Transcript

The idea of “Black Lives Matter” has been popular in recent times, but I contend is misplaced as it should be “Black Families Matter”.

I will make the case, not as a “white guy”, but as a fellow human being.

Let’s look at the ideas, the organizations, US history, slavery, reparations, and what we should do now as individuals and families.

My desire is to offer evidence, point to history, but mostly make my case as a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.

First, why do you have value? Is it because you are black or white, tall or short, rich or poor, or made in the image of God?

Pick up a Bible and look at the first page or two and you find Genesis 1 verse 26

Genesis 1:26

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.

You have value because you are made in the image of God. Note the next verse:

Genesis 1:27

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

You have value because you are made in the image of God and God made both male and female. There are no other characteristics that add to or take away from being made in the image of God. This includes where you were born, what language you speak, or what color skin you have.

The Bible often proclaims your life matters, such as a few chapters later in Genesis 9.

Genesis 9:6

Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.

Because your life has value, it is not to be trifled with or taken by another. This is applicable to all who are created in the image of God. In other words, it is applicable to all.

But the Lord did not create us to be isolated individuals as is obvious in Genesis 2

Genesis 2:18

Then the LORD God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone

While we are individuals, we are called to be families as seen a few verses later:

Genesis 2:24

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

This is the definition of marriage and is seen throughout the Bible. It is especially noteworthy when we consider the Bride of Christ.

But if you are the enemy of God, what would be your focus? Perhaps a good target is to destroy the family. You can see this happening in front of your eyes.

Consider the documents published in 1848, the Communist Manifesto and the Communist Confession of Faith. Using various techniques, what is the ultimate goal? Simply to destroy the family by moving your allegiance to the collective; to the state.

This is done by dividing people by groups and then telling the groups that they have been mistreated and the state will help.

We see this take shape very successfully in the 1960s when the Johnson Administration promoted the Great Society Programs. It directly targeted the black community and specifically offered financial help to those whose families are not unified. This fueled more families to fall apart and the once solid black family became the minority in the black community.

In more recent times we have those who described themselves as “trained Marxists” form an organization based on the “Black Lives Matter” tagline with the expressed purpose of atomizing the black community and turning their allegiance from their own family to the state. It is hard to argue with the “Black Lives Matter” tagline but the goal is the further destruction of the black family.

The solution is not the organization, but the family.

Then they decry that it was slavery in the US that is the problem and reparations are in order to resolve this. This is simply opportunistic and not love.

The idea that those in the US who are white have a financial debt to those who are black in the US is built on shaky ground. Those, like myself, whose parents came to the US in the late 1800s or 1900s had no part in US slavery. Those in the US who were slave owners were not 100% white, nor were the slaves 100% black. To say that because you today happen to be white you have a financial obligation to those who happen to be black is known as collective punishment.

It is not justifiable. A good reason why is seen in Deuteronomy 24.

Deuteronomy 24:16

Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. Each one shall be put to death for his own sin.

Why is it being promoted? It is simply greed. It is a way to make a quick buck. It is easy to find others to join you when you offer them a few bucks along the way.

But if your concern is for those who were in slavery because you believe, rightly so, that abject slavery is wrong, shouldn’t your focus be on those in abject slavery today? Not low paying jobs, but jobs that pay nothing. If love is your motivation than those who today live in some form of abject slavery should be your focus, rather than opportunistic revenge based on those long dead.

Many estimate that there are roughly 40 million people, about one in every 300, that are in abject slavery today. That is more than any time in history. If you look around your home or kitchen, you will probably find a lot of products that to some degree are sourced from abject slavery. In a real sense, you are being opportunistic in what you buy. You are probably the beneficiary of slave labor. You have made a buck off of slavery. Do you want to do that even more with reparations, or do you want to free the slaves of today? It is not difficult to find the large corporations who go well beyond low wages and find those who use abject slave labor. If love is your focus, love with your dollars. Don’t by goods or services from those sourced by abject slave labor.

But that seems so grandiose and beyond what we as individuals or families can address. So what can be done by just one man?

When the opportunity comes, and it has many times, when I get to speak one-on-one with a young black man, I offer serious advice and encouragement from a fellow human being created in the image of God.

The culture of today, and it is a bit amplified in the black community, is for a man to have relationships with multiple women. Adultery is common place.

While this is true for any man, no matter the skin color, this is my encouragement to you men who just happen to have black skin. Find ONE woman. Become one flesh with her. Remain one flesh with her and her alone all the days of your life.

More than all the proclamations you can make, or organizations you can be a part of, if you can’t do this, you are nothing. (1Co 13:2)

Ephesians 5:25-33

25Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

28In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30because we are members of his body. 31"Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." 32This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.