This article was originally published here .

— by Russell Moore

Here we are again. After the country, just weeks ago, saw a shocking video of Ahmaud Arbery shot to death in Georgia, now a video has emerged showing us George Floyd dying with a policeman’s knee on his neck, protesting “I Can’t Breathe.” The officers involved have been fired, and protests are underway, while a nation asks, “How can this keep happening?” As with every other issue here, the problems underlying all of this will need to be addressed both to consciences and to institutions. 

The powers-that-be have a biblical responsibility to be just in the way that they wield the rightful use of the law. That is why John the Baptist said to the soldiers and tax collectors after they had repented of sin and been baptized, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do” and “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation” (Lk. 3:13-14). Why was this addressed to the tax collectors and soldiers and not to the general population of those at the Jordan River? It was because they were the ones responsible for making such decisions, decisions that could exploit vulnerable people unjustly. In our system of government, that responsibility rests, ultimately, with all citizens. 

Does that mean that we will know, in every case, how to see to it that racial injustices do not happen? No. The Samaritan probably did not have a comprehensive understanding of how to nurse the man beaten on the Jericho Road back to health. That does not mean he could, like the priest and Levite, avert his eyes. The first step toward doing right is to recognize that something is wrong. 

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What George Floyd’s Death Should Remind Us About Justice and the Gospel

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[ Photo by Fabrizio Conti on Unsplash ]