BLM

Black lives matter.
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Of course they do! Though Christians may hold a patriotic view of their ethno-culture there is no room for nationalistic racism on two grounds: a) all humans have been made in God’s image and so are therefore worthy of respect and value, and b) in relation to slavery, which because of 16th–19th century slavery Africans became linked to, there is likewise no place as Rev 18:13 says that when Babylon (a picture of the corrupt powers of this world) is overthrown, there will be no more slaves, thus Christianity should not support slavery of any form.

All that said, what of BLM, a movement begun in 2016 and now an international network (though not a group that is the voice of all Black people and thus not a homogenous)? You can find out more about them on their website. As trendy as BLM has become in society and amongst the media—you can even buy their merch!—there are a number of concerning elements in BLM that should cause Christians to be warry of it, indeed to take no part in it (instead finding other ways to promote anti-racist causes of justice and to fight modern slavery).

Just a few include:

• Its militancy: Civil Rights activist, Martin Luther King Jr., led many peaceful rallies, much different in nature than many of the militant rallies associated with this movement. This is because King was inspired by the peaceful protests of Ghandi and probably restrained by Biblical commands to respect authorities, or at the least belief in a higher power. Anarchy, anger and atheism have much in common.

[ https://blacklivesmatter.com/what-we-believe/ was used for the points below, however, they have taken down the page.]

• Its view of marriage, sexuality and gender: The movement is brazenly LGBT (what about black people who aren’t or who don’t support this, are they not truly black?). As such it stands against God’s clear designs as laid down in Scripture.
• Against the nuclear family: Because many African American families are broken BLM wants to normalize single-parenthood, etc. As such they are against the nuclear family that the Bible lays down as foundational for society and a gift from God.
• Normalization: Rather than acknowledge the oughtnotness of something and work to resolve it, it concedes that what many Blacks experience ought to be normalized to avoid stigma. The Bible doesn’t normalize oughtnotness, rather it points us to the One who can deliver us from our imperfect state to a perfect end, in Christ, by His Spirit and according to His Word.

Let’s not be undiscerning when it comes to new movements. Many movements are indeed godless, even if they appear to have initial merit. Deeper investigation is needed to see if something aligns with God’s Word. Certainly we want to affirm God honouring elements within movements but in doing so we must be diligent not to compromise other key values. (Ro 12:9).

Beloved, do not believe every spirit [or new and popular movement], but test the spirits to see whether they are from [or of] God… (1 Jn 4:1a)