Today’s question is, “How should Christians view the Black Lives Matter movement?”
In this video I’ll answer that question from a biblical perspective.
Then afterwards, as always, I’ll share some helpful resources, so stick around until the end.
Started in 2013 in response to separate police shootings of two young black men, the Black
Lives Matter movement (or BLM) came into prominence with its use of the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag.
Ever since, the phrase black lives matter has been a rallying cry of those who believe
there is institutional racism against African-Americans in virtually every aspect of society, but
especially in police departments and the legal system.
There is no point in discussing the statistics on black crime vs. the percentage of the black
population and/or the numbers of black-on-black murders vs. the number of blacks killed by
police officers.
For every statistic, there is a dueling statistic or a way to reinterpret the statistic.
There is no point in discussing the specific cases that spawned the Black Lives Matter
movement.
The various sides all seem to be rigorously locked into their understanding of the events
and the aftermaths.
Like most issues connected to race, it appears to be virtually impossible to have a constructive
dialogue about the Black Lives Matter movement.
As a concept, it is true that black lives matter.
Blacks and /or African-Americans are equally created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26).
In God’s eyes, blacks are equal in value to whites, browns, reds, yellows, and everyone
in between.
Racism is evil.
There is only one race, and that is the human race.
Ultimately, we all have the same parents (Genesis 5).
As a movement, Black Lives Matter has taken that true concept (black lives matter) and
twisted it into something completely unbiblical.
The organization has recently showed its true colors, openly promoting causes that oppose
biblical values.
The two co-founders of Black Lives Matter, Patrisse Cullors and Alicia Garza, claim Marxism
as their ideology: “We actually do have an ideological frame,” Cullors said in an
interview, “Myself and Alicia in particular, we’re trained organizers.
We are trained Marxists.
We are super-versed on ideological theories” (quoted in the Washington Times, “The matter
of Marxism: Black Lives Matter is rooted in a soulless ideology,” June 29, 2020).
“We actually do have an ideological frame, myself and Alicia in particular, we’re trained
organizers.
We are trained Marxists.
We are super-versed on ideological theories”
On their official website, BLM expresses their support of the LGBTQ agenda: “We make space
for transgender brothers and sisters to participate and lead.
We . . . dismantle cisgender privilege and uplift Black trans folk.
. . . We foster a queer‐affirming network.
When we gather, we do so with the intention of freeing ourselves from the tight grip of
heteronormative thinking, or rather, the belief that all in the world are heterosexual”
(https://blacklivesmatter.com/what-we-believe, accessed 6/16/20).
Perhaps most troubling is Black Lives Matter’s stance on the family: “We disrupt the Western-prescribed
nuclear family structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and ‘villages’
that collectively care for one another, especially our children, to the degree that mothers,
parents, and children are comfortable” (ibid.).
What BLM calls the “Western-prescribed nuclear family” is actually the God-ordained family
unit: a father, a mother, and their children.
To work to “disrupt” that design is to actively oppose God’s plan for society.
Concerning racism, we can all agree that no one should be judged by the color of his or
her skin.
We should fight against all true forms of racism and be compassionate to its victims.
Through it all, we should point people to Christ as the only answer for racism.
Protests, policies, awareness, changes to the legal system, etc., will never solve the
problem.
Racism is the result of sin.
Until the sin problem is dealt with—until people become new creations in Christ (2 Corinthians
5:17)—the problem of racism will never be eradicated.
Only in Christ can racial reconciliation be found: “For he himself is our peace, who
has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility”
(Ephesians 2:14).
Concerning the methods used by Black Lives Matter, peaceful protests against racial injustice
are appropriate.
But Christians should never be involved in rioting, looting, violence against police
officers, hateful speech, and/or “reverse” discrimination or racism against non-blacks.
Injustice and hatred will not be ended by more injustice and hatred.
As for BLM’s position on issues not related to race, there is no way a Christian should
support the godless ideology of Marxism, allow the destruction of the nuclear family, or
be involved in a “queer-affirming network” that advocates for the normalization of transgenderism.
As with any group, it’s important to know what Black Lives Matter believes.
And some of what they believe is incompatible with biblical truth.
Of course, all Christians should be in full support of black lives matter as a concept,
as we are all created in the image of God; however, Christians should reject the BLM
movement’s hijacking of this truthful concept and its promotion of philosophies and methodologies
that are completely unbiblical.
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