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00:00:00.000 | I am James Hong and welcome to the Surpassing Value Podcast.
00:00:15.620 | The fuel and desire for this podcast was born out of a compulsion to flesh out what's
00:00:19.740 | been going on in the midst of an ocean of megaphones that may not actually withstand
00:00:24.600 | the test of scrutiny.
00:00:26.620 | As a signpost theologian, I will do my best to filter out the impurities and point people
00:00:32.320 | in the right direction.
00:00:39.200 | For episode number four, I wanted to talk about critical race theory.
00:00:45.960 | The reason I wanted to talk about this particular subject is because much of the social justice
00:00:52.240 | movement today, and even the worldview held by the masses, is seeped in this thinking.
00:00:59.680 | Most people who have their thoughts shaped by critical race theory, which I'm going to
00:01:04.000 | refer to as CRT, don't even realize it.
00:01:09.200 | And that's why it's so important to bring it to light.
00:01:12.880 | I am not stating that everyone who advocates for some type of justice reform is a critical
00:01:20.220 | race theorist.
00:01:21.220 | And I'm not saying they should be silenced.
00:01:24.920 | However, ideologies do the most harm when they are hidden in the midst of unconsciousness
00:01:32.640 | because they are working within your worldview and you don't even realize it.
00:01:38.440 | Therefore, it is important to pin these very slithery ideologies as much as possible so
00:01:44.800 | that they can be revealed for what they are.
00:01:47.600 | If they're helpful, they should remain.
00:01:50.040 | If they aren't, they should be thrown to the wayside.
00:01:53.800 | What is interesting and common with many of these ideologies like CRT, and even the term
00:01:59.200 | social justice, is that there really is no consensus definition.
00:02:04.920 | There really is no consensus origin.
00:02:08.400 | I know because I actually did my research.
00:02:11.960 | You have to look at the body of evidence concerning these movements, concerning these ideologies,
00:02:18.720 | and seek out the common denominators to ascertain what these ideologies espouse and then based
00:02:26.600 | on that make explicit statements.
00:02:30.100 | That is why these ideologies are so deceptive and so manipulative.
00:02:35.560 | They could amorphously transform into different ideologies when they fall out of favor.
00:02:46.080 | CRT sees everything within a power dynamic.
00:02:53.440 | All human relationships begin and end within a power dynamic.
00:02:59.840 | There are two groups and everyone is divided into these two groups.
00:03:04.720 | You are either the oppressor or the oppressed.
00:03:09.280 | The oppressor is always oppressing the oppressed, so if you belong in that category, even if
00:03:16.760 | you're not intentionally oppressing the oppressed, you are doing so.
00:03:22.200 | The way we determine who is in what category is based largely on categorizations of race,
00:03:29.560 | gender, sex, sexuality, religion, and even ideology.
00:03:35.960 | So depending on how many markers you check off the box, that will determine your level
00:03:42.060 | of oppression.
00:03:45.820 | One could simultaneously be in an oppressor category and an oppressed category.
00:03:54.260 | So there is no exact formula in terms of grouping people.
00:04:00.300 | Much of it is relative.
00:04:02.120 | I'll give you an example of being simultaneously in an oppressor category and in an oppressed
00:04:08.220 | category.
00:04:10.220 | A white, straight, female atheist is more oppressed than a white, male Christian.
00:04:20.680 | However, the white, straight, female atheist is less oppressed compared to, let's say,
00:04:29.400 | the brown, straight, female atheist.
00:04:34.520 | In the example I just gave you, being white is being part of the oppressor category.
00:04:40.640 | But there are other oppressed categories that the same person fell under.
00:04:47.000 | Neil Shenvey has outlined four premises within Critical Race Theory, within CRT, that is
00:04:53.040 | helpful in understanding CRT as a worldview.
00:04:56.600 | Neil Shenvey defines worldview as a comprehensive and systematic framework that one uses to
00:05:03.940 | view reality.
00:05:05.680 | A worldview is a comprehensive and systematic framework that one uses to view reality.
00:05:11.780 | That is a concise definition of worldview that is extremely helpful.
00:05:16.520 | Now I am quoting Neil Shenvey and dropping his name because I think he is a brilliant
00:05:24.640 | anthropologist, just a brilliant mind.
00:05:28.280 | He has written extensively on this particular topic and others.
00:05:32.840 | He has contributed greatly to advancing and uncovering what Critical Race Theory really
00:05:43.360 | is.
00:05:45.060 | So he gives these four premises and I think if you have the time, you should definitely
00:05:51.120 | check them out.
00:05:52.120 | If you just Google Neil Shenvey, N-E-I-L, space, Shenvey is S-H-E-N-V-I.
00:06:00.540 | Premise #1.
00:06:02.240 | Human relationships should be fundamentally understood in terms of power dynamics, which
00:06:07.840 | differentiates groups into oppressors and the oppressed.
00:06:12.520 | That's premise #1.
00:06:13.520 | Premise #2.
00:06:14.640 | Our identity as individuals is inseparable from our group identity, especially our categorization
00:06:22.040 | as oppressor or oppressed with respect to a particular identity marker.
00:06:29.360 | Premise #3.
00:06:30.720 | All oppressed groups find their fundamental unity in their common experience of oppression.
00:06:38.440 | Premise #4.
00:06:39.480 | The fundamental human project is liberation from all forms of oppression.
00:06:45.440 | Consequently, the fundamental virtue is standing in solidarity against the oppressor.
00:06:54.200 | There is another term called intersectionality, I've already talked about it without explicitly
00:07:00.840 | referring to it, but intersectionality determines whether someone is an oppressor or oppressed.
00:07:07.760 | And those are the markers, those are the boxes that we check off.
00:07:12.280 | And those were the race, sex, gender, religion, ideology, sexuality, and more.
00:07:18.880 | So all of this, critical race theory as a worldview, and intersectionality, which tells
00:07:26.200 | us which category that we are in, all of this is united within the conversation of moral
00:07:34.520 | authority.
00:07:36.720 | The more oppressed you are, the more moral authority you have to speak on categories
00:07:45.440 | of right/wrong, justice/injustice.
00:07:50.080 | Any pushback is going to be stonewalled by stating that the difference of opinion is
00:07:57.000 | not rooted in objective fact, but rather the inability of the lived experience.
00:08:07.120 | For example, if a white heterosexual male has a sincere disagreement about policing,
00:08:18.680 | a common retort is a lot of times, "Well, because you're a white heterosexual male,
00:08:27.280 | that is why you really can't speak on this issue."
00:08:30.640 | Now, it might be that this white heterosexual male might have grown up in a dense urban
00:08:41.440 | area with no white friends.
00:08:45.000 | Maybe he has all Hispanic friends, or all black friends, or all Asian friends.
00:08:50.080 | But those other factors do not come into play within critical race theory.
00:08:58.080 | What comes into play is merely the intersectionality identity markers.
00:09:06.280 | So the common retort to this white heterosexual male who has a sincere disagreement about
00:09:12.080 | policing would just be, "Well, whatever you say carries no weight by virtue of the
00:09:18.320 | fact that you are a white heterosexual male."
00:09:22.840 | I'll give you another example.
00:09:24.280 | Let's say under this worldview.
00:09:26.760 | Let's say you are the son of a rich athlete or celebrity who also happens to be black.
00:09:36.480 | You are then more oppressed than the white male heterosexual who grew up in, let's
00:09:45.160 | say, a trailer park, born to a single white myth addict mother.
00:09:53.160 | So the son of, let's say, a famous baseball or basketball player who also happens to be
00:10:03.480 | black would be more oppressed than my buddy who grew up in Detroit, Michigan in a trailer
00:10:13.160 | park to a single white myth addict mother.
00:10:17.960 | It is under this framework that we could have even someone like the former first lady, Michelle
00:10:29.160 | Obama, the former first lady of the United States, it is under this framework that she
00:10:37.080 | can say things like, "White people don't see me."
00:10:42.120 | And someone like LeBron James who could say that he is oppressed.
00:10:48.400 | And quoting LeBron James not too long ago, he stated, and I quote, "No matter how much
00:10:55.120 | money you have, no matter how famous you are, no matter how many people admire you, being
00:11:01.320 | black in America is tough.
00:11:03.400 | We got a long way to go for us as a society and for us as African Americans until we feel
00:11:09.460 | equal in America."
00:11:11.440 | Now I want to say this, I am not saying that Michelle Obama has never experienced racism.
00:11:19.000 | I'm not saying that.
00:11:20.320 | I am not saying that LeBron James has never experienced oppression.
00:11:27.480 | What I am saying, however, is that the former first lady, Michelle Obama, and LeBron James,
00:11:34.960 | and I happen to be an avid Lakers fan.
00:11:37.840 | I've been so since 1988.
00:11:41.280 | I was eight years old back then.
00:11:42.840 | I'm dating myself, but I've been so since 1988.
00:11:45.640 | I'm actually quite thankful for LeBron James coming to LA and giving us another championship.
00:11:54.980 | At the very same time, these are two extremely privileged people who are adored by the masses.
00:12:09.760 | And when Michelle Obama stated in a podcast why people don't see me, and when LeBron James
00:12:15.600 | talked about how it's hard for him to be black in America, they're not talking about a past
00:12:23.720 | episode.
00:12:25.600 | They're talking about within the current state that they are in.
00:12:32.680 | Contrast this with someone like Marcellus Wiley, again, who also happens to be black.
00:12:39.440 | Marcellus Wiley stated the following on his show, Speak for Yourself.
00:12:43.480 | It's a talk radio show in reference to the organization called Black Lives Matter.
00:12:50.720 | He stated this, and I quote, "In 2020, white supremacy is the mission."
00:12:57.080 | That's a lot of digging through minutia right there.
00:13:00.200 | I'm on a show that I'm hosting along with another black guy who is hosting with me who
00:13:05.560 | replaced another black guy, and that's just one example of it.
00:13:10.440 | So I understand.
00:13:11.760 | I respect your space.
00:13:13.800 | I respect what you're protesting for, but will you respect others who do not support
00:13:21.340 | that same protest?
00:13:24.800 | Marcellus Wiley was also disagreeing with the disruption of the nuclear family that
00:13:29.440 | the organization called BLM formally had on their page earlier in the same conversation
00:13:35.240 | I just quoted to you.
00:13:37.880 | In the example of someone who would be considered part of the oppressed category, but doesn't
00:13:43.840 | toe the line, again, Marcellus Wiley happens to be black, Marcellus Wiley would be typically
00:13:52.240 | canceled.
00:13:54.640 | He would be canceled.
00:13:58.560 | Another example of this is Ice Cube.
00:14:02.480 | Ice Cube is not someone who is a Republican, or even likes Republicans.
00:14:09.320 | In fact, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that he hates the Republican Party.
00:14:14.360 | However, prior to the election, he had offered to work with the Democratic or Republican
00:14:20.760 | Party.
00:14:22.000 | The Democratic Party chose not to work with him, stating that they would reach out to
00:14:26.120 | him after the 2020 presidential election, while the Republicans worked with him before.
00:14:33.660 | This came to light later, and when Ice Cube was asked why he was willing to work with
00:14:37.680 | Republicans, his simple reply was that he would be willing to work with any party that
00:14:43.120 | would be willing to advance the interests of the black community.
00:14:47.560 | After that, if you know, the media began to shun Ice Cube, and Ice Cube was subsequently
00:14:54.260 | mocked on SNL.
00:14:58.000 | If you don't know who Ice Cube is, he is one of the founders of gangster rap, wrote
00:15:03.960 | songs vilifying the police, and was a vocal critic of the Republican Party, still is.
00:15:11.040 | Ice Cube's only sin was being impartial for one moment in time.
00:15:20.080 | In my opinion, you're seeing the same phenomenon with Ellen DeGeneres, who happens to be a
00:15:26.680 | white female lesbian, and one of the first lesbians to come out in Hollywood.
00:15:34.100 | And you're also seeing this with JK Rowling, a white female feminist who just happened
00:15:40.680 | to draw the line when it came to transgenderism.
00:15:47.360 | So going back to CRT, if the difference of opinion is based on lived experience and the
00:15:57.000 | withholding of certain ideologies, you could never question the validity of the other.
00:16:06.940 | Any pushback will be because of the lack of lived experience based on the markers of intersectionality.
00:16:15.880 | A white male could never stop being a white male, a black female could never stop being
00:16:27.280 | a black female, an Asian male could never stop being an Asian male, and so forth.
00:16:36.160 | The other thing to point out is that in this framework, we are missing the doctrine of
00:16:43.440 | the depravity of man.
00:16:47.000 | We're missing that.
00:16:48.000 | How are we missing that?
00:16:50.560 | Within CRT, some are oppressed and some are the oppressor.
00:16:56.520 | Within CRT, some are depraved and some are enlightened.
00:17:03.040 | If you belong in the oppressor category, there is no forgiveness for you.
00:17:08.420 | There is only going to be continual penance without absolution.
00:17:15.800 | So if you are in the oppressor category, you are depraved.
00:17:25.440 | If you are in the oppressed category, you are not depraved.
00:17:32.160 | And that's where the uniting of moral authority comes in.
00:17:38.640 | And that is why if you belong to the oppressor category, you have no credit to speak on justice
00:17:48.920 | or injustice issues.
00:17:51.880 | This goes beyond weeping with those who weep.
00:17:57.660 | This goes beyond merely being sympathetic or considerate, which all people should be.
00:18:04.680 | All people should be.
00:18:05.960 | If you see someone in pain, the idea of being sympathetic towards another's pain is a directive
00:18:17.560 | that we should all follow, without a doubt.
00:18:22.600 | My point is, Critical Race Theory goes beyond merely weeping with those who weep.
00:18:33.320 | Critical Race Theory is redefining what we see as objective morality.
00:18:41.880 | And because under this worldview, under this framework, we are seeking the liberation of
00:18:47.720 | the oppressed group, methods such as censoring, insulting, and humiliating are acceptable
00:18:57.480 | for the greater good.
00:19:01.000 | This is the same reason why we're afraid to post anything remotely controversial, anything
00:19:09.400 | remotely conservative.
00:19:12.000 | We're even afraid to like such posts.
00:19:15.640 | However, if you belong in the oppressed category, there is room for you to post that and even
00:19:25.440 | insult other people who disagree with you.
00:19:28.720 | Now, I'm not saying that people who subscribe to being in the oppressed category have never
00:19:36.440 | been insulted.
00:19:38.020 | That is not what I'm saying.
00:19:40.600 | What I am saying is if you look at the landscape of Hollywood, the media, and social media,
00:19:52.440 | that is absolutely true.
00:19:55.680 | Again, it doesn't mean that there aren't wingnuts on "the right."
00:20:07.280 | It doesn't mean that there aren't wingnuts from "the right" who insult other people.
00:20:16.680 | What I am speaking of, however, is the masses and when it comes to this idea of the silent
00:20:27.440 | majority, the silent majority, that's where it comes from.
00:20:37.920 | Being against this worldview, being against critical race theory, it doesn't mean the
00:20:43.760 | following.
00:20:44.760 | I will not deal with this right now.
00:20:47.600 | Being against critical race theory does not mean you believe that racism does not exist.
00:20:56.160 | Racism clearly exists.
00:20:59.280 | It doesn't mean that you do not think sexism exists.
00:21:03.400 | Sexism clearly exists.
00:21:06.440 | The same for misogyny, ageism, and every other ism.
00:21:14.120 | Being against critical race theory doesn't mean I do not believe discrimination in other
00:21:22.040 | forms and in every form does not exist.
00:21:25.880 | Clearly they exist.
00:21:28.760 | It also does not mean that you do not acknowledge the despicable institution of slavery that
00:21:40.360 | existed in American history or Jim Crow.
00:21:46.000 | It doesn't mean that you don't acknowledge that.
00:21:49.240 | Clearly they existed, clearly it was despicable, and it was codified.
00:21:57.520 | Being against CRT does not mean that one has to assume everything I stated does not exist.
00:22:08.760 | In fact, under the doctrine of the depravity of man, we are not at all surprised that something
00:22:17.840 | so sinister could have actually been carried out.
00:22:24.280 | The Bible states that all have sinned, that all fall short of the glory of God, that all
00:22:30.320 | of us are inherently broken.
00:22:34.920 | What I am saying, though, is that that is not the view that critical race theory, that
00:22:41.720 | CRT, adopts.
00:22:44.760 | Let me say that again, in CRT, the oppressed are enlightened.
00:22:53.240 | The oppressed are enlightened, they are not depraved, while the oppressors must become
00:23:00.600 | enlightened and are depraved, but they will never truly be.
00:23:05.760 | The oppressors must become allies in order to engage independence, which is activism,
00:23:14.080 | but they will never receive true absolution.
00:23:19.600 | They can only continue in their penance endlessly in order to merit an acceptance by the oppressed.
00:23:28.640 | Now you can see why this is so inherently dangerous for any society and also the church.
00:23:42.040 | You will never have unity if you constantly assume the worst of another person who looks
00:23:50.400 | and thinks differently than you.
00:23:53.160 | If you always assume the worst of a person, they will become the villain, and anything
00:24:02.040 | they do or everything they say, you will assume the worst, and that is not healthy.
00:24:12.880 | That is not healthy, not only for the beholder, but also for the one that's being perceived.
00:24:23.720 | I want to park right here, just for a little bit.
00:24:29.640 | I'm hoping to devote an episode on what I'm about to say in the future by doing some book
00:24:37.000 | reviews on the subject, by amalgamating what on the surface might seem to be contradictory
00:24:43.300 | books but are really not.
00:24:45.720 | I think there are some books out there that will give you a fuller view of not only American
00:24:56.920 | history in general, but American history as it relates to where we are today.
00:25:04.840 | So if I had to recommend a set of books to you, I would recommend to you Up From Slavery
00:25:11.320 | by Booker T. Washington, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass,
00:25:20.000 | and/or My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass, Strength to Love by MLK Jr., Letters
00:25:26.580 | from a Birmingham Jail by MLK Jr., The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein, Intellectuals
00:25:33.560 | and Race by Thomas Sowell, Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell, Discrimination and Disparities
00:25:39.920 | by Thomas Sowell, and White Guilt by Shelby Steele.
00:25:44.160 | There are other books out there, but I think if you do want to do a deep dive into American
00:25:52.360 | history as it relates to some of the issues that we're facing today, that would be my
00:26:00.280 | starter pack that I would recommend to you.
00:26:02.840 | To the extent that it matters to you, Thomas Sowell and Shelby Steele are both black and
00:26:08.200 | as far as I know are not Christian.
00:26:10.160 | Thomas Sowell is probably the greatest economist of our generation, maybe ever, and he is a
00:26:17.320 | scholar over at the Hoover Institute at Stanford.
00:26:21.080 | Shelby Steele is also an academician and has written considerably on race issues.
00:26:27.720 | Booker T. Washington and Frederick Douglass were both former slaves.
00:26:34.240 | Along with this, I would also highly recommend that if possible, you just build relationships
00:26:41.440 | with people maybe you normally wouldn't have a relationship with, even if it means being
00:26:47.000 | completely outside of your comfort zone.
00:26:53.200 | People, after all, are not confined to merely books.
00:26:59.360 | People are not just a collection of facts.
00:27:05.680 | And let me say, seeing people merely as synthetic classifications like race, gender, sexuality,
00:27:17.160 | and the like has been much more harmful than beneficial.
00:27:22.760 | To put it bluntly another way and more specifically, and hopefully this doesn't surprise you,
00:27:29.820 | not all black people think alike, much in the same way that not all white people think
00:27:36.740 | alike, or all brown people think alike, or all Asian people think alike, or all men think
00:27:42.960 | alike, or all women think alike, or all young people think alike, or all old people think
00:27:48.340 | alike, or insert whatever classification you want to here.
00:27:55.240 | Black people are not a monolith.
00:28:00.500 | And I know for many it is out of compassion that you want to act and formulate your ideas
00:28:12.060 | a certain way.
00:28:14.240 | But be careful that you do not infantilize any group of people or any other synthetic
00:28:21.200 | classification of people.
00:28:24.020 | I say this because in some conversations I can tell, again unintentionally, many are
00:28:32.220 | using black people and poor people interchangeably.
00:28:37.620 | Now, it's nearly universally out of compassion, but nonetheless the equivocation is many times
00:28:47.420 | more harmful than you might see.
00:28:52.460 | Just because famous politicians state such derisory ideas does not make it so.
00:29:02.260 | If you do believe that, you've probably never been to Baldwin Hills, Ladera Heights, or
00:29:09.960 | Windsor Hills.
00:29:12.100 | Now, circling back, why is this dangerous for the church and society, in particular
00:29:19.680 | to the church?
00:29:22.640 | It's dangerous because it is a worldview that will cause you to literally disobey God's
00:29:32.740 | commands.
00:29:33.960 | And that's the irony of it all.
00:29:36.320 | Out of compassion and a misguided notion to obey God, you end up disobeying God, and many
00:29:46.780 | times hurting the very people you are trying to help and/or others.
00:29:53.920 | It's a compassion without knowledge.
00:29:56.240 | It's a zeal without sound doctrine.
00:30:00.680 | I want to take some time to illustrate that.
00:30:05.000 | We are not to bear false witness or report, right?
00:30:10.080 | We are not to bear false witness or report.
00:30:13.920 | Christians in particular shouldn't say, "Well, I don't care whose fault it really is.
00:30:20.360 | I want to be kind and gracious, so I'm just going to blame cops.
00:30:24.800 | I don't care about the facts."
00:30:27.040 | Christians of all people should not be doing that.
00:30:30.860 | But how many times have we heard or seen on social media some form of wanting to stand
00:30:37.920 | in solidarity with a group of people?
00:30:41.200 | So we'll hasten to blast our moral judgments without understanding the totality of what
00:30:48.300 | actually occurred, thereby contributing to the disinformation going out there.
00:30:55.880 | Somehow we think it is noble to have some sentiment of doing away with objective facts
00:31:04.240 | in order to, again, stand in solidarity.
00:31:08.680 | Don't get me wrong, like I said earlier, we should weep with those who weep, but we do
00:31:14.360 | not sacrifice truth in the process.
00:31:18.540 | We should weep with those who weep, but we should not violate God's commands in the process.
00:31:25.600 | Love rejoices with the truth.
00:31:27.120 | Exodus 23, 1-2 states this, "You shall not bear a false report.
00:31:33.040 | Do not join your hand with a wicked man to be a malicious witness.
00:31:39.280 | You shall not follow the masses in doing evil, nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to
00:31:46.960 | turn aside after a multitude in order to pervert justice, nor shall you be partial to a poor
00:31:52.960 | man in his dispute."
00:31:55.640 | Exodus 20, 16, "You shall not bear a false witness against your neighbor."
00:32:00.240 | So in Exodus 23, 1-2, you are not to bear a false report.
00:32:07.020 | You are not to join your hand with a wicked man to be a malicious witness.
00:32:14.860 | But if you rush to judgment without knowing all the facts, and you're wrong, isn't that
00:32:23.040 | exactly what you're doing?
00:32:26.160 | Exodus 23, 2, "You shall not follow the masses in doing evil.
00:32:31.560 | You shall not follow the masses in doing evil, nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to
00:32:36.040 | turn aside after a multitude."
00:32:38.480 | Don't follow the masses, and do not follow the multitude in order to pervert justice.
00:32:46.180 | And that happens digitally, and I understand, for many, it is simply out of compassion.
00:32:57.880 | But in particular, as Christians who have the Word of God, we should not sacrifice truth
00:33:09.440 | in order to accomplish some perceived noble end.
00:33:16.560 | "We are not to be partial to the great or to the poor."
00:33:21.720 | Leviticus 19, 15, "You shall do no injustice in judgment.
00:33:29.520 | You shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor
00:33:34.980 | fairly."
00:33:35.980 | Let me say that again.
00:33:36.980 | Leviticus 19, 15, "You shall do no injustice in judgment.
00:33:41.580 | You shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor
00:33:46.500 | fairly."
00:33:47.740 | Imagine how passionate God is concerning partiality, that He would tell us not to even be partial
00:33:54.540 | to the poor.
00:33:57.900 | You would think that if there's one group where we could be partial to, it would be
00:34:05.180 | to the poor.
00:34:08.660 | But God says in Leviticus 19, 15, that you are not to be partial even to the poor nor
00:34:15.500 | defer to the great.
00:34:18.100 | This is echoed in Deuteronomy 1, 16-18, "Then I charge your judges at the time, saying,
00:34:24.060 | 'Hear the cases between your fellow countrymen, and judge righteously between a man and his
00:34:29.280 | fellow countrymen, or the alien who is with him.'
00:34:32.900 | You shall not show partiality in judgment.
00:34:35.580 | You shall hear the small and the great alike.
00:34:38.500 | You shall not fear men, for the judgment is God's.
00:34:41.700 | The case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.
00:34:45.660 | I commanded you at that time all the things that you should do."
00:34:51.940 | We are to judge righteously.
00:34:53.820 | Verse 17, "You shall not show partiality in judgment."
00:34:59.100 | Do not show partiality in judgment.
00:35:03.380 | Again in verse 17, "Do not fear man."
00:35:08.300 | Leviticus 19, 16 states that we are not to hate our countrymen.
00:35:13.220 | You shall not go about as a slanderer among your people, and you are not to act against
00:35:19.100 | the life of your neighbor.
00:35:20.340 | I am the Lord.
00:35:22.580 | You are not to go about as a slanderer among your people.
00:35:26.060 | There's a lot of slandering now, isn't there?
00:35:29.300 | One half of the country is slandering the other half of the country.
00:35:35.060 | Because one person thinks differently than you, you slander them.
00:35:39.780 | Democrats hate Republicans.
00:35:42.020 | Republicans hate Democrats.
00:35:45.660 | We hate each other.
00:35:49.500 | So right here in Leviticus 19, 16, God tells us to not go about as a slanderer among your
00:35:57.700 | people.
00:36:01.380 | You see how this worldview could cause us, out of compassion, to disobey God's word?
00:36:11.260 | Isn't that ironic?
00:36:12.260 | I'm going to go on here.
00:36:13.620 | Ezekiel 18, 19-20 says, "The son shall not bear the father's iniquity."
00:36:19.220 | Ezekiel 18, 19-20, "Yet you say, 'Why should the son not bear the punishment for the father's
00:36:25.340 | iniquity?
00:36:26.780 | When the son has practiced justice and righteousness and has observed all my statutes and done
00:36:31.660 | them, he shall surely live.'
00:36:34.020 | The person who sins will die.
00:36:36.660 | The son will not bear the punishment for the father's iniquity, nor will the father bear
00:36:41.340 | the punishment for the son's iniquity.
00:36:43.620 | The righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked
00:36:47.900 | will be upon himself."
00:36:51.460 | How much of today's talk is exactly that?
00:36:54.500 | The son bearing the iniquity of the father?
00:36:58.180 | How much of it is based on that?
00:37:01.640 | How much of our hatred within this country is based on what the father did?
00:37:11.260 | And what's interesting in Ezekiel 18, 19 is that even at that time, the mindset was to
00:37:17.860 | blame the father.
00:37:19.900 | In verse 19 it says, "Yet you say, 'Why should the son not bear the punishment for the father's
00:37:26.780 | iniquity?
00:37:28.620 | Why shouldn't he?'"
00:37:31.180 | That type of incorrect thinking is exactly what has got a hold of this entire country.
00:37:40.660 | The entire country is saying, and this worldview, CRT, is saying, "The son should bear the punishment
00:37:47.140 | for the father's iniquity."
00:37:49.780 | But God says, "When the son has practiced justice and righteousness and has observed
00:37:56.260 | all my statutes and done them, he shall surely live."
00:38:01.380 | So if you're black, white, yellow, red, brown, or whatever other color, whatever other gender,
00:38:10.540 | whatever else, what other synthetic classification that we group ourselves in, if you have observed
00:38:18.420 | all the statutes, he shall surely live.
00:38:21.980 | The person who sins will die.
00:38:24.940 | That's what God says in Ezekiel 18, verse 20.
00:38:30.900 | We are also to forgive and love.
00:38:33.740 | We are also to forgive and love.
00:38:35.940 | Mark 11, 25, "Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone,
00:38:42.540 | so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions."
00:38:46.580 | Ephesians 4, 32, "Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as
00:38:52.300 | God in Christ has also forgiven you."
00:38:55.340 | But under this worldview, forgiveness is not high up on the list.
00:39:02.900 | It is not high up on the list.
00:39:08.500 | What about elements of love?
00:39:09.980 | First Corinthians 13, 4-7, "Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous.
00:39:13.980 | Love does not brag, and is not arrogant.
00:39:16.380 | Does not act unbecomingly, does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account
00:39:21.340 | a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth, bears all things,
00:39:31.420 | gives all things, hopes all things, endures all things."
00:39:37.260 | Are you bearing all things, believing all things, hoping all things, enduring all things
00:39:42.620 | if you automatically assume an action taken by another person is due to some evil intent?
00:39:53.660 | If you automatically assume that, are you practicing love?
00:39:59.340 | Or are you taking into account a wrong suffered?
00:40:05.020 | Are we rejoicing with the truth if we say, "Screw the facts"?
00:40:15.780 | We're also to pray.
00:40:18.540 | We're also to pray for, love, and evangelize even to the hated in our society, Mark 2,
00:40:24.820 | 15.
00:40:25.820 | "Notice even that he was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors
00:40:29.820 | and sinners were dining with Jesus and his disciples.
00:40:32.740 | For there were many of them, and they were following him."
00:40:36.600 | In Christianity, we are not united against another race together.
00:40:41.580 | We are in fact one people.
00:40:44.340 | Now, keep in mind here, when it talks about the sinners and the tax collectors, they were
00:40:51.820 | the hated in society, but they actually did commit transgressions.
00:40:58.500 | It's not as if the tax collectors and the sinners were completely innocent and society
00:41:04.700 | hated them.
00:41:05.700 | They in fact did commit wrongdoing, but for these people, there was no mechanism of forgiveness.
00:41:17.980 | In the eyes of society at the time, it was okay to hate them and not extend forgiveness.
00:41:28.420 | Are there a group of people in our society that the culture says is okay to hate, and
00:41:35.300 | we just go along with it out of pressure to conform?
00:41:39.060 | I'm going to say something controversial here to make my point.
00:41:47.780 | If you're a Christian and you're listening to this, and most of you listening to this
00:41:51.100 | are Christian, if not everyone, Derek Chauvin, the cop who put his knee on George Floyd,
00:42:01.900 | who should be prosecuted for what he did, who should receive justice, and by justice,
00:42:11.820 | I mean a guilty conviction.
00:42:14.340 | He should.
00:42:17.340 | But let me ask you, anyone praying for him?
00:42:23.140 | Anyone praying for him?
00:42:27.180 | According to the Bible, shouldn't we be praying for people like him who committed
00:42:36.700 | a grievous wrong, who should go through the criminal justice system, who should receive
00:42:47.500 | a conviction for his crimes, but even someone like him, shouldn't we be praying that he
00:42:58.140 | comes to know God, that he comes to know our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ?
00:43:10.940 | You know what else illustrates this, and as I'm just kind of speaking into the mic, it
00:43:16.300 | comes to mind?
00:43:18.660 | Amber Geiger.
00:43:19.660 | She was the female cop.
00:43:23.820 | Amber Geiger walked in on someone else's apartment, thinking it's her own, shot and
00:43:30.380 | killed a black man.
00:43:35.180 | His brother, his brother at the sentencing, told Amber Geiger, who's a white female cop,
00:43:44.220 | "I forgive you.
00:43:47.180 | I forgive you."
00:43:48.180 | This was the younger brother.
00:43:49.180 | "I forgive you.
00:43:51.380 | I forgive you."
00:43:54.980 | And then he went and he hugged her.
00:44:00.660 | And people were criticizing him for not continuing to hate on Amber Geiger.
00:44:09.820 | Now if I was the brother, if I were him, and I continued to hate on Amber Geiger, I don't
00:44:20.460 | think anyone can blame me.
00:44:23.860 | I wouldn't blame him if he just continued to hate on Amber Geiger.
00:44:27.900 | I wouldn't say, "Oh my gosh, what's wrong with that guy?"
00:44:30.580 | I would understand.
00:44:32.460 | I would completely understand having a brother myself.
00:44:37.220 | At the very same time, I am incredibly encouraged, uplifted and fed by that man's actions.
00:44:52.660 | And he told her that he was able to forgive because of the power he has in Jesus Christ.
00:45:04.380 | I was blown away by that.
00:45:07.420 | I was extremely blown away by that.
00:45:10.940 | And I want to get you his name.
00:45:17.460 | I have to type it in.
00:45:18.460 | It was Botham Jean was the victim.
00:45:25.780 | And the brother was Brandt Jean, B-R-A-N-T-T, Jean, J-E-A-N.
00:45:36.160 | I was blown away by what Brandt Jean did.
00:45:43.980 | So I want to say this.
00:45:46.980 | I want to say this.
00:45:49.780 | Luke 5:32, "I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."
00:45:57.060 | "I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."
00:46:05.540 | Just like the tax collector who couldn't even look up to heaven versus the religious priest
00:46:16.940 | who inwardly said, "I am so thankful that I am not like the other."
00:46:23.700 | It was the tax collector who went home justified.
00:46:32.900 | Colossians 1 19-22 says this, "For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness
00:46:40.140 | to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through
00:46:45.860 | the blood of His cross, through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.
00:46:52.100 | And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet
00:46:56.660 | He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before
00:47:01.620 | Him holy and blameless beyond reproach."
00:47:07.700 | When we are reconciled to God, we are reconciled to each other.
00:47:14.180 | And it was Daryl Harrison, Virgil Walker, Monique Dusson over at the Center for Biblical
00:47:20.700 | Unity, Daryl Harrison and Virgil Walker over at the Just Thinking Podcast.
00:47:26.660 | Races do not reconcile, hearts do.
00:47:32.060 | Races do not reconcile, hearts do.
00:47:38.980 | Colossians 2 8-9 "See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit.
00:47:46.780 | According to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world,
00:47:51.140 | rather than according to Christ, for in Him all fullness of the deity dwells in bodily
00:47:55.500 | form, we are not to be captive to godless ideologies.
00:48:02.820 | We are not to be captive to the world's philosophy.
00:48:08.540 | We are not to be captive to every new wind of doctrine or every new phenomenon.
00:48:20.500 | We are not.
00:48:23.820 | We are not to lose sight of the gospel.
00:48:29.460 | We're not to be in just some state of being.
00:48:35.460 | We are to magnify the hope of mankind through the gospel.
00:48:41.420 | Our good works should adorn our message and not silence it."
00:48:47.740 | I bring this up because one thing I've noticed embedded in the secular social justice movement,
00:48:56.460 | along with many others, is that it is completely anti-Christ in nature.
00:49:03.280 | If you don't believe me, try going to a rally and sharing the gospel, telling people you're
00:49:09.700 | a Christian.
00:49:11.060 | Try doing that.
00:49:13.060 | Test to see how well received your message will be.
00:49:17.740 | I'm not sure if you've seen the clip of a group of protesters in DC, but there are a
00:49:25.980 | group of white BLM protesters who invade a diner, and there are patrons outside of this
00:49:35.500 | diner, and these white BLM protesters begin shouting in the face of a female patron who
00:49:44.060 | is eating outside.
00:49:46.340 | They are trying by force to have her raise her hand in solidarity with them, but she
00:49:53.420 | is politely refusing to do so, but they're getting pretty violent.
00:49:59.880 | They're not hurting her, but they are shouting at the top of her lungs, surrounding her,
00:50:06.760 | and there are maybe 50 of them surrounding her, shouting at her, where her own voice
00:50:13.160 | is being drowned out.
00:50:15.620 | The ironic thing is, a week prior to that, she was marching for their cause, and inexplicably,
00:50:24.700 | she would later state that even though she agreed with their cause and their ideology,
00:50:30.900 | in general, she couldn't bring herself to raise her fist in that moment because she
00:50:36.780 | was being forced to.
00:50:39.820 | In that moment, she just knew it was wrong.
00:50:43.220 | So in any case, as she's refusing to raise her fist politely, one of the white female
00:50:49.660 | BLM protesters shouts in her face, "Are you a Christian?"
00:50:57.700 | Let me tell you, that is not coincidental.
00:51:04.380 | That is not coincidental.
00:51:11.060 | If you don't believe me, go ahead to a search engine and you'll find that clip.
00:51:20.860 | Anything, any worldview, any phenomenon that takes you away from Matthew 28, 19 to 20,
00:51:35.940 | if it takes you away from that, shouldn't it give you some pause?
00:51:42.860 | Matthew 28, 19 to 20, "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them
00:51:48.500 | in the name of the Father, the Son, of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all
00:51:53.860 | that I commanded you.
00:51:55.380 | And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
00:52:01.980 | That was the last thing our Lord stated before He ascended.
00:52:11.140 | Perhaps we should give it its proper weight.
00:52:18.620 | Perhaps we should give it its proper weight.
00:52:22.460 | Thanks for making it to the end.
00:52:24.620 | I'll continue to try to make the journey worth it.
00:52:29.480 | To Him be honor, glory, and eternal dominion.
00:52:33.340 | James Longout.
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