Before I dive deeper and go full-on gospel, I want to clarify that this article is not intended to undermine anyone’s relationship with God or ridicule those that do not have one. This article is solely calling attention to how as a Christian, we have the moral responsibility to be intently spreading Jesus’s message, and how this obligation should apply to the current events that have been plaguing our nation not only for the past months but for centuries. It is your role as a Christian to evaluate your behaviors in comparison to how Jesus would have handled the situations you are placed in. How you evaluate this is what strengthens or weakens your relationship with God. I hope that this article can be of use to white Christians who are struggling to connect their faith to the national struggles unfolding.
America, engulfed in trivial times, is yet again at a crossroads where racial equality will either progress or digress depending on governmental response. Among a multitude of dis-unions currently raging within our nation, one can argue there is a divide between Christians: those who empathize with the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, and those who are tied to traditional values that cause belittlement of African American communities. These religious sects cherish the same Christian beliefs, but, social context and political reliance greatly alter and divide the overall Christian response to the urgent and ongoing BLM movement.
This impacts all of us. Whatever your race, gender, sexuality, political view, or economic class may be, you are affected by police brutality and white supremacy. You may even unjustly and unknowingly benefit from it. Until racial justice is served, each Black life lost to these issues is a life that is stained on the hands of those that stayed silent in times where solidarity was cried out for. If you are Christian and consider yourself to be pro-life yet are not defending people of color, you are not pro-life, rather pro-controlling women. To not stand with those in need of humanity and help, because personal bias such as racism or politics is a greater priority to you than human life, is in itself disgraceful to Jesus’s message. This we all know- but do we all understand?
All Christians should recognize the systemic racism in America and feel the need to help our brothers and sisters of all races. If you do not recognize this, or even worse, you agree with racism, you are failing in your duty as a Christian, and need to strengthen your relationship with God through educating yourself and using both of these tools- God and your education- to take action to help our Black community.
Furthermore, if you call yourself Christian yet have the intentions and actions of a racist, you have voided the words of Jesus and you have maliciously shadowed rather than have spread His light. This. Is. Sinful. You cannot praise the word of Christ, who loves all human creation while discriminating, oppressing, brutalizing, and disrespecting an entire population of human creation who differ in the race. In doing so, you are dishonoring the Christian belief and message. You are using the name and figure of peace and love in disgrace as you validate and support the suppression and violence towards others. If this is you, you are prioritizing the traditional and social values of bigotry over the words of the Bible in which you deem superior yet cannot correctly comprehend. If this is you, you are resembling the terrorism of radical anti-black groups like the KKK and abusing religion in doing so. If this is you, you are not Christian.
The number one priority on the agenda of a Christian is to spread Jesus’s light. In doing so, we are taught to love others and give grace and to preach these values to others who may not understand. This love applies to race too- without barriers. So why is it not consistently on the Christian agenda to be spreading the values of equality and justice? In these times, if we want to be spreading love, we need to be proactively working on the spread of equality too.
How can we claim to love all, despite our differences, yet some stay silent while those who need our love and light most are suffering? How can we have conversations that challenge and encourage one another to be better Christians, yet some lack conversations that challenge and encourage one another to be better allies? Why can we hold other Christians accountable for their sins, yet some struggle to hold other Christians accountable for their racism? How can Christian homes and churches have conversations of God and reflect on the acts of Jesus, yet some fail to have the conversations of how to apply these morals to issues such as racism?
These are the questions we need to be reflecting on as we move forward in this BLM Movement. These are the issues we need to be discussing as a community to maximize our ability to spread Jesus’s light and showcase love, strength, and the will for equality and justice towards the black community. These are the prayers we should be considering as we grow in our relationship with God and devour Jesus’s sense of activism and apply it towards America’s history and the present reality of systemic racism.
As Christians, we should know better than to say “All Lives Matter” in response to BLM statements. Yes, all lives matter, but the problem is that Black lives are being treated as if they do not matter. By saying “All Lives Matter” you are undermining the urgency and power behind the movement. A common biblical story that has been used to discuss the Black Lives Matter movement is The Parable of the Lost Sheep, Luke 15:3.
“If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others […] to search for the one he lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home […] saying ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep’.”
We can analogize this story as the one lost sheep, symbolized as racial injustice and the BLM movement, is in need compared to the other ninety-nine sheep. These are symbolized by all other races, who are not in as urgent a need. Therefore, as Jesus recommended, you should treat the urgent cause as a priority and actively search for a solution rather than ignore the cause entirely and focus on issues not as urgent. In conclusion, as all Christians ask “What Would Jesus Do?”, you now have a validated answer: He would dedicate Himself to the urgent issue, the Black Lives Matter Movement, until productive results are served in which we can all celebrate in peace as we move forward towards a better, more fair world. A world Jesus would be proud of.
The Black Lives Matter movement is one that has support and allies from a multitude of people all over the country. If people are not behind this movement, they may be ignorant, blinded by political perspectives, prejudiced, or privileged to the extent that they do not realize the pain and urgency behind it. But we are Christians. We pray to Him and seek His guidance while also constantly learning to use His words in application to the events around us.
A greater portion of our community needs to begin empathizing with BLM protests, acting as allies and advocates, or else we are dishonoring the sacrifice of Jesus and falsely representing His name. Even more so, we are bringing greater injustice to those who are already suffering. I ask you, to keep asking yourself, what would Jesus do?- as we are all well aware he would be marching alongside those who call to peace, equality, and justice. Then further ask yourself, why am I not doing that, if that is what Jesus would have done?
Dig deep and remove your misunderstandings or prejudices and put the Lord’s light before your bias. Then support those who need us, spreading love and light with hope for positive solutions. And with that, I say Amen!