Looking For The Light of Dawn

This has been an ugly week for racially-driven violence. Two different black men were executed by police officers, and black snipers killed five white police officers during a rally in Dallas. The Bible tells us:

All human beings are made in the image of God (Genesis 1-2). Therefore, all lives matter. Personally, I feel no objection to minority advocacy groups emphasizing their particular needs, rights, and vulnerabilities, because minorities are vulnerable to mistreatment. But non-Caucasian people don't matter more because they have been mistreated; they don't matter less for whatever sociological or political reasons someone might concoct. The image of God in humanity is exactly the same, across the board. 

The natural-born human heart spontaneously spouts out criminality and violence, and all other evils (Matthew 15:19), prompted by the devil. Education, social norms, and law enforcement can suppress that evil, to a degree. But there needs to be inner reformation by the grace of God for lasting positive change to happen. Human beings of all colors are born sinners (Romans 3:9-16), and only the Spirit of God can change that. This is why Christians must make disciples of all nations, not just our own nations. Otherwise, it is human nature to be violent.

Justice is not a social construct created by majorities to protect privilege or minorities to gain access to privilege. Justice is the law of God, written in the heart and on the pages of Scripture, and the law of God doesn't change or relax for anyone. "Do not murder" is God's command across time (Exodus 20:13), and the child of God must not show favoritism (James 2:1-4). Police officers who use their badge as an excuse to summarily execute innocent people should be justly tried and executed, according to Genesis 9:6. Juries of non-Caucasian citizens should not exonerate non-Caucasian defendants as a way of "sending a message" to America. God decides and defines justice, and respect for God demands impartiality.

Bible-believing Christian churches need to repent of stand-offishness toward Christians of other ethnicities, and be examples of the union we've been given in Christ. We don't need to reconcile; we have already been objectively reconciled by our saving inclusion in Christ. We do need, however, to unlearn our ignorance of one another's histories and life-experiences (and I include myself), and to do that means regularly fellowshipping with one another in peace

Lastly, I encourage Christians of all persuasions to stop listening to activists who do not know, love, and depend on God's Word.  If they do not speak according to this Word, there is no light of dawn in them (Isaiah 8:20). The activists might yell through a bullhorn, have a website, or come across your car radio every day. But if they don't know, love, and depend on God's Word, then their counsel is an unreliable reed at best.