We are living in confusing days. As we watch people make emotional decisions to virtue signal in response to the social justice agenda—we need to be cautious in order to avoid the cultural trappings and ideologies that are taking captive good men and women in the name of justice. It was Booker T. Washington who once made the following observation:
There is another class of coloured people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs, and the hardships of the Negro race before the public. Having learned that they are able to make a living out of their troubles, they have grown into the settled habit of advertising their wrongs — partly because they want sympathy and partly because it pays. Some of these people do not want the Negro to lose his grievances, because they do not want to lose their jobs.
The sobering reality is that quote was penned many years before the modern social justice agenda. One can only imagine what he would say today. The reality is, there are real sins in our society that result in real pain. Nobody in the circles that I operate would deny that racism is real and that all systems of our world are pure and holy. Every system from the world of politics to evangelical denominations are led by sinners and every last one will be imperfect at some level. We should never expect anything different this side of eternity.
Real change begins in the heart through the gospel of Jesus Christ and children of God who pursue life through a biblical lens, with Christlike love, and biblical justice that results in peace and a lasting difference in our society.
However, there are a couple of points that the social justicians make that I would passionately reject. First of all, I reject the idea that all systems of our society are dominated by a white power structure that intentionally seeks to hold back black advancement. Secondly, and most importantly, at whatever level we may find human depravity within the systems of our society, the solution is not worldly ideologies such as critical theory of any stripe nor is it through methods such as intersectionality. Real change begins in the heart through the gospel of Jesus Christ and children of God who pursue life through a biblical lens, with Christlike love, and biblical justice that results in peace and a lasting difference in our society.
Social Justice Is Not About Justice
The sobering reality that we must come to see in this societal controversy is that social justice is never about justice. It’s a system that is interested in gaining power by tearing down hierarchies and rebuilding according to the social justice blueprint in order to gain control and maintain perpetual power.
During a press conference in Atlanta for Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms to speak as the riots broke out in the city following George Floyd’s death, she asked a hip-hop artist named “Killer Mike” to join her and speak on live television. As he approached the microphone with a shirt that read, “Kill Your Masters,” the hip-hop artist encouraged the citizens of Atlanta to register to vote and go to the polls in November and exercise “bully power” to beat up politicians that “you don’t like.” He encouraged people to vote for progressive politicians who would legalize marijuana and topped it off by calling the President of the United States a “Dumbass President.”
The social justice movement is a postmodern deconstruction movement that motivates people on the surface by the need for “racial justice” and the need to overcome “white supremacy.” Behind the scenes, it’s interested in control, power, and maintaining that power that opens the door to a lucrative profit.
The Social Justice Agenda’s Real Agenda: Money
As Booker T. Washington said, “Having learned that they are able to make a living out of their troubles, they have grown into the settled habit of advertising their wrongs — partly because they want sympathy and partly because it pays.” Years ago, it was white people who enslaved black people on plantations in order to make a profit from their labor. Today, it’s the social justice movement who is enslaving black people as permanent victims in order to profit from their victimhood and gain from their grievances.
So long as people can continue to be indoctrinated by the false narrative that white people are the enemy of black people, a large population can be weaponized as political tools in order to win presidential elections and make lots of money for certain people.
Years ago, it was white people who enslaved black people on plantations in order to make a profit from their labor. Today, it’s the social justice movement who is enslaving black people as permanent victims in order to profit from their victimhood and gain from their grievances.
Make no mistake about it, the social justice machine is a very lucrative industry. In fact, as Peter Kirsanowk points out, “a massive multi-billion dollar apparatus [already] exists to identify and eliminate systemic, structural, institutional, and individual discrimination…that apparatus has existed for more than a half a century and continues to expand.” [1]
So long as people can continue to be indoctrinated by the false narrative that white people are the enemy of black people, a large population can be weaponized as political tools in order to win presidential elections and make lots of money for certain people.
According to Forbes, sales of anti-racism books jumped over 2000% after nationwide protests began in 2020. Robin DiAngelo, author of White Fragility, a title that sold more than 437,289 books between May and June of 2020 following George Floyd’s death has emerged as a popular speaker who is often paid $20,000 or more to lecture corporations and university professors on how to engage in anti-racism work.
The organization that was started after the George Zimmerman case back in 2013 known as Black Lives Matter has become extremely wealthy through the social justice movement. For instance, in 2020, the organization banked a stunning $90 million dollars. Some of the corporations that contributed to the BLM organization included the following:
- Door Dash: 500k
- Deckers: 500k
- Gatorade: 500k
- Microsoft: 250k
- Airbnb: 500k
- Dropbox: 500k
- Nabisco: 500k
After I preached a sermon that dealt with this issue in a recent “Christ & Culture” series in our church, a man approached me after the service who was a guest. He stated that he’s employed by a large pharmaceutical company who just recently committed $50 million dollars to Black Lives Matter. Needless to say, the social justice industry is a very lucrative industry. Virgil Walker, the Executive Director of G3 Ministries and co-host of the Just Thinking Podcast, in episode 103, “The Church of BLM” stated the following:
The outcome of the Zimmerman case and other cases like it is exactly what the founders of the BLM organization desire…There is no way to advance the BLM cause if justice is served. The advance of the BLM cause is only benefited by emotional responses devoid of facts. The BLM cause is only benefited by inciting violence and increasing ethnic hatred, and by establishing the permanent victimhood of the people they claim to be helping. Black lives have never mattered to Black Lives Matter. The organization BLM uses the bodies of dead black men, primarily at the hands of white officers, to promote a modern day race hustle.
The University of Michigan has engaged in the social justice industry, and has devoted $8.4 million dollars of its budget to “Diversity Employees.” Out of nearly 100 full-time “diversicrats,” there are some 26 employees who are bringing in more than $100,000 to police the university and ensure anti-racism work is being accomplished on their campus and within their positions of power.
As we continue to watch individuals, corporations, and non-profits posture themselves for profit, we can expect that from a depraved culture, it’s the evangelical church’s engagement in this industry that’s perhaps the most disappointing of all. LifeWay® Christian Stores of the Southern Baptist Convention, has an entire section of books, resources, and curriculum devoted to “racial reconciliation.” Beyond the use of “race” which is a social construct that clearly violates the teachings of Scripture, the popular retail chain has numerous titles that fit nicely into the marketspace of social justice ideas. Consider these titles from LifeWay:
- Seven-Day Prayer Guide: Engage your church in daily prayer regarding the issues of race, God, and the gospel. Download and distribute this seven-day prayer guide to help believers know how to pray and act regarding the issue of racial reconciliation in the church.
- Group Study Guide: Overcoming Prejudice Through Love
- Group Study Guide: Loving in a Divided Culture
- The Church and the Racial Divide
- The Gospel & Racial Reconciliation
We must engage our culture with biblical wisdom, and we must to be killing real sin (including the sin of social justice), or the sin will be killing us.
As the social justice machine continues to roll through evangelicalism, watch the money closely. Pay attention to the conferences, the books, and the elites who will leverage their power to lecture the masses on the need to be willing to surrender power in order to achieve diversity and “racial reconciliation” within evangelical circles.
We must engage our culture with biblical wisdom, and we must to be killing real sin (including the sin of social justice), or the sin will be killing us. The only hope of real peace with our fellow man across ethnic lines is through a heart that is changed by Christ. As humans, we are all traced back to one man (Adam) and the way we experience real unity and peace together is through one man (Jesus).
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- Peter Kirsanowk, “The ‘Systemic Racism’ Canard,” National Review Online, July 23, 2020, https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-systemic-racism-canard/
