Protests like the ones we’ve seen in recent weeks are nothing new. What is new, however, is the palpable fear, intimidation and capitulation demonstrated by major corporations and individuals alike.
Amazon, the NFL, the NBA, along with countless others have rushed to prove they’re not racist by turning their social media profile pictures black or partnering with “social justice” driven organizations. Amazon, for example, quickly donated $10 million to several organizations, including Black Lives Matter, an openly Marxist organization founded by a protégé of Eric Mann. Mann was a leader in the radical leftist domestic terror organization Weather Underground. Mann was sentenced to two years in prison after being charged with conspiracy to commit murder for his part in a “direct action” that resulting in the firing of two bullets through a window of a police station back in 1969. He served 18 months behind bars.
BLM also pledges to “disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure” as well as “foster a queer‐affirming network” while “freeing ourselves from the tight grip of heteronormative thinking.”
Once upon a time, partnering with the associates of violent criminals who spend their life attempting to overthrow the current systems in the United States would’ve been taboo. So what’s changed?
It’s hard to pinpoint an exact catalyst for the change, but one thing is clear: the fear and bullying tactics far left activists have been employing since the “direct action” days of the Weather Underground have finally started to show some results.
Make no mistake, what we are seeing today — businesses and individuals frantically lining up to stand with protesters — is not due to some heartfelt change. It’s self-preservation. It’s submission. It’s fear.
Aside from mainstreaming radical left-wing viewpoints such as abolishing police and “dismantling” America’s “system of oppression” as Rep. Ilhan Omar recently demanded, we are entering an era of mob-rule.
No longer are people content to protest and have their voices heard. They are making demands, doxxing individuals and shaming them online and getting them fired. If you disagree, you will be destroyed.
The Fatal Flaw
Many Christians, perhaps wanting to empathize with people who appear to be struggling, have latched on to the social justice movement. The fatal flaw in this movement, however, can be found in its supposed solutions.
First and foremost, as Voddie Baucham has eloquently explained in the past, the social justice movement is not the same as Biblical justice. It’s solutions are not centered on the Gospel but rather in the form of material redistribution.
The other critical fatal flaw in the new social justice movement: grace.
There is no grace whatsoever.
We often hear calls from megachurch pastors seeking “racial reconciliation.” For reconciliation to happen, there must be first be some sort of an apology. For the relationship to be restored, there must also be forgiveness on the part of the victim of the alleged defense.
Let’s put aside, for a moment, all the arguments about collective salvation and collective guilt and white privilege. Let’s, for argument sake, grant all of it to those arguing America’s system of “oppression” has inflicted harm on a particular group of people.
Has anyone heard a peep about forgiveness? Has anyone offered to forgive white people for their alleged sin of racism?
The current “social justice” movement seeks a solution through means that by necessity cannot possibly provide one. Reparations? If millions of black Americans receive a check for a few thousand bucks, perhaps — does that somehow rectify the situation? Does that check have the same kind of healing power that forgiveness does?
The fact that grace and forgiveness are completely missing from the equation should be a major red flag warning that this movement, by and large, is not based on Biblical principles.
God promises to humble the proud and exalt the humble (James 4:6). Listen to the posture from many leaders today and decide for yourself: which side do they more closely resemble?
Take this clip, for example, from Minneapolis. Here’s an activist giving Mayor Jacob Frey and ultimatum: agree to abolish the police completely, or else “get the (expletive) out of here!”. The crowd of people then yell “shame” at Frey as he gingerly weaves his way through the angry mob of people.
(LANGUAGE WARNING)
Online mobs are rushing to destroy the lives of anyone they disagree with. A man lost his cool in a short clip posted online after someone confronted him for not wearing a mask in a store. His actions were ill-advised, but it was only a partial clip and we see no context leading up to the incident. He has since been doxxed and fired from his job.
Who among us, if our worst moments were broadcast on social media for the world to see, wouldn’t be shamed and scorned and cancelled?
As Christians, it would be sadly ironic to endorse, go along with or otherwise engage in this sort of graceless and unforgiving behavior.
We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Each and every one of us. We are deserving of eternal separation from the God of the universe precisely because we are sinners and He is Holy. His holiness is not to be taken lightly. We are literally unable to stand in His presence because of our sin. It is a miracle that even one of us would be saved, let alone many.
God sent his one and only son, Jesus, to die in our place. It is by grace you are saved, through faith. And that faith is the “gift” from God. Therefore, if we are to be Christ’s representatives here on earth, it must be evident from our actions that we are people of grace.
In today’s current climate, grace is in short supply. And without it, there is no possibility of healing.
Find the people extending and showing grace. Seek them out. Find them. Spread their words. Spread the hope that can only be found in the Gospel.
Then, and only then, will our nation get on the path towards reconciliation and healing.