Racists in Heaven?
God's holiness erases racism--but when?
March, 2023
I was recently asked a thought-provoking question about how racism interacts with Christian faith. How should we interpret faith claims from someone whose views we consider immoral, or blatantly non-Christian? The question specifically focused on figures from the American Civil War. The keystone issue of that conflict was chattel slavery: relegating African people to subhuman status, equivalent to animals or tools. Some pro-slavery Southerners claimed Christian faith while expressing deeply racist views. Even famous names in the anti-slavery North voiced opinions considered immoral today.
Thought experiments are an excellent way to flesh out the implications of our beliefs. The conundrum on this question extends in two directions. First, were such persons legitimately saved? Can someone hold views modern Christians would universally deem "racist" or "hateful" while being a born-again believer? Is that an unforgivable sin? Second, if racists can be saved and saved people can be racists, what happens in heaven? Is their racism erased? Does their personality change? Are they even the same person, then?
Misunderstandings about faith and the gospel permeate most public discussions. Especially common is the assumption that becoming a Christian is like formatting a computer drive, where everything is erased and entirely replaced. Suggesting that a born-again believer can still commit certain sins is rarely provocative. But the idea that a saved person might retain attitudes, ideals or even habits which "modern culture" abhors can be scandalous—both for non-believers and self-identified Christians. Truth is, we're not going to be perfect on this side of eternity. The real debate is over how much change we demand to see when we're gauging someone's relationship with Christ.
That question becomes especially potent when we look to figures of the past. The person who brought up this struggle mentioned names such as Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and Nathan Bedford Forrest. Forrest was a renowned Confederate general and the first "grand wizard" of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). What did his simultaneous declarations of faith in Christ and racial prejudice signify? If Forrest was truly saved, why did his attitude not match the modern Christian perspective on a "godly" attitude? If his racism was unforgivable, or incompatible with salvation, was anyone in the past saved, given how common such views were? If Forrest died a saved-but-unreformed racist, was something central to his personality changed in eternity?
Taking all these issues together justifies using the term "problematic." The real-world is not always aligned with our preferences. Sometimes, the differences are minor. In other cases, they're massive—but emotionally difficult facets help us understand something about truth. In this case, it's "scandalous" to think someone we view as immoral might have been forgiven (1 Peter 2:7–8). Yet that's a cornerstone aspect of the gospel. As awful as we consider some earthly sins, they're nothing compared to our rejection of God as Creator. Without contradiction, though, we can note that not all claims to faith are self-verifying. We're stuck in tension between two ideas.
Becoming a born-again Christian does not mean every thought and impulse is entirely replaced. Human beings are frail and corrupted. We're imperfect. That's true even of those chosen for special service to God. The prophet Jonah was passionately racist—so much so that the salvation of Assyrians made him angry (Jonah 3:10—4:3). The apostle Peter had a hard time integrating with non-Jewish believers (Galatians 2:11–14). Those sins are just that: sins which need not and cannot be excused. But they're not unforgivable. Nor are they absolute proof of someone lost without Christ.
It's also true that signs accompany saving faith. Salvation is not a magic spell one recites (Romans 10:9); it's a submission to truth (Luke 13:3). That's why the Bible calls "lost" those with lives defined by certain sins (1 Corinthians 6:9–10; Revelation 22:15). In contrast, Scripture speaks of saved persons as those no longer controlled by those errors (1 Corinthians 6:11). That does not mean a true believer is perfectly free from error. Submissive, repentant believers accept their sinfulness and seek to honor God in every area of life (1 John 1:9–10). We cannot doubt someone's faith over the mere presence of sin (John 7:24)—but it's reasonable to question the salvation of a person for whom sin is an integral part of their personality.
Confederates are not the only Civil War figures subject to these questions. Abraham Lincoln expressed views of race which modern people might find inappropriate. But no serious person would argue his views were indistinguishable from those of KKK "grand wizard" Nathan Bedford Forrest. What rubric discerns between them in a way relevant to all cultures and all times? A possible answer is examining how the gospel moves a person's attitudes, compared to where their culture expects them to be. Not all cultural preferences are equally moral—but neither is it sensible to expect "real Christians" to be identical carbon copies of one another over millennia.
When culture pulls in one direction, and Christ pulls in another, which way does that person move? Is it more admirable to be better-but-not-perfect, living in a depraved moral environment, or to be effortlessly in line with the majority view of one's time? Isn't it worse to be even further from Christ than one's own culture at large? Putting a finer point on it, it's easy to assume "I would have been a voice of dissent in that era or culture"—but most likely, one would not. Few people today deeply consider their ethics, let alone defy mainstream opinion. Justifications and rationalizations have been part of every culture and every generation.
While Lincoln, Jackson, Lee, and Forrest all fall on the wrong side of modern racial views, each was distinct in the degree to which racial attitudes shaped their lives. They're also different in the direction of variance from their native culture. Lincoln advocated for freedom, though not total equality. Lee fought for the Confederacy, but mostly out of loyalty to Virginia. Forrest joined and led people who hated non-whites enough to engage in post-war terrorism. For their time, Lincoln's views and Forrest's views were both on the margins, but in entirely different directions.
Modern Christians would tend to assume Lincoln's salvation, be unsure about Lee's, and certain Forrest was lost. Men such as Lincoln are easier to relate to Peter: well-meaning but not fully in line with God's complete will. Forrest, though, seems more defined by hatred of others. And yet, his full history makes things less sure (Proverbs 18:13, 17). Forrest joined the KKK—he did not create it—and quickly became its leader. Barely a few years later, though, he quit the group and tried to dissolve it. In later life, he spoke extensively in support of minority rights—much to the anger of former companions.
Does that mean Forrest went from insincerity to truly saving faith late in life? Or from one insincere, convenient view to another as he aged? Or was he a confused Christian caught up in the errors of his culture? Was he resisting God in his racial views, or was he sinning in ignorance, genuinely convinced that was what God expected of him? Ultimately, only God knows (1 Samuel 16:7). Either eternal destiny is plausible, given Forrest's history; we cannot claim to know for sure which is the answer.
Thankfully, no view is so ingrained that a person cannot change it while remaining the same soul and spirit (Romans 12:2). Paul went from adamant opposition to Christ to the greatest missionary of all time—but he was always himself (Acts 22:19–20; Philippians 3:4–9). Those redeemed by Christ will have their perspectives greatly changed in eternity (1 John 3:2; 1 Corinthians 13:12). Those who harmed and hated others will see their victims as image-bearers of God (Genesis 1:27). Those who were harmed will see their abusers as forgiven sinners (Mark 3:28; Luke 15:7). The redeemed will carry neither sins nor human biases into heaven. We might be surprised to see certain persons in heaven, but all such surprises will be pleasant (Matthew 9:13; Revelation 7:9). The outrageous change and forgiveness which are impossible on earth will be the norm in a redeemed eternity.
-- Editor
