A faithful Christian ought to be motivated by his faith and bring its injunctions to bare in every aspect of his life. The task of forming one’s social stance on the substance of faith is not an easy task, as we are not bereft of varied influences within a social ethos informed at times by contrary worldviews. It is quite easy to believe that what we pass as our view is based on a faith-understanding when in reality is our politics or our ideology. Prayerful study and calm reasoning are necessary to know the difference. Let me offer a few ideas that can positively inform our response.
1. First and foremost we must reaffirm that only a renewed commitment to Christ and his teachings can bring about ultimate human reconciliation. Our faith in Christ is paramount to offer a response. If we allow sentiment and ideology to drive our response we sin.
2. To firmly acknowledge injustice where injustice is rather apparent. There is no doubt that a great injustice was perpetrated against a civilian already under custody.
3. To calmly analyze the situation without falling prey to emotionalism. It is very tempting to analyze with rationalizations and fall for canned racial narratives. Some agenda-driven people easily go from the particular to the general, from an assessment here to an indictment there. These people are all over the political landscape. We are susceptible to be used by ideologues and we must not let that happen.
4. To support anyone fighting for peace and protesting peacefully, whether one agrees or disagrees with the substance of the protest. Conversely, to decry and reject the use of violence and looting. These acts are themselves unjust. Read Romans 3:7-8:
“Someone might argue, “If my falsehood enhances God’s truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?” Why not say—as some slanderously claim that we say—“Let us do evil that good may result”? Their condemnation is just!”
It is clear that a good cause, a just cause, admits only a godly response. Injustice breeds injustice and we end with unjust outcomes. We cannot merely agree to say we “reject” but “understand” the evil reaction. This has become a way to wink at evil. The condemnation of the evil-doer is just even if one can allege that their reaction was due to injustice. No, an unjust reaction is as unjust as the action. You are going to need courage because some will attack you for taking that stance.
5. Forcefully call for a legal remedy and for reform where needed. The great divide in America is between those who see incidents of racial injustice as demonstrative of the intrinsic evil of our society and those who–as Christians should affirm– believe that by tackling injustice where it arises we are contributing to the betterment of a society worth fighting for.
6. Reaffirm true Christian anthropology. We must insist as Christians that each person is unique and unrepeatable, made in the image and likeness of God. The imago Dei is embedded in the fabric of every being and race or ethnicity have no place at the center of human identity. We have been fooled to believe that insisting on “diversity” is the answer. Instead, the answer is in the universal commonality of human dignity from which an authentic appreciation of difference arises.
7. To reaffirm the moral precepts of the natural law which affirm human dignity. A focus on human dignity can serve in the pursuit of justice. It is not a mere legalistic question concerning the social construct of human law. No, it pertains to the natural law, the first grace of God, written in our hearts. When Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., appealed to the natural and eternal law in his Letter from Birmingham Jail, he was not appealing merely to a private judgment or sentiment or to a legal technicality. Instead, he appealed to a public order, as just human laws are but a participation in the eternal law of God. The natural law then is a supra-public law that ought to guide our minds as Christians.
