I posted on Facebook recently, “#BlackChurchesMatter.” Some of the responses proclaimed, “All Churches Matter.” Well, of course that is true. This is just like when some have stated that “Black Lives Matter”, some have responded with, “All Lives Matter.” Again, my response would be, of course all lives matter. Let me just state that all lives matter to God and all churches matter to God. But that is not the concentrated point. Before people provide any response to #BlackLivesMatter or #BlackChurchesMatter we should take time to explore why these statements need to be proclaimed in the first place.
As the President of World Impact, it's important for me to deal with this issue. World Impact traces its roots back to the Watts Riots of 1965. At the time, this predominantly Black community faced issues of substandard housing, poor education and tensions with police. The riots broke out because of an incident between the police and an African-American young man, his mother, and his brother. So, our ministry began with missional and transformational caring for urban, under-resourced Black lives.
Let me provide a biblical foundation for why Black Lives Matter and Black Churches Matter; however, my theology may be very different from any particular social movement using these terms.
For a biblical foundation of this model for missional and transformational care, I would encourage you to read the Gospel of John, chapter 4. Even though all lives mattered to Christ as He walked the earth, He went out of His way to show that Samaritan lives mattered. He had to do this because of how Samaritans were viewed and treated socially at the time. It was a part of His demonstration and declaration of the Kingdom of God to go through Samaria. If you read all four Gospels, you will see how Christ went out of His way to show that Women Mattered (Luke 10), Children Mattered (Matt. 19:14), and the Sick Mattered (Matt 12:10-13). There were multiple times when Christ zeroed in on a certain group and lifted up their humanity, their dignity, and showed how they mattered.
In the Old Testament, God the Father had to remind His own chosen people that the Poor, the Needy, the Widows, and the Stranger Mattered. Whenever God concentrates on a specific group this doesn't mean that other groups in the human family no longer matter. It's really about God giving attention to a particular group that has been marginalized, oppressed, or viewed outside the vision of the Kingdom of God. So the deeper biblical question is why did God have to do this? Why did God have to say to His chosen people and to the world: Poor Lives Matter, Needy Lives Matter, Samaritan Lives Matter, or Incarcerated Lives Matter? When Christ states in Matthew 25 that Hungry, Thirsty, Foreign, Incarcerated, or Homeless lives matter, should the response have been, “Hey Christ, don't All Lives Matter?” I think not. The response should be to investigate the connection between marginalized people mattering, intimacy with God, and being a citizen of the Kingdom of God.
There is a continuing history in the United States that calls us to question if Black Lives Matter, if Black Churches Matter, if the Poor Matter. The response is not to declare all lives matter, which is very true, but to be sensitive enough to investigate through the love, grace, and unselfishness of Christ why Black lives, Black churches, and the Poor should be of utmost importance to all of us right now. Just like Christ had to go to Samaria, we must now go to the Black Church and into the Black Community for understanding and missional purpose.
The Black Church and the God-given aspects of African-American Culture, are gifts for the whole body of Christ. The disparities facing African Americans in the areas of incarceration, education, economics, health care, and housing should concern all Americans. The devaluing of Black bodies should be all of our concern. Dismantling racism in all its forms should be the proactive work of all Churches. This may take the whole body of Christ being willing to say that, “Black is beautiful and the Black Church is valuable to us all.” We should all be concerned and actively doing something in response to the nine Black Christians that were murdered in Charleston, South Carolina. We should all be concerned about Black Churches that have been burning over the last week. We should all care about the life transformation and empowerment of both the Poor, the Marginalized, and the Incarcerated. This should be deeply tied to our work of evangelism, discipleship, and the advancement of the Kingdom of God.
Black Lives Matter because all Lives Matter and Black Churches Matter because all Churches Matter. At World Impact we have been about the work of Poor Lives, Urban Lives, Black Lives, and Brown Lives mattering for a long time. It's because these and all matter to a loving, gracious, and all powerful God.
These lives and all lives were made in the Image of God, and they all matter to Him. But today we stand and say, #BlackLivesMatter and #BlackChurchesMatter, because today more voices are needed.