Why Antifa and BLM matter

Many have rightly criticized Antifa and BLM for their extremist views and violent behavior. Steeped in socialist agitprop, these groups espouse a political perspective ignorant of history and economics. They were maleducated by a corrupt public school system, and they were raised poorly by our generation. 

We are to blame, because so many of us did not teach this generation well, we coddled them and told them they were wonderful and special without holding them to any standard of behavior, intellectual rigor, or spiritual development which would entitle them to such praise.

So they came into adulthood being fully convinced of their nobleness and superiority, yet bereft of historical perspective and life experience. As such, many of them embrace a worldview that their parents and grandparents know is vile and morally bankrupt. 

Socialism.

This being said, Antifa and BLM matter because they have given people something they think gives meaning to their lives. Socialism starts with the word "social," and being part of something gives people belonging. They want to change the world, solve supposed injustices, and have a cause to fight for.

In addition, no one told them about or showed them the power of a real faith in Jesus Christ that could transform their lives. So the Church failed too.

The Church has sat on the sidelines with its ideals and principles and standards, content to tsk tsk at the darkness of society while only a few step out in boldness to engage the culture with the gospel. Then the church lobs grenades at those risk takers because they are unconventional, or not proper, or because of their doctrines, their hair, or who they're associated with.

It has been said that the Church is one of the few entities that shoot their own wounded. It seems they also shoot those who don't march lockstep with proper decorum as well.

The church has forfeited its influence for the the sake of lovely buildings, tax advantages, high powered preachers, programs, and insistence on correctness and uniformity. The Church has rendered itself largely irrelevant to speak to culture, because it has stayed in the culture of 100 years ago. Or,  it has tried to emulate the culture in order to say, "hey, we're cool too."

Neither approach speaks to the actual answer, a living relationship with the Creator of the universe.

But the church has the answer. Only Jesus can create peace, belonging, and connection. Only Jesus can solve the sin problem. Only Jesus can take a dead man and make him alive. 

But the church hasn't given these disaffected people a place to belong. They desperately want what we have, but they don't even know that we have it.

Mt. 5:14 You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.

They are like an airplane in a storm looking for the runway landing lights. but someone switched off the lights. There's been a power failure. A Church without Holy Spirit power cannot turn on the lights. This is the key difference, the Holy Spirit transformed life. 

This is what our children actually are looking for. Let's show them.