Beyond Labels: A Biblical Lens on Identity

In today’s world, there’s a growing trend of elevating racial identity into the spotlight. Websites, social media pages, and organizations are built around celebrating “minority” groups. At first glance, this may look like progress. After all, raising awareness of underrepresented voices has value. But as I’ve reflected on it, something about the way this movement is often carried out doesn’t sit right with me.

Not because diversity is bad, but because of the lens through which we’re viewing it.

When Labels Become the Starting Point

My wife and I are raising our kids in a world that loves labels: “minority,” “majority,” “oppressed,” “privileged.” These categories might make sense sociologically, but I don’t want my daughters growing up thinking of themselves as “minority kids.” That would shrink who they are, limit their imagination, and tether their identity to something they had no choice in...the color of their skin.

I want them to see themselves as little girls, growing into strong women, humans who matter because of their character, their kindness, their grit, and their faith.

If identity is built on labels, it will always be fragile. If it’s built on Christ, it will always be free.

Jesus and the Minority Story Nobody Tells

Here’s what I rarely hear in conversations about race and faith: Jesus Himself was a minority.

Born into a marginalized people under the rule of the Roman Empire, He was brown-skinned, poor, and without social standing. His disciples were the same. Christianity itself didn’t begin in the halls of power or privilege, it grew out of a minority people whose faith shook the world.

Fast-forward to today: most of the world’s Christians are still minorities, living in Africa, Asia, and South America. The roots and reach of the Gospel are anything but white and Western.

So why do we spend so much time drawing attention to labels that Christ Himself came to erase?

The Biblical Lens

The Apostle Paul couldn’t have been clearer:

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” -Galatians 3:28

Identity in Christ collapses the barriers that the world loves to highlight. Jew or Greek? Black or white? Male or female? In Him, we are one.

And as God told Samuel when choosing David:

“The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” -1 Samuel 16:7

This is the heart of it. Labels look at the outside. God looks at the inside.

The View From Where I Stand

I don’t write these thoughts from the outside looking in. I write them as a Latino man, a brown man, and the founder of the Matthew Mark Foundation: a nonprofit dedicated to getting kids on bikes, building community, and lowering youth suicide rates.

Yes, the foundation was founded by a minority. But here’s the difference: I’ve never introduced myself that way. I don’t lead with ethnicity. I lead with faith, with action, and with love for kids who need a place to belong.

I’ve been mislabeled before, even called things that don’t match who I am or what I look like. That only reinforces my conviction that labels are shaky ground to build on.

When Good Intentions Miss the Mark

Now, I don’t doubt that many who champion minority causes mean well. Some may be moved by compassion. Others may be acting out of guilt. Still others are simply trying to do something.

But here’s the danger: when we make skin color the headline, we risk reinforcing the very divisions we’re trying to erase. Instead of creating unity, it can deepen separation. Instead of empowering, it can become performative.

And the truth is, no curated “link list” or collection of organizations can compare to the day-to-day, embodied work of loving our neighbors, building community, and serving faithfully.

A Better Way Forward

For me, the better way is simple:

• Raise kids in freedom, not labels. Teach them that their worth isn’t tied to their skin color, but to their character and their Creator.

• Lead by action, not identity. Don’t build platforms around what box you check. Build them around how faithfully you serve.

• Recenter the conversation on Christ. Remember that He came as a marginalized man to unite the world; not to carve it into categories.

My Anchor

I don’t need validation from someone else’s version of “diversity.” I don’t need to be invited into a curated narrative. I already live it: in my family, in my work, in my community.

My calling is this: to show up authentically, love deeply, and serve faithfully. To raise my children not as “minorities,” but as lights in a dark world. To remember that God isn’t looking at outward appearance; He’s looking at the heart.

That’s enough.

Closing Prayer

Lord, help us remember that in You, labels fade and love remains. Teach us to see people not as categories, but as children of God. Guard our hearts from frustration when the world mislabels us, and anchor us in the truth that our worth is found in Christ alone. Amen.