I am writing this entry to give my thoughts about the relationship of the Church and its support of the Black Lives Matters (BLM) moment. I am a Christian and my deeply held belief is that the Church and all Christians need to support and evaluate moments and ideals consistent with Godly principles. How we live our lives must conform to the love and compassion that Jesus has for his children. To bring it into current speech we would say WWJD or What Would Jesus Do!
Values and ideals consistent with the nature of God should be embraced by the Church while those that are inconsistent with His nature are not from God but the enemy of our soul. While there are many Godly principles we could use to evaluate the BLM moment and their motives, I will limit my discussion to four attributes which I believe are part of the nature of God and Jesus:
- Love;
- Peace;
- Reconciliation; and
- Forgiveness.
Love – The God we worship in the Christian Church is a God of Love. As we are so often reminded in life that “God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son” (John 3:16). Where do we see Love as part of the BLM movement? If we look at the BLM website, the only mention of Love in their mission statement is states: “We are unapologetically Black in our positioning. In affirming that Black Lives Matter, we need not qualify our position. To love and desire freedom and justice for ourselves is a prerequisite for wanting the same for others.” I believe it is interesting that the only Love mentioned in their mission statement is Love for freedom and justice for the Black community and not for men, women and young people in general. If we look at the recent protests and rallies where is the demonstration of Love within the gatherings?
Peace – We read in 1 Corinthians 14:33 “For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.” God does not deal in confusion or mayhem and Jesus is called the Prince of Peace. Looking at even the “peaceful” demonstrations we see anger and hatred towards churches, businesses, the police and others. Yelling and screaming at church members in Troy NY trying to worship and preach about the love of Jesus, the love of God and forgiveness of sin. This is not in harmony with the Peace of God. If we look at the marches and protests to demand change from both Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi these two strove to right injustices through peaceful demonstrations and resistance. The BLM movement, while claiming to be peaceful, we see their demonstrations turn to throwing bricks, rocks, setting fires, defacing and destroying public and private property and violent outbursts of hatred directed at the police, average citizens and ultimately shooting of people and children. Where is the Peace of God exhibited in these BLM demonstrations?
Forgiveness and Reconciliation – paramount to the Christian life is Forgiveness and Reconciliation two aspect of a Godly heart which go hand-in-hand. Jesus came and died for our sins as payment for those sins. We have been reconciled to God for all eternity through the death of Jesus. Christian Churches believe in the unconditional love of God through Jesus’ death on the cross, God is the author of forgiveness and reconciliation. One of the finest reflection of Godly people is their ability to forgive and patch up broken relationships through the power of God moving within us. God wants us to forgive . We as the church must remember the words in Colossians 3:13 “if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.and be restored to one another” and 2 Corinthians 5:18: “…in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed the message of reconciliation to us.” Christians forgive and reconcile not take revenge and exact payments.
What I see in the BLM movement is not an effort to work towards reconciliation and forgiveness , a fundamental building blocks of Christianity, but a call for racial factions to rise up and to seek payment and revenge for the past injustices and sins of our forefathers. It appears to me, the movement does not seek change in love and peace as did Dr. King but, to use the call of solidarity to force change anyway possible, even through violence. They want reparations (payment) and revenge. They want more than just an eye for an eye. They seek to eliminate any structure that can stand in opposition of total power. They want America and Corporations to grovel and, they have demonstrated that they will personally destroy any who disagree and does not take a knee to their Marxist psychobabble.
Ultimately, a movement, organization or government should not be held up as a Godly example or commended for Godly ideals by the Church if their goals, actions and aspirations do not conform to Godly values. If their activities do not reflect the Godly principles of love, peace, forgiveness, reconciliation and unity then the movement is not inspired by God. The Church needs to remember who is the author of anger, hate, revenge, violence and division. It is the enemy of our soul (Satan) not God. Hence, it is the Churches’ responsibility not to endorse but to educate our members of the potentially dangerous path the BLM organization is trying to assert upon free men, women and young people around the globe.