All life matters to God.
Black lives.
White lives.
Asian lives.
Middle Eastern lives.
All life matters because all life is from God.
Once again social media has been ablaze with people saying, “Black lives matter” in the wake of two prominent police killings of two black men.
But then last night happened in Dallas.
A dozen Dallas police officers shot, five of them killed, all because someone thought they would make the point that black lives matter. That point wasn’t heard. Now everyone seems to remember that the color of our skin may be different, but the color of our blood is the same. The pain of loss knows no race. The value of life has no regard for our epidermis.
Today I watched a black Captain of the Dallas Police force have to speak about how five of his comrades were dead. I wouldn’t have noticed his skin color if the very reason the shooter took the lives of others. When this black police chief said that all lives matter, it was heard a little bit more clearly, drowning out the very point the sniper was trying to make.
We are all made in God’s image. Not white people. Not black people. But all people. The love of God does not disregard the color of skin but celebrates our unique differences as an expression of God’s goodness and creativity. When life is taken because of what is on the outside, we’ve blatantly disregarded the fact that all people bear God’s image.
Hear me clearly: I am sad over the killings of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling too. All death at the hand of another human is a disgrace to God’s image we all bear. God has hated murder since the very first time it happened.
Let’s not fight for what lives matter or over who has more rights. As Christians, let’s remind the world that the image of God is in every person. Life is life is life is life. God sees souls not skin; may we all follow suit.
