Any Americans who were previously unaware of Elon Musk’s links to South Africa may have been surprised by Donald Trump’s stance on white South Africans. Apparently, white South Africans are now the only kind of political refugees that the USA will welcome with open arms, as they flee from racially motivated violence in their homeland.

Enough has been written about the state of South Africa’s race relations before and since the arrival of 59 white Afrikaners in the USA to fill a library. Suffice to say that South Africa, 31 years after the end of apartheid, still has a problem with racism. Trump simply turned up the heat under the pot of South African racism that is always simmering, waiting to boil over.

The parallels between SA and the USA are striking when one considers how they have sought to deal with the issue of race. Affirmative Action policies that seek to correct (perceived or real) systemic racism are (SA) or were (USA) implemented in both countries. In response, conservative white people have fought back against what they see as unfair racial prejudice. Trump’s reversal of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) policies in the USA would be a dream come true for many white South Africans.

At this point, you may be expecting some of the usual white, politically conservative, thoughts on how white South Africans could follow in Trump’s footsteps and liberate themselves from racial prejudice. Or perhaps I could spring a surprise attack and launch a liberal-leaning tirade against Trump’s statements about the country of my birth. I will do neither, and will instead try to “show you a more excellent way” (1 Cor. 12:31).

The Christian response to racism starts with identity, rather than identity politics. Although I am a white female South African who has some Afrikaans heritage, none of that matters since I found Christ. When I was born again, I received a new identity, a new citizenship and a new heritage. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me (Gal. 2:20). My home is in Heaven and my heritage is a child of God.

If this seems radical to you, then perhaps you haven’t discovered the radical power of the gospel. This power was first demonstrated in the first century AD when Jews and Gentiles became brothers and sisters. The Jewish mindset at the time was so prejudiced against Gentiles that even entering a Gentile’s house was a shocking thought, while eating a meal with one was unthinkable.

After one particularly fanatical Jew met Jesus on the road to Damascus, everything changed. Saul of Tarsus — a man who identified with the strictest possible form of Judaism — was born again. He became the most prominent missionary to the Gentiles in his day and led the way for Jews and Gentiles to abandon their racial prejudices and love one another in a deeply self-sacrificial way.

The same gospel that Paul preached has the power to change racial relations, even today. Yet it seems to me that many who call themselves Christians in both South Africa and the USA have not experienced the power of the gospel. Rather than replacing their identity with Christ, they add the adjective “Christian” to the many others that form their identity, like a side salad added to a fast-food order.

When Paul (formerly Saul) describes the triumph of the crucifixion as Jesus “disarming the principalities and powers,” he was talking about the rebirth of the Christian who had died with Christ and been raised to live a new life (Col. 2:11–15). In his day, this meant that the most bigoted Jew who was disgusted by Gentiles became a new person, such that his bigotry and racism melted in the face of the Lord Jesus. The Jew could now genuinely call the Gentile ‘my brother in Christ.’

The battle against racism doesn’t start “out there” through DEI or Affirmative Action (there’s a pretty good argument to be made that these only worsen racism), it starts in the heart. If your heart is changed by the Lord, your racism will be disarmed. It might still flare up on occasion, especially if you live in a society where race is an ever-present issue, but it will have lost its teeth. Eventually, through obedience and life experiences that the Lord puts us through, the racist beast within us is declared all but dead and its evil thoughts are silenced.

How then should a Biblical Christian living in SA or the USA respond to the racial tensions of our day? The same way Paul did — preach the gospel, and live it out. Our churches should be places that demonstrate to the world how life could be when the principalities and powers of darkness are broken and the light of the Lord shines through.

Lest you think I am talking hypothetically here, let me introduce you to my own church in Windhoek, Namibia. For those who may not know, Namibia is a neighboring country to South Africa that shares much of its history. If anything, Namibia’s history of racism is darker and more violent than South Africa’s, and the country still struggles with social inequality, unemployment and crime (although generally less violent than in SA).

It is in this context that our multi-cultural church was established and continues to thrive. With a mix of Namibians of all races and tribes, plus expats from several countries (including American, British, Australian, and neighboring African countries) this church is a place where people from vastly different racial, cultural and socio-economic backgrounds gather each Sunday and through the week in small groups. As we learn more about each other, the cultural barriers start to lower and friendships form across tribal, racial, and national lines.

This is not a perfect church — no such thing exists outside of Heaven — but it demonstrates what a multi-cultural and socio-economically divided society could look like if Christ reigned in each heart. This is the result of the gospel that Paul preached 2,000 years ago, as living and powerful as it has ever been.

When you have witnessed the power of the gospel, racist diatribes in South Africa and the USA are placed in their correct perspective. They are not unimportant, but they are a side show that too easily distracts the church from fulfilling its purpose of preaching the gospel to all nations. Even worse, Christians are in danger of tarnishing the name and glory of our Lord by becoming embroiled in arguments over Trump’s latest controversy or Julius Malema’s racist songs (of “Kill the Boer” infamy).

If you look past the flesh and blood (and skin color) of those involved in the race wars, you will see that racism and prejudice are among the principalities, powers, and rulers of the darkness of this age (Eph. 6:12), against which the church must stand firm and fight. We do so by putting on the whole armor of God and joining our brothers and sisters from every nation, tribe, tongue, and people in earnest prayer to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.