The killing of George Floyd.
Wrong. Heinous. Criminal. Murder. Evil.

All words that shouldn’t need to be used to describe how one man treats another. I shouldn’t have to write these words and yet here I am using these words to describe how white men treated a black man in Minnesota in 2020. Not just any white men. Police officers. Men who are sworn to serve and protect. Men who had it in their power to take what they thought was justice into their own hands. But their lenses were skewed. Their perspective was wrong. Rather than justice, they served to bring injustice to the surface. They murdered George Floyd.

If there ever was a time for GOSPEL AWARENESS, it is now.

I’m confused. I’m frustrated. I’m angry. And I’m white. Which I realize means that my understanding of this situation is automatically limited and my perspective is naturally narrow. I’ll be the first one to confess that I don’t understand the issues the way that I should. While I don’t consciously brush these stories aside, if I’m honest, they don’t hit me the way that they should either. They become just another story. But not this one. This one is different. This one has hit me unlike any of the others. Perhaps the Holy Spirit is waking me up to the injustice happening all around. I am praying for that awareness.

I don’t worry about my kids leaving the house and being hassled because of their skin color. I don’t naturally think that when I take a trip with my family, or stop to pump gas at night, that things would be different if my skin color was black. Not could be different. Would be different. But just because I don’t understand what it means to constantly live in fear, doesn’t mean I don’t want to understand. I feel helpless. I feel inadequate to speak on this. I don’t understand even what all to speak about.

But it feels wrong to stay silent.

I realize it can be dangerous to write on something as it’s unfolding. Things may be uncovered as time goes on. Errors in judgment may be discovered. Charges may be filed. All of the details are not known. Frankly, right now, I don’t care that all of the details are not known. What I saw in the bystander’s video of the police officer pressing his knee into the neck of George Floyd while he was gasping for air and pleading for his life was unacceptable. Absolutely unacceptable. There is no world in which this is ok. Except some version of ours, because we have turned blind eyes to what is actually going on. We have tolerated terrible injustice. No more!

Yes, church, I’m looking at you more than anyone else. I’m looking at me. I’m looking at white evangelicals who for too many years have barely acknowledged the issues that have been screaming to be addressed. They’re not just issues though. They are people. People with names. People with jobs. People with families. People made in the image of God. People like you and me. People like George Floyd. Ignorance is no excuse. Our silence argues that we are complicit in what is happening.

The gospel speaks so loudly to injustice. The greatest injustice ever to be carried out was against Jesus on the cross. He was mocked, beaten, whipped, torn, dragged and crucified. He was murdered by those who were driven by their selfishness. He was crucified and killed at the hands of lawless men (Acts 2:23). Yet, because of this great injustice, he offers life to those who actually deserve death. Jesus endured injustice so that he could ultimately be fully just in dealing with sin and saving sinners. Apart from Jesus, there is no salvation. God is both just and the one who justifies (Romans 3:26). Church, we of all people understand that nothing we have is because of our merit, our abilities, or our skin color. Justice doesn’t come because we deserve it. Everything we have is because of grace. We’ve been shown immeasurable grace in our salvation, despite the fact that we don’t deserve it. How much more then should we long for others to be treated with this same grace? With this same justice?

Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.

Isaiah 1:16-17 (ESV)

But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

Amos 5:24 (ESV)

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Micah 6:8 (ESV)

Paul Tripp puts it so well when he says…

The Bible, which is your guide for life, makes it clear that justice is dear in the heart of your Lord. From cover to cover, Scripture speaks loudly and clearly. This question is, will we?

Paul Tripp
26 Bible Verses to Consider When Thinking about George Floyd

My black brothers and sisters…I am so sorry. I am sorry that yet again, the prejudice towards you is on display. Yet again, the black man is targeted simply because of the color of his skin. Yet again, people will try to explain it away. Yet again, you hear the same story and you view it with different eyes because this is your reality. This is how you live your life, in fear, due to no fault of your own.

I am sorry for any part I have played in that reality.

I stand with you. I don’t know what all that tangibly means. I don’t know all of the nuances. But I do know it is not acceptable to stay silent on these issues. These few words are not much, but know this…you are not alone.

May God help us to have eyes to see people the way that He sees them.
May God help us to realize the errors in our own perspectives so that we can love others the way that He loves them.
Black lives matter because every life matters.