First, black lives matter because they are made in the image of God. The Bible says that God "has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on the face of the earth" (Acts 17:26). The Bible also says that God, "created man in his own image; in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them" (Gen. 1:27). Those who are descendants of Adam and Eve have this same image stamped upon them. This means that everyone born from the stock of Adam and Eve have inherent worth and dignity by virtue of their being made in the image of God. Any discussion about natural rights must begin with this presupposition; otherwise, the discussion is meaningless. There is no more dignity and worth for a human being than there is for a sparrow who goes hungry and falls to the ground dead without anybody noticing. But God notices when sparrows fall to the ground, and he tells us that we have more worth than they (Matt. 6:26). Black lives matter because God has implanted his image in them, and they are worth more to him than the sparrows he feeds on a daily basis.
The very first injunction against murder in Scripture is found in Genesis 9:6 and comes in the form of lex talionis. "Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God He made man." The reason murder was determined to be so heinous as to deserve capital punishment was that man was created in the image of God. This injunction is also reflected in the 6th commandment, "You shall not murder," and in the punishment prescribed for it in the case laws. Listen to what the Protestant confessional document known as the Heidelberg Catechism says about the 6th commandment. "What does God require in the sixth commandment? That I do not revile, hate, insult, or kill my neighbor either in thought, word, or gesture, much less in deed, whether by myself or by another, and that I put aside all desire of revenge; moreover, that I do not harm myself, nor willfully run into any danger. Wherefore also to restrain murder the magistrate is armed with the sword." The commandment is clear: because my neighbor, no matter the shade of his skin, is made in the image of God, I must love him as myself and put aside any thoughts, words, or actions that do not show regard for him as one made in the image of God.
We are accustomed as Americans to think that our rights supersede our duties. But Scripture teaches that our duties to God and to our neighbor must come before our own rights. We cannot, in fact, hope to maintain our rights for long if we do not maintain our duties. We cannot ignore our duty to love our neighbor by showing due regard for his life and well-being as an image-bearer and expect that the Lawgiver and Ruler of all the world will bless us with life, liberty, and happiness. You will find the founders of this country in many places calling for its citizens to be a religious and virtuous people for without this liberty cannot long be upheld.
This first reason supersedes the second reason which is constitutional. That means that, even if my black neighbor's life and livelihood is not protected constitutionally, I have a duty to do what I can to stand up for him even if the law of the land does not. If the law of the land will not recognize his natural rights as an image-bearer, then I must invoke my religious duty to help preserve and maintain the life and well-being of my image-bearing neighbor.
This brings me to the second reason. They are my fellow citizens. Thankfully, the law of the land does recognize his natural right. The Constitution of the United States of America begins with these words: "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." The Constitution was designed to secure the rights of its citizens. The Declaration of Independence lists three main ones: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. More are listed in the Bill of Rights.
These Constitutional rights are, in theory, to be granted to all citizens equally. This is stated explicitly in the 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868: "No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." This Amendment was designed to guarantee equal legal and civil rights to black people. History shows that it wasn't immediately successful. Jim Crow laws ensured that their civil and legal rights would not be protected equally. Nevertheless, the Amendment legally established their right of citizenship to due process and equal protection of the laws even though it took another hundred years for practices in the states to begin to catch up with what the Constitution granted. And current discontentments and rumblings show that many feel there is still more that needs to be done.
What is stated in the 14th Amendment is based upon the biblical worldview and can only make sense within that context. Exodus 12:49 states, "One law shall be for the native-born and for the stranger who dwells among you." We need to understand that for the nation of Israel, this would also mean that the stranger who dwelt among them had to be circumcised and practice the same religion, but it also meant that the laws of Israel would also apply to them. It meant, moreover, that Israelites had the duty to love these foreign-born citizens as themselves; they could not show any partiality. The stranger dwelling in their land had the right to due process and the equal protection of the laws of Moses. The history of Israel showed that due process and equal protection of the laws was often violated. The prophets of Israel chastised the people for this, and it was one of the main reasons why Israel and Judah were overthrown and led into captivity.
In the time of the New Testament, the gospel message came with a clear message that God does not show partiality, nor is he a respecter of men, but every nation who fears him and does what is righteous is accepted by him (Acts 10:34-35). The message of the gospel is a clear signal that due process and equal protection of the laws is a thing that pleases him.
There are many today who want to scrap the Constitution. They claim it to be a document written by white, slave-owning men and therefore irrelevant to a more progressive and liberal society. But this ignores the fact that the Constitution upholds basic principles that were not just true then, but are true for all-time. Human nature is fundamentally the same then as it is now. The Federalists and Anti-Federalists debates reveal how well the founders of this nation understood human propensity to act in self-interested ways and ignore the rights of others. They understood, too, that governments are run by men with the same propensities. Have we really progressed and become so liberal that this is no longer the case? Current events show that this is not the case. All one has to do is read through David Berlinski's book Human Nature to see proof that there has been little in terms of progress.
If you look at the Black Lives Matter website, you'll find that they make denials of what is fundamentally true of human nature. They deny traditional and biblical definitions of society, family, marriage, and gender, and it is necessary for a well-ordered and free society to have a correct understanding of these things. Furthermore, you will search in vain for any underlying moral reason not only for their denials of these things, but even for why black lives matter. What must we conclude of this organization? We must conclude that the end result of their liberation and justice movement cannot and will not result in liberty and justice.
I maintain these two propositions that men are created in the image of God and that all the citizens of this land have a right to due process and equal protection of the laws. Insofar as these things are not maintained in our communities, we should view it as a Christian and as an American duty to stand against injustice. Injustice for one person or one people group must be viewed as injustice for all of us. Moreover, we need to understand that injustice is the enemy of liberty. Liberty can only maintained where justice prevails.
We must also understand that ungodly and immoral ideologies that deny fundamental truths regarding human nature cannot and will not result in liberty and justice. These kinds of ideologies hold out a form of freedom and justice, but ideas of freedom and justice which do not accord with human nature will only end in slavery and misery.
Black lives matter because they are human beings made in the image of God. God made them to be those who shine forth his glory upon the earth. A black man is, as the ancient philosophers stated, a microcosm and the universe the macrocosm. He ought to be treated as such. Black lives also matter because the Constitution of the United States inherited the worldview of the Bible and granted to them the right of due process and equal protection of the laws. Insofar as you work for good and necessary change in our communities upon these principles, I will be glad to stand with you. Insofar as you work for a version of liberty and justice that contradicts these principles and the fundamental truths of human nature, I will oppose you because I believe black lives matter too much to be destroyed by godless ideologies.
