During 2020 in Louisville, Ky. we experienced several weeks of rioting throughout the city because of generations of unjust treatment of minorities. Many of the downtown stores were boarded up and closed for weeks. Untold thousands of dollars of property were destroyed. Some of the businesses have not yet reopened.
We are a country that was founded on Judeo-Christian principles to a large degree. However, through the years some of the laws have been changed or ignored and applied differently based on race, social status, or financial advantages. And as a result, frustration, anger, and resentment have reached the point of boiling over. But is that a good reason to invade another’s personal property and destroy it?
Let’s look at two scenarios.
Suppose you come from a background of moderate-income, neither wealthy nor poor, worked hard, saved your money, and were able to purchase a home or business. But someone comes to destroy it, do you have a legal right to defend it and yourself?
Or, you are a minority that has also done the best you could possibly do in your situation. But seemingly things always seem to work against you regardless of what you do. The frustration builds over decades and finally, something happens that is the ‘straw that broke the camel’s back.’ Is it right for you to respond against someone and/or their property?
I see these scenarios as being about more than property and perhaps even more than whether injustices have been done. Perhaps, the discussion should also include not just what is right or wrong by the laws of a country but what does the Bible say about these type of things.
Micah 6:8 says, “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”
What is the standard to determine what is good or justice? Or what is merciful? What is humility? I suggest that defining these by human ideas alone is insufficient. We need a higher source of insight and truth. Only the Scriptures – the Bible – are able to give us the best insight.
It appears to me that financial inequity will always exist on this side of eternity! Then what can we do?
Let’s look at some Scripture absolutes.
Gender – when God created Adam & Eve, He determined their gender, and there are only two of them. Genesis 1:27
Race or Nationality – God placed them in the Garden of Eden. Genesis 2:8 After the fall, He scattered them across the earth. Genesis 11:1-9 Yet, the Cross and Pentecost solve that problem as any person can now hear the Gospel and make Jesus their personal Lord and Savior! Acts 2:1-4, Galatians 3:28-29, Revelation 22:17
I suggest the place to start overcoming the problems alluded to in this short article is to NOT discriminate based on Gender, Race, Nationality, or Economic place in life! I suggest that we become so Word oriented, and in love with Jesus we love who and what He loves more than anything else in the world. If we can do that, these types of problems may still exist but they will not control our life nor the way we see other people or situations!