"He will surely reprove you if you secretly show partiality."
Job 13:10 (NKJV)

When God created us humans (Gen 1:26), He gave us the ability to imagine. Our imagination was meant to be a source of creativity and joy, such as creating new fabulous recipes for the enjoyment of others. But unfortunately we sometimes use it in a wrong way, creating stories that have no truth in them that cause unspeakable harm and destruction for millions of innocent people.

One such story is based on Genesis: the so called curse of Ham. It has led people to think that the humans that have more pigment under their skin (i.e. darker skin) are cursed and of less value than the humans that have less pigment under their skin (i.e. lighter skin). One doesn't need to read Genesis too closely to come to the conclusion that the curse of Ham is a human fabrication and a lie.

So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him. Then he said: "Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants he shall be to his brethren." And he said: "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem, and may Canaan be his servant. May God enlarge Japheth, and may he dwell in the tents of Shem; and may Canaan be his servant." (Gen 9:24-27)

It was Ham's son Canaan that was cursed and not his father. If you continue to read Genesis, you'll find that Canaan was the father of the families of Canaanites, the notorious enemies of Israel. These people inhabited also Sodom and Gomorrah that were later destroyed because of the wickedness of the people (Gen 19:24).

"Canaan begot Sidon his firstborn, and Heth; the Jebusite, the Amorite, and the Girgashite; the Hivite, the Arkite, and the Sinite; the Arvadite, the Zemarite, and the Hamathite. Afterward the families of the Canaanites were dispersed. And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon as you go toward Gerar, as far as Gaza; then as you go toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. These were the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands and in their nations."
Genesis 10:15-20 (NKJV)

"And it came to pass when all the kings who were on this side of the Jordan, in the hills and in the lowland and in all the coasts of the Great Sea toward Lebanon-the Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite-heard about it, that they gathered together to fight with Joshua and Israel with one accord."
Joshua 9:1-2 (NKJV)

What Noah prophesied was that [the descendants of] Canaan would be servants of [the descendants of] Shem. In Joshua 9:3-27, the Hivites (descendants of Canaan) become the servants of Israel (Abraham, the father of Israelites was a direct descendant of Shem; Gen 11:10-27) and Joshua actually declares them to be cursed (9:23), just as Noah had said about their ancestor Canaan.

This curse had nothing to do with colors (of one's hair, skin or eyes). The superiority of light-skinned people is a lie that the enemy uses to cause chaos and destruction on earth and he uses Darwinism and evolution to promote such unbiblical views.

God made us all from one blood (Acts 17:26) and real science (evolution is a religion, not science) proves this: the basic genetic difference between any two people is 0.2%. The so called racial differences account for only 0.012 % of the differences. In fact two people of the same group ("race") can have more differences between them, than with a person from another group ("race"). Any claim for superiority based on skin color is unbiblical for we are all descendants of Adam and Eve.
(Source: One Blood by Ken Ham, Carl Wieland and Don Batten;  p. 54; For more information, visit www.answersingenesis.org)

Now you may wonder what this has to do with you and the kitchen. It is very simple: Most of us have gone through a public school education of some sort and have been exposed to evolution theories and Darwinism. Even though you may have been a Christian all your life, the information you gained at school and through the media may have affected your attitudes more than you realize. You may not even be aware that you treat people differently depending on their skin color. Let us assume that you are the only Christian in the kitchen. Everyone knows that you are one and they watch you very carefully. If you show partiality, even subtly, your witness has less value than if you stand out as a person who has higher standards than the rest of the world. You may miss many chances of sharing the Gospel if people sense that you dislike them because of such a trivial issue.

God has called us to honor all people and to show humility before all men (1 Peter 2:17, Titus 3:2). The God you serve and represent doesn't show partiality (Rom 2:11) -- so why should you (James 2:1)?

Susanna Krizo

If God is speaking to your heart about these things, and you need somebody to talk with, please don't hesitate to e-mail us about your need and somebody from the Fellowship will contact you as soon as possible.  If you have a prayer request or would like to start a theological discussion on this or any other topic please feel free to post it in our Message Boards.