As a parent of three teenagers and an elementary child, since Monday all four children have talked to me about the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis while in police custody. Floyd, a 46-year-old African American, became unresponsive while being restrained by policeman Derek Chauvin, who has since been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Three other police officers have been fired as they were on the scene as well, although as of now they have not been charged. Progressively throughout the week, riots broke out each night in the streets of Minneapolis and have spread to demonstrations in other major US cities as well.
As the conversations have unfolded with each of the children individually and together, I have tried to answer with caution. All four children grieved at what happened to this particular man and denounced the treatment he was given. In addition, they had a mixed reaction to the various responses by others to this throughout the week.
One of them asked, “Dad, are you going to write a blog about this incident?” I explained that my intention was to not write something immediately about this. However, as that particular conversation unfolded with a couple of them, I shared with them various ideas I thought were important to learn. In the process, I noticed their reaction. One said, “Dad, you can’t write anything that will not be taken wrong.”
As a parent, that statement is the conundrum we face. As we try to intentionally lead our children into wisdom, train them in righteousness, help them love people, and teach them to be responsible adults, there is a point where it becomes very challenging. In today’s blog I hope to address this challenge with four important truths we must hold in balance as parents who seek to love and train their children well.
Black Lives Do Matter
Black lives do matter. I want my children to both understand and embrace the reality that every black life matters. However it cannot end there. Without exception, every life matters. I write that without any exclusions. Regardless of any other variable – including ethnicity and color – all people matter. We must teach our children this specifically, regularly, and intentionally. As we do, we must demonstrate it in how we live. The principle of life matters goes beyond mere conversation. We must challenge our views of people, look deeply into our conversations, consider our actions, examine our attitudes, and evaluate our behavior toward all people. If in any sense we fall short of loving and respecting any other person, as parents we must repent, seek forgiveness, and explain to our children our own shortcomings. Our children need to see us as leaders in this area – sensitive to God, others, and our own hearts.
Why? Every life matters because every person is made in the image of God. The Bible states, “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Gen 1:27). When you start with this foundational truth, you recognize that every person – all of humanity – matters to God and should matter to us. We are called to love God supremely and love others sincerely – both in greater preference that in love of self (Matt 22:38-40).
Of all people, those of us who follow Jesus Christ must lead by example in our love and respect of others. Every Life Matters.
We Respect All People.
The Bible states clearly that we should, “Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king” (1 Pet 2:17, emphasis mine). Yes, we are to treat other followers of God in a special way as family; however, we are to treat all people with respect. Just because there is an emphasis to treat those who love God in specific and loving ways, this expectation toward believers does not mitigate nor minimize our responsibility to respect all people. In fact, I would argue that the responsibility to love those who love God emphasizes and maximizes our responsibility as Christ-followers to love others.
As people who are in the image of God and those who face eternity, our desire should be that all people becomes followers of Christ. If that is our desire, then we must demonstrate respect toward them and love them. We essentially live in such a way that we incarnate Jesus Christ in their presence. As Paul said, “We live as Christ” (Phil 1:21).
Did Jesus respect all people? Absolutely. He demonstrated it by dying on the cross. Jesus defended sinners, cared for sufferers, healed the sick, and took in the outcast. Jesus is our supreme example of what it looks like to respect our fellow mankind. Again, this supersedes any and all distinctions based upon any category – including color and ethnicity. We Respect All People.
We Live and Promote Justice.
Followers of Christ should be the most outspoken for justice. Jesus demonstrated it throughout life; the Old Testament demanded it. The prophet Micah wrote, “He has shown you, oh man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God?” (Micah 6:8).
Speaking of doing justly, this relates to how we act toward others. God requires for us to do what is right toward others. God is our standard and judge for righteous living. Therefore, when we seek to do justly, we must see how God Himself acts and what He expects from us. This ultimately means that we must do what is right for the people around us.
Why? Because all our actions must promote justice. We respect people out of a deep longing to be like Jesus and interact people as He. We Live and Promote Justice.
We Respect Our Government.
God both ordains government and grants them power. Our government also is “by the people, of the people, and for the people” in the United States. However, this “by, of, and for” is secondary to God granting authority to government (Rom 13:1-7; 1 Pet 2:13-17). Theologically we would say, God granted three institutions: the family, the government, and the church. As such, we must see and respect government as such.
God gave government to protect citizens and punish evildoers. When government acts inside its God-ordained authority, it blesses us. As such, wise policy and the implementation of that policy provides for our good. As followers of Christ, we honor the king (1 Pet 2:17). In other words, we respect those in authority and see them as instruments of God for good. Further, we submit to government as well (Rom 13:1). If we systemically resist government, we resist God (Rom 13:2).
Can the government abuse its power? Of course. You see that over and over throughout history. However, just because a person or even a particular government abuses its power does not mean that we can choose to disrespect the authority God grants to them. In fact, one person’s actions or behavior (or a group of people’s) do not justify a disregard for the biblical principle of respect. We Respect Our Government.
We Live These Principles in Balance.
As parents, we live and teach these principles to our children with balance. Our hearts break for George Floyd and his family because he is in the image of God. Instead of love for our fellow man, what was shown to him was unloving, uncaring, and unkind. We want our children to see how the treatment of this fellow man is wrong, unacceptable, and against everything the Bible teaches. He was disrespected – different than what is required. He was treated unjustly – again, different than what is demanded from each of us. We absolutely reject to this treatment, view of life, and view of our fellow man. We stand up against this. Our voices rise to call for justice. Our hands raise in solidarity with those who call out the unjust treatment. As a people and as individuals, our hearts break for this soul who was lost at the hands of injustice.
As parents, we also must live and teach our children to respect government, agents of governmental authority, and the laws they pass. Our reaction to these four police officers must be governed by the greater biblical principles of respect for government. Four bad officers do not change our biblical mandate to respect nor do they represent all other honorable and sacrificial agents of government too. As I’ve written here and here, we respect those who sacrificially serve us. The actions of these officers do not change all the good that happens every day by the almost 700,000 officers in the United States.
Further, the riots cannot be justified. Peaceful protest can and possibly should be encouraged. People have a right for their voice to be heard. However, rioting fails to follow any of these four principles: image of God, respect for others, living justly, and respect of government. These also must be called what they are – wrong, sinful, and misplaced anger. We cannot make excuses for this behavior. There are other options. While rioting in the name of justice they commit more and more injustice.
This is our challenge as parents. It is a conversation on this day and the days of parades to honor our local heroes. When the policeman protects the sinned against or commits the sin. Both days come and go. We as parents must hold these four principles tightly, teach them to our children, and live accordingly as citizens of God’s kingdom and the United States.
Further, we must pray with our children. Pray for God’s mercy on all these people. We can ask God to grant our leaders wisdom. With our children we ask God to provide help and hope in the midst of this crisis today and to bless the work of government on peaceful days.
We Live These Principles In Balance.
God hates Racism, injustice does matter
KevinCarson.com | Wisdom for Life in Christ Together
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Edited 06.01.20 for clarification