Again

What I say right now will come off in a controversial way, but read it and what follows before making a judgement either way.

BlackLivesMatter should not exist.

The hashtag that has swept the nation and become a firestorm of activism and purposeful dialogue should not exist. It just should not. And that it has to exist in this world, at this time, hurts my heart. See, it’s not that I disagree with what BLM stands for. I’m behind it wholeheartedly, yet that it has to be stated outwardly, and is not an inherent consideration in the hearts and minds of every HUMAN on the earth says something about our hearts. Yes. Black lives matter. White lives matter. Asian and Hispanic lives matter. Pacific Islander lives matter. African lives matter. European lives matters. Blue lives, teacher lives, accountant lives...they all matter. But by stating what should be obvious, we have condemned ourselves in a way that takes the black eye of slavery and doubles it.

Why should African Americans have to scream and shout to be heard and seen? Why should we have to wheeze our statements like “I can’t breathe” while those very breaths should have been saved in order to save our own lives? Why must video evidence exist in order for so many to believe that this is a problem? Why should we have to abide by the horribly established rules of weaponized white-hood where someone can simply say OUT LOUD that she is going to tell 9-1-1 that a harmless man was accosting her? It makes no sense to me.

And see, it’s easy to say to myself that I have hope in God. Cause I do. And despite what I see in front of me, I know that God can redeem this. However, there is only so much knee scuffling that we can do through prayer without picking up the power given to us from in high to take dominion over this earth...including this evil, vile thing that we call racism. Hope that does not spur us to action is only a pipe dream. Faith without works is dead. To show what we truly believe, faith should push us to do something. Faith, my White brothers and sisters, should spur you to speak out among your brethren who will vehemently disagree with you. If we worship the same God, and we’re saved by the same Jesus, then there needs to be an outward, and jarring public outcry that at least echoes our own. It should spur you to speak truth where those would argue that George Floyd‘s death was tragic BUT-

or that Ahmaud Arbery‘s death was tragic, BUT-

See that “but” says loudly what voices would dare not even mutter publicly. Faith AND love should push us to want to eradicate the but.

If we truly believe that God is a God of justice, then we need to be a people of it. In my opinion, black lives matters hurts God’s heart, because it has to be shouted in order for people to understand that black lives are as much apart of God’s life as any other person on this plane, that black lives are as much apart of God's plan for the earth as any other culture, race, or creed. And when we can honestly get to the point where what breaks God’s heart doesn’t even leave a scratch on ours, then are we even human anymore?

Will this affront to Black people stop? I wanna say yes. I really want to say yes. But no. It won’t. Can we all be better? Yes. I’ll say it again for the BUT people in the back...

YES!!!

I don’t like writing about these things. I want to write about the love of God, but it strikes me now that in love, God always speaks the truth. Love endures all things. Love finds a way.

Whether upon a cross, or in the tense silence of an uncomfortable conversation. And I've been having those conversations almost weekly.

And contrary to popular opinions, we don’t need allies. An ally implies a legal contract that parties are bound to. What we need are brothers and sisters in Christ. What’s the difference? We tell our 5 children that as siblings bound by blood, they have the responsibility to fight for one another. While we don’t encourage them to start a fight, if they see one of their siblings being picked on, they need to step in and END THE FIGHT. You know what I mean. Being a brother or a sister implies an understanding of the bonds of reconciliation and relationship that God created us to innately have. When our hearts forget that, our divisions grow. When our divisions grow, injustices get glossed over and God’s heart breaks again and again. See, this issue isn’t racism. It’s sin. Sin against our bother and sister. Sin against God.

In the end, you don’t have to like this post. You don’t have to comment. You don’t have to feel a certain way. My appeal to you, though, is to take a hard look in the mirror, and ask God to search your heart...to try your ways on His scale of justice. Have we done enough?

Are we doing enough?

If BlackLivesMatters has to remain a rallying cry?

Then we aren’t.