at scholarships. Well, as my wife says, you can’t battle racism with more racism.

The Bible repeatedly says that Christ is the head of the church and we are the body. When I picture this body I don’t see a black arm, a brown leg and a white chest. I see a united group of believers praising their Lord Jesus Christ. We Christians need to set an example for non-believers to follow.

It’s been said that the most segregated time in America is eleven o’clock on Sunday morning. We, as the faithful body of Christ, need to realize the ramifications of this. In the military we’re spoiled by being able to worship with all races in our local post chapels. Too often when we look off the post in the local community we don’t see the same thing. We need to show the world how wonderful and color blind the grace of God really is.

Racism is not a new problem; it has been in the world as long as there have been races. Within the faith, though, there was a time when racism vanished. “For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility”(Eph. 2:14).

It took the Son of God to break down the barriers between the Jews and the Gentiles. This is why we need to look again to Christ to bring today’s world together. We need to first realize that nearly all races and ethnic groups have been persecuted, some much worse than others have.

As Christians we need to come together to grieve the persecutions, to apologize for the past wrongs, and to accept heartfelt apologies. We can only do that by putting our hearts and eyes on Christ and by praying for the strength to love one another unconditionally.

Racism could end in a day. That day when all of God’s children accept Jesus Christ as Savior and vow to try to live up to His teachings. People would know that we are all created in the perfect image of God (Gen 1:27). We all descended from Adam and Eve so no matter what race we are, we all come from the same blood (Acts 17:26).

God wants to save all mankind, not just one race or two. Jesus showed in many ways that race did not impact His thinking. For instance, He did not hesitate to show love to a Samaritan woman with whom he as a Jew should not have associated.

The Son of God is many things to me, but racist is certainly not one of them. I see only green, my Savior sees only hearts.

1LT (P) Kevin Polosky, USA, was commissioned as an infantry officer in March 1998. While stationed at Fort Benning he wrote this article to share with the youth group he was leading. He, wife Mickel and son Tyler John now live in Friedberg, Germany where he is Movement Control Officer for 1 Brigade 1 Armor Division.