"The Great Replacement." These are three words that should never be found within 10,000 miles of the lips of anyone who claims to be a follower of Jesus. With origins about a century ago, the Great Replacement refers to the racist belief that the so-called non-white ethnic groups of the world pose an existential threat to the so-called white nations of the world through immigration. In 2022 this view takes various forms, and it is what inspired the horrific Buffalo massacre this weekend. Great Replacement theory became legitimated by Trump on a popular level through his political rhetoric which proclaimed: "all Mexicans are rapists, criminals, and drug dealers;" Covid is the "China virus;" and the U.S. needs to implement a "Muslim ban." Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham play "footsies" with the Great Replacement theory on their popular opinion programs which reach millions, and when confronted they claim they are simply speaking to issues of voting, bereft of any racialized animus. They are vipers. Wolves dressed in sheep's clothing.
Scripture is clear: We are called to a multicultural Beloved Community of hope comprised of people from every nation, tribe, people, and language and we will all offer our distinct and diverse cultural treasures as a precious and celebratory offering to God.
“After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:
‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.’” Revelation 7:9-10
“I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple…The glory and honor of the nations [the God-given cultural treasure and wealth of the different ethnic groups of the world] will be brought into it [forever].” Revelation 21:22-26-27
One can be a believer in the Great Replacement or a follower of Jesus, but not both.
John’s vision of the Beloved Community from every nation, tribe, people, and language is the future to which we are called. In the words of Justo Gonzalez, “this is the vision from which, out of which, the church must live. The church lives not only out of its past, but also out of its future; not only out of its efficient cause, but also out of its final cause” (Gonzales, “For the Healing of the Nations”).
We are called from a future hope. May Jesus give us eyes to see God’s heavenly vision for the multicultural Kingdom of God, and may the Holy Spirit empower us to live from this future hope.