How To Make Black Lives Matter
Thesis:
Making black lives matter can only happen when our definition and understanding of justice begins with the submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and obedience to His word as revealed in the Old and New Testaments.
Introduction
Black lives matter has become a significant movement in the United States. You cannot drive far without seeing a BLM sign posted in the front yard of America's lawn. I've seen them in the most affluent, to some of the poorest neighborhoods in Connecticut. The people who post them are of all colors, creeds, and socio-economic statuses. People are horrified at the blatant acts of violence against the black community and want to do their part.
Since I don't have a front yard, I thought I would do my part by showing how to truly make black lives matter. I will argue that BLM's underlying principles only have meaning if understood from a Biblical worldview. Concepts such as human dignity, justice, and societal change are meaningless unless you start from the revelation God gave about Himself in the Old and New Testaments of the Holy Scriptures. I contend that the Black Lives Matter movement, while well-intentioned, cannot sustain their cause unless and until they work toward change by beginning with the conversion of individuals and nations to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
The Foundation of Human Worth
Created in God's Imagine
There is only one Book that proclaims the truth about humanity. In Genesis 1:26+27 Bible boldly states:
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:26&27
The Bible does not say some human beings are better than others. It doesn't say one gender or ethnicity has less value than another. All human beings are created in God's image, starting with the original humans, Adam and Eve. Being made in God's image includes people with greater or lesser amounts of melanin in their skin.
Because of this claim, all human beings have infinite value. We have worth because God created us in His image. No one has the authority to claim intrinsic superiority over another human being. To start from any other religious, theological, philosophical, or theoretical basis, other than the Scripture creates racism, classism, sexism, and every other negative "ism" there is. Take the God of the Bible out of the equation, and you have humans competing against humans. In other words, "survival of the fittest."
The Folly of Evolution
Contrary to popular opinion, Evolution is not based upon science. At best, it is a theory and not a very coherent one at that. Science is based upon observable events that can be repeated for verification. While we can observe selective breeding, we do not see amebas transitioning into higher and more complex life forms. Simple single-celled amebas do not gain complexity and information through natural selection. The very thought of it is not only unscientific; it is illogical. Yet, so many believe in Evolution, and it is taught in public schools as if it is science.
If Evolution is true, what basis does anyone have to say one life matters over another? If all humanity is, are sophisticated animals, what does it matter if the stronger kills the weaker? Instead of repudiating this, people should be celebrating the advancement of Evolution in motion. The very thought is ludicrous.
The only viable alternative to faith in Evolution is the truth, as revealed by God in the Bible. Acts 17:26 says we all are of "one blood." We are one blood because God created our original parents, Adam and Eve. Human beings are made in the image of God regardless of the color of their skin, their socio-economic circumstance, where they live, or how they live.
The Cross and Human Value
Even more significant than the creation of humanity in God's image is the revelation of the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. The Bible reveals that the second Person of the Trinity became a Man to provide a way to be made right with God. God the Father sent His only-begotten Son to be crucified on the cross as a substitute atonement for sin.
Nothing gives humanity more meaning and dignity than God becoming a human being and willingly laying down His life for sinners. Jesus Christ didn't die for sophisticated animals. He died for fallen human beings made in the image of God. The Bible says
For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Romans 10:13)
The invitation is given to all humanity, regardless of skin color. Jesus told His disciples to "go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation." (Mark 16:15) The "whole creation" refers to all humanity from the indigenous tribes in South America to the super-rich of Silicon Valley.
Why do black lives matter? They matter because black people are children of Adam and Eve just as much as blond and blue-eyed people are. They count because Jesus Christ died for the sins of all who believe and trust in Him. They matter because God is our Creator, and in Him, all human beings are worthy of dignity.
How We Know That Justice is Just
Let's move to the concept of justice. Justice only has meaning because of who God is in and of Himself. No higher authority or standard determines what is just or unjust other than the self-existing Trinity; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Without this, human beings have no objective standard to determine whether an action is just or unjust. Without God's revelation, Man is the ultimate authority, and the survival of the fittest holds sway. The stronger determines what is just in the same way a lion prevails over the weaker. No one faults an animal feeding upon the more vulnerable. No hungry animal is tried for murder because it is bigger, stronger, or faster than its prey.
Self-Law, God's Law, and the Meaning of Justice
How do we know that justice is good? Good is good because God is good. He defines what is right by His very nature. Anything that does not conform to His heart is evil. Eve's first temptation in the garden was to determine good and evil for herself rather than by who God is and the Law He gave. (Genesis 3) The word "autonomous" literally means self law (auto = self and nomous = law). As soon as human beings become autonomous, that is a law unto themselves, there is no ultimate standard for goodness, justice, or truth.
In short, without Biblical revelation, justice has no meaning. It has no ultimate standard when individuals, organizations, and governments reject God and His Law. Murder is wrong because it goes against God's revealed Law. On this basis alone, those who do wrong should be punished, and it is by this standard alone lawbreakers are found guilty.
The Bible reveals that injustice, racism, and murder is wrong. (injustice - Proverbs 17:15, racism - Romans 10:12, murder - Exodus 20:13) Each is wrong because they go against the character of God.
Outrage Against Injustice Testifies to Biblical Truth
If people don't know the Bible or if they reject the special revelation given in Scripture, their outrage towards injustice testifies that the Law of God is written in the very fabric of creation:
For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Romans 1:19-21
The fact that people who are not believers are outraged at injustice is proof that Christianity is true. The most evident proof that injustice is wrong is given in God's special Biblical revelation. Yet, even without special revelation, human beings have a sense of justice by observing creation and by the testimony of their hearts.
How We Make Black Lives Matter
How do we make black lives matter? The answer is not through protests, nor by defunding the police. It is not by replacing one humanistic law with another man-based law. Racism will not change because the majority posts signs in their front lawn. Nor will it come through education or revolution. All these things may help, but they do not solve the root of the problem.
The problem is in the fallen human heart. It doesn't mean we shouldn't protest or work toward reforming the police or try to influence legislation or let people know where we stand or try to educate or even revolt against an unjust and corrupt government.
They do not go far enough. It is like putting a bandaid on a festering wound. None deal with the root of the problem. God shows us the hard truth concerning humanity and the human heart:
As it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together, they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." "Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive. "The venom of asps is under their lips." "Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness." "Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known." "There is no fear of God before their eyes." (Romans 3:10-18)
Or
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9)
What is the answer? Again, the Bible reveals the solution. God calls for each individual to repent and believe in Jesus Christ. The human heart is changed as it is "crucified with Christ." (Galatians 2:20) Romans 6 tells us that when we are in Christ, we cannot continue to live in sin. When we are in Christ, we have the power to walk in the newness of life. The Bible promises that we will be filled with the Holy Spirit and have the ability to not only live according to God's standards of holiness, but change society to be empowered to live according to God's Law. (2 Corinthians 5)
The Role of the Government in Making Black Lives Matter
The government's primary job is to enforce God's Law by punishing evildoers and commending those who do right. (Romans 13:1-5) As we submit to Christ, we have the objective standard by which our government can enact and enforce Law. This Law is not based upon human opinion, majority rule, the survival of the fittest, or any other social standard. The Law is based upon the revealed character of God both in Biblical revelation and general revelation. When this happens, the government will appropriately punish systemic injustice, prejudice, or racism and pass laws to curb these behaviors. A godly government will justly punish all lawbreakers not submitted to the one and only Living God.
The Steps to Make Black Lives Matter
First, the leadership of Black Matter needs to submit to the authority and Lordship of Jesus Christ (Philippians 2:10-11)
Second, the leadership needs to renounce any associations with the godless philosophies of Evolution, Marxism, and Atheism. (2 Corinthians 10:3-6)
Third, BLM needs to focus on the conversion of individuals and nations to Jesus Christ (Romans 10:14-17)
Fourth, BLM needs to root concepts of injustice, racism, and truth in the character of God as revealed in the Bible (2 Thessalonians 1:6-8)
Fifth, BLM needs to work to establish God's Law as the foundation of our legal system (Romans 3:31)
Who Am I To Speak
Some may criticize me for speaking about Black Lives Matter as a white man. What right do I have to say anything? I think the answer to this lies in that most of the BLM signs are posted on the lawns middle-class white people in suburban America. While my take is different from most white Americans, I believe that if those in the BLM movement welcome their forms of expression, I too have the same right.
I believe I have a duty to speak, considering the racist education I received in my public school "education." I have written elsewhere that the Evolutionary indoctrination that is perpetrated in public schools is inherently racist. It is time for Christians, and all seeking justice for that matter, to speak out against racism as it is taught in public schools.
Finally, I cannot sit idly by as false solutions are given to a severe problem. The teachings of Evolutionary Marxism begets revolution. I believe our country is in the midst of the most significant cultural revolution in our nation's history. This revolution's unifying factor is the rejection of Biblical Christianity and the foundation of God's Law in our justice system. Humanistic law prevails, and as such, we are caught in the Evolutionary trap that change can and will come only through revolution. Here we are back to the survival of the fittest. It is a false answer that will result in a bloody end.
The answer to all humanity's problems is found in the simple phrase in the Lord's prayer,
"Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
It is only in Christ that Black Lives Matter. The sooner we learn this, the sooner justice will come!