Black Lives Matter: The Sentence or the Organization?

“Pastor Bill, What do you think of “Black Lives Matter?”  I’m getting that question with regularity these days.

I’ve been borrowing a phrase that I find helpful when I reply, “I support the sentence, but the organization: not so much.” (See Resources Below)

I very much want to recognize and engage the racial tensions we face in the United States these days.  There is a history of chattel slavery in our country – what the Bible condemns in the strongest language as “man-stealing” in King James language – that infected our founding.  That infection resurfaced even after the Civil War as Reconstruction was subverted and Jim Crow, red-lining and police brutality grew up like toxic weeds.  Because All Lives Matter as image-bearers of the great Creator-King, I will affirm that when Black Lives are being crushed, we need to stand strong for their value.  So yes, Black Lives Matter.

But the organization of that name seems to be a very different matter to me.  The organization has a history, leaders and stated vision that I believe is counterproductive to valuing all people.  Frankly, the organization Black Lives Matter and its leaders have a different worldview, values, motivation, and vision than, for example, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and it’s leaders – including Dr. Martin Luther King – did during the Civil Rights struggle of the ’50s and ’60s.  I am convinced that Black Lives Matter as an organization is shaped by its professed Marxist view of the world in the same way that the SCLC is - just like the name says: Christian.

And that difference matters a lot.  Marxism and Christianity are different worldviews with contradicting views of God, the nature of humanity, human perfectibility, strategy for change and more.  They cannot be harmonized.  They each lead to different conclusions and get there by different means.In weeks to come, I hope to follow with specific examples of these differences.

It is my guess that everyone marching with the Black Lives Matter organization “support the sentence” and are anxious to pursue equal justice under law for all people.  They recognize racial inequality and want to a part of positive change.  I am not as sure that many people have thought through the Marxist foundations and convictions of the organization.  Such thoughtful reflection is worth doing.

I won’t make the case for that difference here but intend to do that on single issues in the coming weeks.  For example, BLM-the-organization opposes the idea of "white racial superiority," and so does the Gospel.  How and why do the perspectives differ though - and lead to different outcomes - even at points they seem to hold in common.

For now, I simply want to raise my concern and make a point.  Invest some time to come to your own conclusion, because it will effect how you invest yourself in the Bible’s message of reconciliation – racial and otherwise.

This is an important moment in our history as citizens.  There are difficult issues to consider.  I don't think it will do to point out problems with BLM-the-rganization without stepping forward with a better option for pursuing racial reconciliation.  I do not want my critique to be cause for sticking with the status quo. 

Twice before in our nation's history - the Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement - believing Christians were at the forefront of facing racial problems and leading with real solutions.  We need to be part of this opportunity and make a guiding contribution once again.  It is my conviction that If the believing church abandons the issue of justice to Marxist strategies, then our country will never have justice, and the church will have compromised the Gospel of God's Grace.  I don't want either of those outcomes.

This matter is so important, that if you would like to pursue further conversation, then contact me through the church, and let's talk.  I would be anxious to listen and consider, as well as dig deeper with you into my own reading.  

Here are some resources that were helpful to me:

The following linked content is provided for your personal reflection and consideration. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the exact opinions or positions of Celebration or Harderwyk Ministries.

Social Justice, Critical Race Theory, Marxism, and Biblical Ethics by Kelly Hamren - CLICK HERE - I came to this article through my friend Kevin Brown in New Orleans.  As it turns out, Kelly is a legitimate scholar (earned Ph.D.!), believer, and family friend of our in-laws Robert & Sally Sadler.  Small world indeed.  The article itself was posted by Ed Stetzer's blog "The Exchange" which is "go-to" reading with Christianity Today for me.  It's long but clear and well done. 

Is Black Lives Matter the New Civil Rights Movement? By Mika Edmondson – CLICK HERE - This is the transcript of a 2016 (make note of that date!  2016) presentation made to the Council Meeting of the Gospel Coalition by Dr. Mika Edmondson, at that time the pastor of New City Fellowship OPC, a Presbyterian church in Southeast Grand Rapids. He earned a Ph.D. in systematic theology from Calvin Seminary and wrote The Power of Unearned Suffering, a book about Martin Luther King Jr.’s theology of suffering.

Ugly Stain, Beautiful Hope: My Response to Mika Edmondson by Albert Mohler – CLICK HERE - This will give you a sense of the impact of the previous presentation on those who were gathered that day.

Annotated Guide to Martin Luther King's Letter From Birmingham Jail by Justin Taylor - CLICK HERE - This includes the full-text of Dr. King's letter, the letter he is responding to and notes for engaging the letter's faith foundations in a helpful way.  This is what thoughtful Christian leadership on race issues looks like

Black Lives Matter: Affirm the Sentence, Not the Movement by Albert Mohler – CLICK HERE - This article gave me the summary reply and distinction between the sentence and the organization.  Contains background on all the other issues beyond race - sexuality, family, economics, policy - that the organization includes in its agenda.

The Intellectual Roots of Today’s Identity Politics by Jorge Hernandez – CLICK HERE - A deep, but helpful book review that filled in the historical steps between Karl Marx and the “cultural Marxism” of identity politics generally, and Black Lives Matter specifically.

Broken People - Part 2

Let’s be honest: Every human hero is still a sinner at heart.  At best, any person is a mixture of their best and their worst; their strengths and their weaknesses.

I’ve been watching the pulling down of monuments to historical figures with very mixed feelings.  I tend to be interested in learning from history – both the good and the bad – because I am not interested in reliving its worst chapters.  Still, I can recognize the offense of various Civil War generals and am willing to learn their history – again both good and bad – without making them even appear to be heroes to affirm or emulate with prominent monuments.

But what to do with monuments to historical figures like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Christopher Columbus?  Each were exemplary in some ways, and made contributions to human history that are worth noting and affirming.  It would be good for everyone to know exactly why King George III called George Washington “the greatest man in the world.”  Our current leaders could all stand to emulate the character trait of humility that the King of England recognized in Washington.

But should we ignore Washington’s ownership of slaves?  Not at all.

The Gospel of God's grace helps me recognize that every person - even the best person - will still be a sinner with faults, sins and shortcomings. There will some things to applaud, emulate and learn from, and some things to avoid, change and deplore.

Seems to me that we learn the most by knowing the entire story of a person – the good as well as the bad.  But if we erase the person entirely in an effort to scrub history of all that is bad, I fear that we will loose the good as well.

It has always caught my attention that Marxist governments only had one “real person hero” at any given time that was worthy of monuments.  Statues of Lenin abounded while he was in charge.  Statues of Stalin were everywhere while he was in charge.  The same for Mao while he was in charge.  Other monuments might be raised to “the new Soviet man” as a class, but never a representative or heroic or exemplary person.  And when leaders changed, so did the monuments. 

If you can only build monuments to perfect people, you will only have monuments to the one in charge at any given time.

Better to learn from the real people of our past – the good and the bad - than simply salute the power person of the moment.

 

Broken People - Part 1

The reason that we need police in the first place, is the same reason there will always be “bad cops” in some place.  We’re all sinners who need a savior.  That goes for every aspect of life and society.

Once I understand the Gospel of God’s grace, I can begin to figure out that no human being or human society will ever produce the “perfect system” of any sort.  Broken people will always create broken systems – broken somewhere, somehow or in some way. And even if we could produce the “perfect system,” we are then left to populate that “perfect system” with less than perfect people.  Even a hypothetical perfect system will be less than perfect over time when it is implemented by broken people.

That goes for police forces, school systems, local churches, denominations, political parties, nations, corporations, garden clubs, family budgets, the front lawn and everything else.  As a Calvinist, I recognize this as “Total Depravity;” the “T” in my TULIP.  I may not be as bad or broken as I can be, but every part of me is affected by my brokenness in some way.  As a believer, I recognize that there is no escaping that sad reality until Jesus returns and He sets everything right.  Until then, every believer is letting His grace flourish more and more in their life and relationships.  Still, even on a good day, we are only seeing approximations of the true and perfect that is to come.

So, what do we do about that?

First, don’t plan on perfection for any system, plan or person.  Build in checks and balances along with points of accountability.  How will you discover a breakdown?  How do you make restitution, learn from and then implement changes that will minimize the chance of any future breakdown?

Second, have enough humility to recognize that even if your answer is “better” than the other person’s, it still won’t be the “perfect answer.“  There will come a time when circumstances change and the brokenness will work its way to the surface in whatever system or answer you propose.  Breakdown is a “when” not an “if.” 

Finally, don’t give up.  With accountability and humility, things in any system or situation can improve, and everyone benefits from that.  The Apostle Paul writes “do not grow weary in well-doing.”(Galatians 6:9)  Those of us living by His grace, are kept and strengthened in that grace in the pursuit of His glory.  (Hebrews 12:3)  Keep hungering and thirsting for His righteousness and justice.

All this to say: I was horrified to watch George Floyd die.  There clearly needs to be some accountability established, and then changes identified and implemented for policing.  We can do – and desperately NEED TO DO - better for every American.  But we will never get it “perfect.”  We will always need accountability, change and restitution.

So for now, let’s come to grips with the problem, identify some steps to make things better, and get to it.  Quickly.

What Do You Mean By That?

When I first heard the phrase “Defund the Police.” I was astonished.  I’ve done ministry in neighborhoods where the police did not go after dark.  It was awful to see what resulted – especially for the impoverished residents that I knew and loved.  I would not want that sort of circumstance for anyone, so how anyone could advocate THAT was beyond me.

STUPIDEST THING I CAN EVER IMAGINE! Was my natural response.

Thankfully, I have learned to ask instead, “What do you mean by that?”

A little time on Google and some reading across various news sources that I know – not one of them on FaceBook, but that is a different conversation – and I began to see the slogan “Defund the Police” a bit differently. CLICK HERE or CLICK HERE for two examples.

It turns out that others have noticed the same things I have. Over just the course of my lifetime, we have all grown to rely on the police to take care of more and more things: school disciplinary issues, my neighbor’s kid’s garage band, homeless people panhandling near the parking lot.  What if we began steps to let law enforcement focus on enforcing laws rather than ridding my life of inconveniences like those?  Policing that is more connected with the community and people equipped to handle other problems – like addiction – more available for those interventions.

To be honest, when people explain what they mean with this slogan, I’m still not convinced - in fact, I'm kind of alarmed!  But that too is another discussion.  My point is that asking “What do you mean by that?” rather than simply screaming “THAT IS THE STUPIDEST THING I CAN EVER IMAGINE!” moved my own thinking in an entirely different direction.

So ask the question and listen.  You don’t have to be convinced, but we’re all better off if we take that step in pursuit of understanding.

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb Is Gonna Be A Potluck!

I’ve been thinking lately about that “Marriage Supper of the Lamb” that is mentioned in Revelation 19:9 & 17.  What I am about to suggest has no grounding in the actual text.  And I do not want to start a new denomination over this idea.  But .  .  .  .

 I think the Marriage Supper of the Lamb is Gonna Be a Potluck!

 And here’s why:

There Will Be Lots and Lots of Guests!  - Bigger than any one or ten or one hundred catering companies could manage, even with the help of angels.

These Guests Will Be From “Every Tribe & Tongue & Nation” – And of course, they will come with their own favorite tastes and preferences.

Serving Will Be At The Heart Of This New Kingdom – Because the Triune God of the Bible is now enthroned, selfishness is destroyed and all things are set right.

So, I’m concluding that everyone will joyfully bring their own favorite foods to share. And that my friends, is called a Potluck!

My brothers and sisters from Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church will bring the best Soul Food you can ever imagine.  And how could my Cajun friends from First Presbyterian Church in Houma, LA not bring their Alligator Sauce Piquante and more boiled crawfish than could ever fit on a plywood table?  There will be Banket on the dessert table as well as a whole variety of midwestern pies.  The Germans?  We’re bringing the Wurst food – Knockwurst and Bratwurst of course – and plenty of our special beverage.  Pastor Wang Yi and his congregation from the Early Rain Covenant Church in China will bring dishes I’ve never seen on the menu board here.  And from the underground churches in Iran, Persian food that I’ve never yet tasted.  I could go on and on and on, but you get my drift here.

And I can hardly wait!  How about you?

Returning From Exile

I had a long, sleepless night recently and decided to invest it in pursuing the Good Shepherd in prayer.  During that time, I began to be drawn to the Scriptures about the return of God’s People to Judah from the Babylonian Exile.  Can you guess what has been on my mind lately?

 Several things I took away from this time:

 The Return From Exile Took Time And Happened in Roughly Three Waves

• 539 BC – Zerubbabel – the Decree of Cyrus
•  537 BC – Rebuilding of Temple begins
•  458 BC - Ezra the Priest – Rebuild the people – problem of pagan assimilation
• 445 BC - Nehemiah – Rebuild the wall

 

The Return Was Neither Perfect Nor Complete

 “Mistakes were made.”  All three leaders and the people they led were flawed and stumbled at points.  Some mistakes were significant and had painful consequences.  No one was perfect.  But they were willing.  And the LORD used those people.

 I became aware as I prayed that the people returning to Jerusalem were very different than the people who had been dragged away from the city decades earlier.  It was an entirely new generation.  They and their children had been forever shaped by the event.  They never “got back to the way things were.” 

 Already for us here at Harderwyk – indeed for the entire world – there have been deaths and births while we are “staying safe at home.”  When we do get back together under one roof, we will not be the same people, in the same way those returning exiles were different.  Certainly, there is sadness with that, but it is not all bad.  God’s People learned some things in Babylon.

  

The LORD Was With His People Wherever They Were And His Promises Were Dependable

 It was the LORD Who raised up the Babylonians as His instrument to ransack Jerusalem, the Temple and carry off the People of Promise.  While they were far away, captive in pagan Babylon, the LORD was present – speaking through the prophets (Ezekiel and others), raising up Daniels and making promises (read Jeremiah 29!) that He would deliver on.  This exile would indeed end for Judah.  And though Cyrus the Persian King would write the decree that did it, the Scriptures are clear that it was the LORD Who was at work through even the civil government to make it all happen.

 Our Heavenly Father is with us also.  He is with us in the outbreak of sickness and loss.  And His promises are good and coming to pass.  It takes time.  Missteps go on.  Life and losses are all mixed into the gumbo.  But we are not alone, and things are not out of control.

  

We Look Forward To Our True and Perfect Return Home From Our Exile

 The return of God’s People from Babylon to Jerusalem points us to God’s work, presence and promise in our own moment.  We have a Good Shepherd who has gone ahead and made a place for us.  (John 10 & 14)  The Return to Jerusalem, our return to life together are wonderful expressions of our LORD at work, but they are meant to remind us of something greater.  They are not an end in themselves. 

 There is coming a time when the worship will be perfect!  (Rev 5;9)  There will be more people and more different kinds of people that we have ever experienced or can even imagine.  (Rev 7:9)  And there will be a great feast of a meal.  (Rev  19:9)  Frankly, I can hardly wait.

 And I am living today with whatever I face with that True and Perfect Return as my motivation.

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To be clear, I am not writing here about the judgment and exile part of the narrative.  I want to specifically reject any “cause-and-effect” connection between “bad-behavior-and-troubles-in-life.”  The gospel frees me from a graceless, mechanical sort of “Judah-sinned-so-God-punished-them-with-exile” cause-and-effect view of sin and judgment specifically because no amount of exile could ever pay for the depth of Judah’s sin, or of my sin or of the sin of any person or nation.  Only God Himself could take care of that problem.  Perhaps I will address this more deeply in a future post, but for now, I want to specifically reject any connection to “we-were-bad-so-God-sent-COVID-so-that-means-we-all-need-to-be-good” thinking.  God’s answer to our sin – personally and as a nation – is always the death and resurrection of Jesus, not some measure of punishment whether for us or for anyone else.