A Conclusion (of sorts) to “Do Black Lives Matter?”

*A Long-Form Series Co-Edited by North Park Theological Seminary’s Dean, Rev. Dr. Dennis Edwards & Editorial Director Chris Kamalski

*Editorial Note: We asked Rev. Dr. Dennis Edwards, one of our Leading Voices, to introduce our mini-series “Do Black Lives Matter?” earlier this spring. It felt right to repost his piece as a conclusion (of sorts). There’s always more to write, and we will not hesitate to say it. But for now, the good Rev. Dr.’s prophetic invitation is a fitting last word:

“I invite us all to continually heed the perspectives of Christians whose people have suffered unjustly so that we become increasingly compassionate and better able to live out the Great Commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-40), demonstrating to those outside the Christian community that justice matters to God and also matters to us.” (Rev. Dr. Dennis Edwards)

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The prophetic call for justice arises from the voices of those experiencing oppression. This is to say that while cries for peace, freedom, dignity, and equality might come from those who advocate for oppressed people, the most poignant message resounds from the downtrodden themselves. Such was the case in the Civil Rights Movement in the US. In fact, every April we remember the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. His murder in 1968 was the result of his leadership in voicing the concerns of African Americans. Violence perpetrated upon prophets is a key sign that competitive and hierarchical societies resist upsetting the status quo. Indeed, in my early adulthood, most white evangelicals I knew denounced protests against injustice and supported oppressive structures, including apartheid in South Africa.

The status quo favors the elite and those who enthusiastically support them but reinforces societal inequities. Consequently, there is always the need for godly people to challenge unjust systems. Astute Bible readers know that one key theme carried throughout the Scriptures is that God is passionate about justice. Many African American biblical interpreters, along with those from among other minoritized groups, have long believed and taught that God is a liberator. We invite all who claim to be God’s followers to denounce injustice and to advocate for the freedom of oppressed and otherwise marginalized people. Of course, we all might speculate about the timing of liberation (It doesn’t always happen at the moment we hope for it), or the extent of it (Some people are freed while others are not), but nevertheless, God is the LORD who brought Israel out of Egyptian slavery and who commissioned prophets to decry injustice.

The prophetic call for justice arises from the voices of those experiencing oppression. (1/2) Share on X

This is to say that while cries for peace, freedom, dignity, and equality might come from those who advocate for oppressed people, the most poignant message resounds from the downtrodden themselves. (2/2) Share on X

Paul Protests an Unjust Prison Warden

From my perspective as an African American, I read the epilogue to the story of Paul and Silas in a Philippian prison (Acts 16:35-40) as a biblical rationale for oppressed people to continue standing for justice, even though we often face efforts to silence us — sometimes through violence. That violence against oppressed people who protest injustice has sometimes come with government sanction, support, or tacit approval. I see some parallels to this reality in Acts 16. In the evangelical settings in which I found myself in my past, the only important event in Acts 16 was the conversion of the prison warden and his household (Acts 16:25–34). Typically, preachers and teachers never mentioned the end of the story (Acts 16:35–40). Therefore, I write about the episode and what it might teach us in my essay in Do Black Lives Matter? How Christian Scriptures Speak to Black Empowerment, a book I co-edited with Dr. Lisa Bowens of Princeton Theological Seminary.

The morning after the miraculous midnight events in a Philippian prison, as recorded in Acts 16:25-34, the prison warden — or jailor — comes with what he assumes is good news: Paul and Silas are free to “go in peace” (Acts  16:36). But Paul is not content to go away quietly. Instead, he invokes his rights as a Roman citizen and protests the unjust treatment he and Silas received. His words are a prophetic indictment on the government’s misuse of its authority. It was illegal for the police to beat Roman citizens without due process. Interestingly, Paul and Silas get an apology (!) (Acts 16:39), even as they are invited to leave town. There is of course, more that can be observed in the passage, but one main point is to acknowledge that Christian people who enjoy relative privilege in our nation ought not readily dismiss or denounce contemporary protests against unfair treatment. After all, the apostle Paul raised his voice in protest against the local government and the Scriptures do not indict him for doing so.

Violence perpetrated upon prophets is a key sign that competitive, hierarchical societies resist upsetting the status quo. The status quo favors the elite and those who enthusiastically support them, reinforcing societal inequities. Share on X

My essay is one of many in Do Black Lives Matter? that demonstrates how African American Bible-readers find a God of liberation in the Scriptures. This God is not a liberator of African Americans only, but One who is near to all the brokenhearted, One who saves the crushed in spirit (Psalm 34:18). I invite us all to continually heed the perspectives of Christians whose people have suffered unjustly so that we become increasingly compassionate and better able to live out the Great Commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-40), demonstrating to those outside the Christian community that justice matters to God and also matters to us.

~Dr. Dennis Edwards (AKA @revdrdre)

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The epilogue to Paul and Silas' story in a Philippian prison is a biblical rationale for oppressed people to continue standing for justice, even though we often face efforts to silence us — sometimes through violence. (1/2) Share on X

Christian people who enjoy privilege in our nation ought not readily dismiss contemporary protests against unfair treatment. Paul raised his voice in protest against the local government. The Scriptures do not indict him. (2/2) Share on X

*Editorial Note: We issued an open call for African American Christian writers to contribute to this series, and were grateful for the pitches that were submitted and the final pieces that we published. Those include Nicole Doyley powerful lament “Why Haven’t We Made More Progress?,” Sahr Mbriwa brilliant disentanglement, entitled “Flourishing and Cruciformity: Paradoxical Tensions in the Christian Life,” Alex Booker’s prophetic call to the Black Church to return to “Walking Amongst Our Dry Bones,” and Joylanda Jamison’s poignant and painful self-reflection, “A False Dichotomy: Am I Black or Am I Christian?” More to come. ~CK