Prejudice, unfair discrimination, conflict, hatred, riots, and alienation often exist between people of different races or nationalities. What about the Black Lives Matter movement? Is there a solution to racial strife and bigotry? Can we be united in Christ?
Introduction:
This lesson primarily teaches the following message:
The greatest problem faced by all people is sin. And
the only real solution is salvation through Jesus and obedience to the gospel.
The material I have to present is simply an enlargement on
that theme.I do not claim to be an expert in racial problems, but I have lived where racial minorities are a significant part of the population. I have studied with many. And above all I intend to present the truth as revealed in Scripture.
We used to be told to use the term “African-Americans.” But Black Lives Matter refers to Black people in contrast to White people; so intending no offense, I will do likewise.
Black People Do Face Many Serious Problems.
Black people call on others to help with their problems. Jesus is the Great Physician. As with any physician, help requires honestly recognizing the real problems.Suffering often results both from the conduct of other people and from the conduct of the people who are suffering. So other people may help, but people who are suffering must also accept responsibility to resolve their problems. That is the case here. That statement is not racist. No one can solve their problems by ignoring the real causes.
The problems I will discuss are faced by many black people, but not all.
Injustice and Mistreatment by Police, Judges, and Other Races
The Bible warns repeatedly about injustice, partiality, and racial conflict.Genesis 1:26,27 – Adam was created “in God’s image.” So all humans are in the image of God since we all descended from Adam. What right do we have to mistreat someone who is in God’s image like we are? (Genesis 9:6; James 3:9)
Deuteronomy 1:16,17 – Judges in Israel were told to judge without partiality.
James 2:1,8-12 – Partiality violates the law of love. People who commit racial hatred are guilty of sin, just as surely as murderers and adulterers.
Acts 10:28 – In Bible times Jews and Gentiles hated one another and refused to associate. God taught Peter he should not call any man common or unclean since God had cleansed them.
Family Breakdown, Out-of-Wedlock Births, Father Desertion
Our welfare system essentially pays women to bear children out of wedlock and care for them if the father is absent. These evil laws have encouraged generations of black people to raise children without the support and guidance of the father.Hebrews 13:4 – Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.
1 Timothy 5:8 – If anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
Despite evil laws, people of all races must honor God’s plan for marriage and the responsibility of fathers to lead and provide for their families.
(1 Corinthians 6:9-11,18-20; 7:2-4,9; Romans 7:2,3; Revelation
21:8; 22:14,15; Exodus 20:14; Hebrews 13:4; Galatians 5:19-21; Ephesians
5:1-11; Colossians 3:5-7; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8; Proverbs 2:16-18; 5:1-23;
6:23-7:27; 9:13-16; Mark 7:20-23; Matthew 5:28; 19:9; 2 Samuel 11&12)
Crime, Violence, Gangs, Drug Abuse
In any large city crime, violence, and gangs are a major problem, especially in minority neighborhoods. Chicago news regularly reports drive-by shootings, gang fights, crime, violence, and drug problems.Much of this results from family breakdown, which leads teens to participate in gangs, drugs, theft, or other crimes.
Proverbs 22:6 – Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. Properly trained children will avoid these evils.
To overcome their problems, all people must exercise the self-discipline to have good marriages, good homes, and train children to do right.
(Psalm 127:3-5; 128:3-5; Ephesians 6:4; Titus 2:4; 1 Timothy
3:4,5)
Lack of Appreciation
Where else can people become multimillionaires by playing with a ball? Yet some who receive such blessings deliberately insult our flag and national anthem.Every patriotic citizen knows there are problems in this country. We salute the flag, not because there are no problems, but because we appreciate our blessings, including the freedoms we enjoy. To insult the flag and the anthem is an expression of ingratitude.
If things are so bad here, why do millions of minorities take extreme risks to enter this country? Why do we not hear of large numbers of minorities leaving this country?
Philippians 4:6,7 – In everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Those who want true peace of mind must learn to appreciate their blessings.
(1 Thessalonians 5:18; Ephesians 5:20; Colossians 2:7; 1:12-14;
2 Thessalonians 1:3,4; Matthew 15:36; Luke 17:12-18; 2 Corinthians 1:3-11;
Romans 1:20-23)
Racism
Racism is rarely a one-way street. When a minority dominates a neighborhood, they often mistreat other races. This is easily demonstrated.In many black neighborhoods how safe is a white person, especially at night? My dad once worked as a salesman in black neighborhoods on the south side of Chicago. If a white person faces greater danger among black people than a black person does, what is that but racism?
Murders are routine in cities like Chicago. When blacks kill blacks, the media reports it then forgets it. But if whites kill blacks it is an issue for weeks. If “black lives matter,” why isn’t it just as bad when blacks kill blacks as when whites kill blacks?
We are being told that all white people, simply because they are white, are guilty of racism and owe reparations to blacks. Assuming guilt based on race is a form of racism!
Racism is not unique to white people. Every Scripture that forbids racism by white people also forbids racism committed by any other race or nationality. Equality before the law requires equal justice based entirely on conduct regardless of the color of skin.
Hatred, Rioting, Violence, Looting, and Destruction of Property Only Make Matters Worse.
Violence and Looting Are Sinful and Cause Strife and Alienation.
Even when unfair discrimination truly exists, we must use proper methods to oppose it.Romans 13:1,2,5 – Be subject to the higher powers because they are ministers of God. To resist the power is to withstand God. In the first century, the Roman Empire often mistreated Christians, but Jesus and Paul still taught to obey the law.
Romans 12:14,17-21 – Avenge not yourself but bless those who persecute you, not rendering evil for evil. Leave vengeance to God and do good to those who wrong you.
Ephesians 4:28 – Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.
Two wrongs do not make a right. If we are unfairly treated, we must not retaliate, destroy property, or steal from those who wronged us, let alone from innocent bystanders.
Remember these Scriptures! When God speaks, we must make applications wherever they apply. Applying Scripture is not fundamentally political. It is simply teaching God’s word.
(Matthew 5:44; 1 Corinthians
6:9,10; Exodus 20:15; Isaiah 6:18; 1 Peter 4:15,16; Titus 2:9,10; Matthew
15:19,20; Psalm 37:21; Ezekiel 33:15; Genesis 9:2-6; Matthew 15:19,20;
Revelation 21:8; 22:15; Romans 13:8-10; Exodus 23:7; 20:13; Proverbs 6:16,17;
Deuteronomy 27:25; Proverbs 25:21,22; Luke 6:27; Exodus 23:4,5; 2 Kings 6:22f;
2 Chronicles 28:15; Acts 7:60; Luke 23:34)
Black People Are Once Again Being Dominated by Evil People.
A poll by Pew Research (6/24/2020) revealed: Only about one-sixth of protesters (in the last month) are black, while 46% are white. Whites dominate the protests nearly 3 to 1 over Blacks. – https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/06/24/recent-protest-attendees-are-more-racially-and-ethnically-diverse-younger-than-americans-overall/Who is leading this uprising and what is the goal?
Anarchists, Socialists, and Marxist-Leninists (Communists)
Here’s what Marxism (Communism) practices.
The Communist Manifesto concludes: “…Communists everywhere support every revolutionary movement against the existing social and political order of things … They openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions.” (p. 36)Lenin said: “Riots – demonstrations – street battles … such are the stages in the development of a popular uprising … great historical questions can be solved only by violence.” (SW3-312f)
American Communists were taught to be “...fighting organizations for seizing control of the state, for the overthrow of government … The leading of strikes, of unemployment agitation, and of insurrection – such must be their activity.” (SC-112)
Compare that to what is happening today.
Greater New York Black Lives Matter president Hawk Newsome warned that if the United States “doesn’t give us what we want, then we will burn down this system and replace it.” (Fox News, June 24, 2020) – https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2020/06/24/black-lives-matter-leader-if-america-doesnt-give-us-what-we-want-we-will-burn-down-this-system/ (6/25/2020)BLM is financed by George Soros and other radical organizations. But BLM’s financial sponsor umbrella group is called Thousand Currents.
“…the vice chairwoman of the board of directors for Thousand Currents is Susan Rosenberg, a convicted felon who participated in bombing buildings in the Northeast and Washington, D.C. ... Rosenberg was part of M19, short for May 19th Communist Organization. Her memoir ‘An American Radical,’ details her 16 years in federal prison. At her sentencing hearing in 1984, Rosenberg urged supporters to ‘continue to fight for the defeat of U.S. imperialism.’” – https://www.dailysignal.com/2020/06/25/4-things-the-liberal-media-wont-tell-you-about-black-lives-matter/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=4-things-the-liberal-media-wont-tell-you-about-black-lives-matter?utm_source=TDS_Email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=MorningBell&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiTlRkbU9EWmlZekE0TWpaayIsInQiOiIyemtLVDFtWFI2cmFlaklaVGJRNk9zZWwxWEtxeXZXeFVkSklhT0xGckZnVlVUQ2ZTYThic016czlrWkJOcGJOTHgwNFY3RE40UTFwcHJWc1ZCMXdFWWpGVmF3VlVFd1ozbkUyUkFsaVdOcU1aK1lISFMxbktJTmVibFpGR2dYRCJ9 (6/26/2020)Black Lives Matter was founded by Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi. In an interview in 2015 Cullors said that BLM “do[es] have an ideological frame. Myself and Alicia in particular are trained organizers. We are trained Marxists. We are super-versed on, sort of, ideological theories”– https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/video-resurfaces-which-black-lives-matter-founder-says-groups-creators-are-trained (accessed 6/25/2020)
The “Social Justice” movement is led by Marxists, socialists, and their sympathizers.
Liberal politicians, media personalities, educators, and business leaders
The people who support these movements are usually the same people who support abortion, homosexuality, transgenderism, divorce, political correctness, and similar causes.One of the most influential groups is the ACLU. They defend pornography, homosexuality, and abortion. Roger Baldwin, one of the founders of the ACLU, was a Communist. (YCT, intro)
Black Lives Matter official website states their beliefs including:
“We … dismantle cisgender privilege and uplift Black trans folk, …
“We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure …
“We foster a queer affirming network.”
– https://blacklivesmatter.com/what-we-believe/
(6/23/2020)
The Toronto chapter of BLM favors, among other things,
decriminalization of drugs and sex work (prostitution). The Washington
DC chapter says it is committed to dismantling, among other things,
“Patriarchy, Capitalism, Imperialism and the role the state plays in
supporting them.”
– Click for link (7/6/2020)
Yes, there are problems with race relations in our country.
But hatred and violence only make matters far worse. And worse yet, people who
participate are supporting the agenda of those who advocate the destruction of
our society and other extreme forms of immorality.The Real Solution to Race Problems Is Forgiveness and Faithfulness to Jesus Christ.
The Greatest Problem All People Face Is Sin.
Romans 3:10-18,23 – There is none righteous, no, not one … There is none who does good, no, not one. … Their feet are swift to shed blood; destruction and misery are in their ways; and the way of peace they have not known … for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.Isaiah 53:6 – All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way.
Romans 6:23 – For the wages of sin is death.
The problems that cause conflict between races are fundamentally spiritual, caused by sin. How should we deal with problems caused by sin?
(1 John 1:8,10; Proverbs 20:9; James 3:2; 1 Kings 8:46; Psalm
143:2; Ecclesiastes 7:20)
We Should Teach the Gospel to People of All Races and Nationalities.
The gospel is for all.
Mark 16:15,16 – Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.1 Timothy 2:4 – God wants all to know the truth and be saved.
Titus 2:11 – For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,
Romans 3:29 – Is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles?
(2 Peter 3:9; Matthew 28:19;
Acts 1:8; 2:39; Colossians 1:27,28; Romans 1:5)
Gospel preaching must be without partiality.
Acts 10:34,35 – God is no respecter of persons, but He accepts people from every nation who fear Him and work what is right.Acts 15:9,11 – God made no distinction between Jew and Gentile, cleansing both the same way. What right have we to make distinctions where God made none?
Romans 1:16 – The gospel is God’s power to save all who believe, Jew and Gentile.
Revelation 5:9 – Jesus redeems by His blood people from “every tribe, tongue, people, and nation.”
People of all races and nations need the gospel. We must take it to them.
(Romans 10:12,13; 1 Timothy 5:20,21: Galatians 2:5,6; Ephesians 2:11-18;
Titus 2:11; 2 Peter 3:9; Romans 2:6-11; John 4:9; Acts 8:1-12; 11:17,18; Galatians
3:11,28; 2:11-14; 6:15; Colossians 3:11; Luke 9:51-53; John 1:45-51)
We Must Treat All People with Love.
James 2:8,9 – Partiality violates the royal law: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The Bible gets to the root of the problem: love vs. hate.Luke 10:25-37 – Jesus used the good Samaritan (a mixed race) to illustrate the Royal Law of loving your neighbor as yourself.
Matthew 7:12 – The Golden Rule teaches us to do to others as we would have them do to us.
When we learn that all people are in the image of God and that God loves them just the same regardless of their physical circumstances, then we learn the meaning of love.
We Should Work for Peace and Unity in Each Local Church with People of All Races and Nationalities.
Since all must be in the church to be saved, then church membership is for all.
Galatians 3:28 – There can be no Jew or Gentile, bond or free. We are all one in Christ.Everyone who obeys the gospel then becomes part of Jesus’ church (Acts 2:47; 20:28).
Yet some people do not want people of other races in the same congregation.
Ephesians 2:13-19 – But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off [Gentiles] have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, … so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.Who can imagine this means that Jews should have separate congregations from Gentiles? If we are all citizens in the same kingdom and children in the same family, what right do we have refusing to worship together? How can we say that we accept other folks as children of God, but refuse to be part of the same local church with them?
We must teach all, and if they obey we must accept them fully into the congregation.
We Should Show Kindness and Hospitality to People of All Races and Nationalities.
Christians should help the destitute as we have opportunity and ability.
Luke 10:25-37 – The Samaritan assisted a needy Jew. This is how Jesus illustrated love for our neighbor. Destitute people should be helped without partiality.
(Acts 6:1-6)
Christians should associate with people regardless of race.
Galatians 2:11-14 – In teaching Cornelius, Peter had eaten with Gentiles (Acts 11:3), but later he refused to do so. Paul said this was hypocrisy. If, because of race or nationality, we refuse to be hospitable or show common courtesy to people, we are “not straightforward about the truth of the gospel” and are “to be blamed.”
(Acts 10:28; Hebrews 13:2)
Christians should welcome visitors in our assemblies.
James 2:1-13 – The partiality here forbidden involved welcoming and honoring one class of people in church assemblies, but ignoring or belittling others.Conclusion
James 3:17 – The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality or hypocrisy.No spiritual problem can be resolved if we ignore the real causes of the problem. The true solution to racial differences is forgiveness through Jesus and then love and obedience to the teachings of Jesus.
(For other passages regarding peace with other people, see
Matthew 5:9; James 3:13-18; Romans 12:18; 14:19; Genesis 13:8; Proverbs 20:3;
Psalm 133:1; 1 Thessalonians 5:13; Ephesians 4:2-6; Galatians 5:19-21; 2
Corinthians 13:11; Mark 9:50; Hebrews 12:11; 14:19; Isaiah 32:17.)
Bibliography
The following is a list of materials regarding Marxism which
are cited in this study.CACC = Christian Anti-Communism Crusade Newsletter, edited by Dr. Fred Schwarz; Long Beach, CA.
SC = A Study of Communism, J. Edgar Hoover, 1962; Holt, Rinehart, & Winston, Inc., New York, NY.
SW (followed by volume number) = Selected Works, V.I. Lenin; International Publishers, New York.
YCT = You Can Still Trust the Communists…, Fred Schwarz and David Noebel, Christian Anti-Communism Crusade, 2010
(C) Copyright 2019, David E. Pratte You are free to keep copies of this material on computer and/or in printed form for your own further study. If you have any other requests about the use of this material, please read our copyright guidelines at www.gospelway.com/copyrite.htm. Free Bible Study Lessons, Commentaries, and Workbooks #Bible #BibleStudy #Religion
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