EBC Statement on Social Justice and the Current Ethnic and Cultural Unrest

September 2020

  1. We believe God is to be loved and honored above all else and His Word to be recognized as the basis for our beliefs and choices. (Matt 22:37; 2 Tim 3:1-17)
  1. We believe God commands us to love our neighbors as ourselves. We must show compassion and kindness to others like the Good Samaritan, who showed personal love to the man left beaten and suffering. All believers must treat every human being as made in God’s image and worthy of respect. (Gen. 1:27; James 3:9)  
  1. While we wholeheartedly affirm that black lives do matter, we denounce the organization of Black Lives Matter as a secular, atheistic movement driven by a Marxist philosophy of class division designed to stir up hatred and violence. Black Lives Matter’s doctrinal statement promotes and defends sinful lifestyles such as homosexuality and transgenderism, and attacks the nuclear family and biologically assigned gender (cisgender). (https://blacklivesmatter.com/what-we-believe/)
  1. We denounce the ideologies of Critical Race Theory and Cultural Marxism as anti-biblical, seeing people groups as either oppressed or oppressors. They presuppose that people are defined by their race or class rather than by their individual acts and attitudes and cause division by placing guilt on groups rather than the individual. We believe all racist behavior is sin, but cannot condemn all white people or all black people or all police officers as racist. God says each individual is important and will individually give an account. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that each one may receive his due for the things done in the body, whether good or bad.” (2 Cor. 5:10)
  1. We denounce the notion that the sinful behavior of ancestors carries its guilt to future generations. Current generations should not be required to make reparations for wrongs done by past generations. “The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them.” (Ezekiel 18:20)
  1. We denounce the false teaching that whiteness is part of original sin that demands confession and atonement. Original sin is a condition every person is born with as a descendant of Adam. (Rom. 5:12).
  1. We believe that our identity as believers is in Christ, not in an ethnic or social class or status. Through Faith in Christ we are reconciled to God and to each other. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal. 3:28)  We are to preserve our unity in Christ in the bonds of peace (Eph. 4:3). We reject partiality because of ethnicity or socio-economic status. “If you show partiality, you are committing sin.” (James 2:9).  
  1. We believe those who rule over us should be respected and we should be thankful for the freedoms God has graciously provided our nation. “Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.” (1 Peter 2:17)  “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established….” (Rom. 13:1) 
  1. We believe the church as a body is not called to eliminate the injustices of society but to preach the gospel and build up fellow believers. However, individual believers have the freedom to voice concerns and to act to alleviate injustices in this world in a lawful, respectful manner, never promoting hatred or violence toward those in authority (Titus 3:1-2). 
  1. We believe Evansville Bible Church is called to teach Scriptural truths so we may love one another and not tear down one another. We are called to glorify God and be ambassadors for Christ to a lost world. We have a message of hope for all people, not just for this life, but for eternity. 

Resources on the ethnic and cultural unrest

Voddie Baucham:

Defining Social Justice:  https://youtu.be/YFNOP2IqwoY

Ethnic Gnosticism:  https://youtu.be/Ip3nV6S_fYU

Cultural Marxism:  https://youtu.be/GRMFBdDDTkI

John MacArthur:

How Should Christians Respond to the Riots?  https://youtu.be/ah3x8MKPHrY

Final Justice: The Return of Christ  https://youtu.be/PmYw6dGEbEw