TheoloJeep

1. Introduction: A False Cure for a Real Disease

Jeremiah thundered against false prophets in his day:

“They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.” (Jer. 6:14)

False cures are often worse than the disease. They promise healing but spread infection. In Paul’s day, the false gospel of the Judaizers bound people back into slavery. Paul wrote with urgency:

“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel.” (Gal. 1:6)

Today, we are witnessing the rise of another false gospel: the gospel of “antiracism,” as proclaimed by Ibram X. Kendi. His How to Be an Antiracist is widely promoted as the cure to America’s racial ills. It has infiltrated classrooms, boardrooms, and even pulpits.

But it is not the gospel. It is a rival faith, demanding allegiance, repentance, and obedience—without offering forgiveness, reconciliation, or hope. It is a false cure that leaves generations wounded.

2. Kendi’s False Gospel: Antiracism as Salvation

In How to Be an Antiracist, Kendi writes:

“There is no such thing as a nonracist or race-neutral policy. Every policy in every institution is producing or sustaining either racial inequity or equity between racial groups.”

His framework insists that neutrality is impossible. Every word, action, and policy is either racist or antiracist.

The problem is not the observation that sin can lurk beneath neutrality—Scripture affirms that silence in the face of injustice can itself be sin (Prov. 31:8–9; James 4:17). The problem is that Kendi substitutes activism for redemption. He preaches salvation, not through Christ, but through perpetual “antiracist” work.

Where the gospel declares: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8), Kendi declares: “For by antiracism you will be saved, through activism. This is not a gift—it is the work of your hands.”

This is not grace. This is works-righteousness in another form. And it offers no assurance of forgiveness. If every thought, action, and policy is either racist or antiracist, then the treadmill never stops. There is no “It is finished” (John 19:30). There is only endless self-examination, perpetual penance, and the crushing weight of guilt.

This is a false gospel. Paul warns us:

“Even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.” (Gal. 1:8)

Kendi’s “antiracism” is exactly that: a gospel contrary to Christ.

3. The Marxist Roots of Kendi’s Ideology

To understand Kendi, we must trace the genealogy of his ideas.

Karl Marx (1818–1883) divided humanity into oppressors (bourgeoisie) and oppressed (proletariat). His solution was revolution.

The Frankfurt School (1920s–30s) developed “critical theory,” applying Marx’s categories to culture. Every structure was analyzed as a system of power.

Critical Race Theory (CRT, 1970s onward) shifted the axis from class to race. Legal scholars like Derrick Bell and Kimberlé Crenshaw argued that racism is embedded in all systems, making neutrality impossible.

Ibram X. Kendi (2010s–present) distilled these concepts for mass consumption. He baptized them in moralistic language, presenting “antiracism” as the path of salvation.

Kendi’s words reveal his Marxist DNA:

“The only remedy to racist discrimination is antiracist discrimination. The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination.” – How to Be an Antiracist

This is not justice. This is vengeance. It directly contradicts God’s law:

“You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.” (Lev. 19:15)

Biblical justice is impartial. Kendi’s “justice” is partial by design. It replaces one form of injustice with another.

4. The Harm to Generations

A. In Education

From grade schools to graduate programs, Kendi’s ideas have been adopted as curriculum. Children are taught to see themselves as oppressors or victims based on skin color. This undermines both dignity and accountability.

Instead of teaching children that all are sinners in Adam and all may be redeemed in Christ (Rom. 5:12–19), schools teach them to carry collective guilt or victimhood. This breeds resentment and fragility rather than resilience and forgiveness.

B. In Society

Kendi-inspired policies seek equity of outcome rather than equality before God and the law. Equity demands engineered results; equality demands impartial justice.

The fruit is division. Instead of a shared standard of righteousness, society fractures into warring groups, each demanding reparations, representation, and recompense. The “antiracist” cure intensifies the very disease it claims to solve.

C. In the Church

Perhaps the most tragic impact has been within Christ’s church. In 2019, the Southern Baptist Convention passed Resolution 9, describing CRT as a set of “analytical tools.” Many churches adopted Kendi-esque “antiracist” curricula, mistaking it for biblical justice.

But this has not healed the body of Christ. It has divided it. Paul rebuked the Corinthians for their divisions, insisting: “Is Christ divided?” (1 Cor. 1:13). Yet today, churches have torn themselves apart by importing categories foreign to the gospel.

Instead of uniting around the cross, they have divided along worldly lines. The result has been schism, suspicion, and distraction from the Great Commission.

5. The Better Way: Christ, Not Kendi

Scripture does not deny sin. It exposes it. Racism is real. Partiality is condemned. James writes:

“My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.” (James 2:1)

But Scripture does not leave us in despair. It points to the cross, where Christ has reconciled Jew and Gentile, slave and free, black and white:

“He himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility.” (Eph. 2:14)

The gospel provides what Kendi cannot:

Forgiveness: “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses” (Eph. 1:7).

Reconciliation: “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Cor. 5:18).

Unity: “For you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28).

Where Kendi preaches penance, Christ preaches pardon. Where Kendi preaches division, Christ preaches peace. Where Kendi preaches endless struggle, Christ proclaims victory: “It is finished.” (John 19:30)

6. Conclusion: Choose Your Foundation

Ibram X. Kendi’s ideology has been embraced as wisdom, but it is folly. It is a false gospel that cannot save. It denies the disease of sin and denies the cure of Christ. Generations discipled by his framework will inherit bitterness, division, and despair.

But the gospel of Jesus Christ offers a better way. At the cross, sin is forgiven, enemies are reconciled, and peace is made. Christ, not Kendi, is the hope for generations.

“For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor. 3:11)

The folly of Ibram X. Kendi is that he points to man as savior. The glory of Christ is that He alone is Savior. And in Him, there is not only justice, but peace everlasting.