FIVE DANGERS OF CRITICAL RACE THEORY

  1. It is wrong in its view of race. It defines race on the basis of physical criteria, skin color, eye shape and hair. The Bible teaches that there is only one race—the human race. There are many ethnicities, skin colors, languages and cultures—but only one race. In the sight of God, all are equal. Acts 17:26 says, “And He hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth. ”

Before our birth, God determined certain immutable (unchanging) characteristics for each of us: our gender, eye color and hair texture, which are fixed and will be with us until we die. We are also made in the image of God, and bear certain qualities of our Creator: the ability to reason, self-awareness and conscience, telling us right and wrong.

  1. It wrongly defines the problem. Critical Race Theory makes all white people the culprits. Yes, there are racists, but most white people oppose racism. The most basic problem of the human race is sin—not racism. The Bible teaches that “all have sinned” and violated God’s law, and until redeemed by the blood of Christ, are under God’s judgment for their sins. As has been said, “The heart of the human problem is the problem of the human heart.”
  2. Critical Race Theory has no place for love or forgiveness. Jesus taught that we are to love God first (Matt. 22:37), then our neighbor—and even our enemies. First Corinthians 13 teaches that love is the greatest of all virtues. Additionally, I John 4:20 states, “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar; for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” Based on this verse alone, none of the Critical Theories have any place in the heart of a Christian or in a Christian church. This movement has no place for love—it is all about power. Wherever it goes, it produces hatred, envy, strife, jealousy, anger, disputes, dissension, resentment and violence. Our Lord taught, “You shall know a tree by its fruits,” and one of the fruits of Marxism is Critical Race Theory. It sets one group of people against another and charges them with a crime they did not commit, then offers them no path to forgiveness or reconciliation. It tells little children that they are racist because of the color of their skin, and that they always will be racist. It imposes upon them a burden of guilt for what was done in centuries past—which in itself is social injustice to them.

During the summer of 2020, we saw the fruit of 40 years of Critical Theory training in our universities and colleges. In May of 2020, a black man in Minneapolis named George Floyd was killed by a police officer. A major riot followed and spread across America. Out of it came a movement called Black Lives Matter (BLM).

It has been said if you want to start a movement, find a slogan with which everyone agrees. Certainly every one of us agree that the death of George Floyd was an evil and unjust thing. For Christians, our Bible teaches that all lives matter—black, white, unborn, elderly, handicapped—all lives are sacred and precious to God. No one wants to be called a racist—especially we who are serious Christians. But we must not allow ourselves to be intimidated by the Marxists who are using racial tension to seek the destruction of our beloved country—for that is exactly what they are doing. Thousands gullibly supported BLM immediately after their beginning. But now we have discovered that the founders are trained Marxists, and one of their primary goals is to “disrupt the Western prescribed nuclear family structure.” More recently, we have learned that the founder, Alicia Garza, and her co- founders, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi, have misused millions of dollars of donated funds to BLM to purchase real estate in affluent white neighborhoods—in their own names. The corruption they accused others of, they practice themselves.

Under the direction of two anti-American hate groups—Antifa & Black Lives Matter—mobs destroyed large areas of several major American cities. Liberal media told us the thousands marching in the streets were “peaceful demonstrators.” Yet the videos told a different story, showing building after building on fire, looters running in and out of stores stripping the shelves bare. While in the streets, the American flag was being burned and policemen were being cursed and beaten. This is the chaos that CRT produces, and it must be repudiated everywhere it is taught.

  1. Critical Race Theory teaches partiality, which is the sin of the Pharisees. James 2:9 says, “But if you have respect to persons, ye commit sin and are convinced of the law as ” Leviticus 19:15 adds, “Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbor.”

Any view that causes one person to hate or look down on another person because of their skin color, or any other immutable quality, is evil. Galatians 3:28 teaches the equality of all persons—“There is neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free, there is neither male nor female, for ye are one in Christ Jesus.” In other words, our unity in Christ supersedes our human characteristics.

  1. Today, the “Woke Church” is the newest fad to catch the fancy of evangelicals. “Woke” means to be awakened—to embrace the social justice movement as part of the church’s mission. However, Christ gave the church its mission two millennia ago—we are to go into all the world proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to make disciples. The “Woke Church” is a diversion, leading away from God’s plan of preaching the Gospel to preaching social justice. Yes, as Christians we are concerned about justice, but we know that men’s dreams of creating utopia—a perfect society—always end in disaster. We know from history that every time the church has embraced a social justice agenda, it has ended up in liberalism. The Gospel is still the power of God unto salvation, and is the only way to change human hearts. It changes them at a far deeper level than CRT because the Gospel changes from the inside out—from core to circumference. And when the hearts of people are changed, racism and prejudice are confessed as sin and forsaken, and the love of Jesus will control their treatment of all men.

Every Christian acknowledges the evils of slavery. It is a stain on our nation’s history and is totally incompatible with our Constitution that guarantees “liberty and justice for all.” However, it has been over 150 years since the Emancipation Proclamation freed all slaves, and it has been over 60 years since the “Jim Crow” laws ended. America has made great progress in overcoming racism. While there are, unfortunately, individuals who are still racist, “systemic racism” has been all but eliminated. Where is the evidence of racism in government, education, sports or the military?

If you believe the Bible, you know the emphasis of God’s Word is personal and individual responsibility. Nowhere in Scripture or in civil law is an entire group ever blamed, held responsible or punished for the sins of 150 years in the past. Ezekiel 18 makes it abundantly clear that God holds individuals responsible for their own deeds—never for the sins of generations past. We must oppose every form of Cultural Marxism, and not allow it to destroy the progress America has made and create divisions that have the potential to destroy our future.

Christian, please understand we are in a spiritual battle for the survival of biblical Christianity in our society, as well as the very soul of America. We are not seeking to create a utopia—we are looking for the return of the King!

However, until He comes, we must guard our freedom to practice and proclaim our faith and the other liberties that have made America the envy of the world. We know the source of every lie is Satan, and that he will intensify his efforts in the end times because “he knows his time is short” (Revelation 12:12).

CLOSE

What can we do? We must fight spiritual battles with spiritual weapons, and those weapons are found in Ephesians 6:

  1. Stand for Truth wherever it is under attack (v.14).
  2. Put on the Breastplate of Righteousness—guard your heart (v. 14).
  3. Put on the Gospel Shoes (wherever you go, share the Gospel, 15).
  4. The Shield of Faith (believing and acting on God’s Word) will protect us (v.16).
  5. The Helmet of Salvation protects the head and our thinking process (v.17).
  6. Our Sword is the Word of God (v.17).
  7. Lastly, use the powerful weapon of Prayer (v.18).

Let’s not forget the promise of II Corinthians 10:4, “Our weapons are mighty through God to the tearing down of strongholds”—even the stronghold of Critical Race Theory.

bmonroe@fbt.org