Let me be clear from the start: George Floyd’s death was tragic. A human life created in God’s image was lost on that Minneapolis Street on May 25, 2020. But here’s the hard truth we need to confront – what happened after those 17 minutes outside Cup Foods wasn’t about justice or righteousness. It was about hijacking black grief for political gain.
Scripture commands us to “test all things; hold fast what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). So, let’s test this narrative that’s been shoved down our throats for five years.
The Man vs. The Myth
George Floyd wasn’t Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He wasn’t Harriet Tubman. He wasn’t a civil rights pioneer laying down his life for freedom. He was a 46-year-old former bouncer from Houston who lost his job when COVID hit. The medical examiner testified that his death was a homicide – “cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression.” Yes, he had fentanyl in his system. Yes, he had a criminal record, including armed robbery. These aren’t judgments on his worth as a human being – every life matters to God – but they are facts we can’t ignore when choosing heroes for our children.
Yet somehow, murals went up depicting him with angel wings. Politicians knelt in African Kente cloth that they couldn’t even pronounce. Our community was told to accept him as our new martyr, our new Moses, leading us to the promised land of “racial justice.”
Ben Shapiro is now advocating for Derek Chauvin’s pardon, while Elon Musk has described it as “something to consider.” But here’s what I’m thinking about: we survived slavery and Jim Crow with our faith intact, but these five years of lies are destroying what our ancestors fought to preserve – our identity as children of God, not perpetual victims of circumstance.
Poisoned Fruit
What did this new “movement” produce? Let’s look at the harvest:
- Black neighborhoods burned while white liberals cheered from their suburbs.
- Black-owned businesses destroyed in the name of “Black Lives Matter.”
- Murder rates skyrocketed in cities where police were defunded.
- Our children were told their skin color determines their destiny.
- Our churches abandoned the Gospel for grievance theology.
The Bible warns us: “You will know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16). Well, look at the fruit. Is this what liberation looks like? Is this what justice produces?
The False Gospel
What emerged wasn’t a movement for justice – it was a new religion. And like all false gospels, it promised salvation through works, not grace. It preached original sin based on skin color, not the fall of Adam. It offered absolution through activism, not the blood of Christ.
Officers Lane and Kueng were trying to control a situation they thought involved a drunk, out-of-control man. The act of keeping a knee on Floyd’s neck for eight minutes and 15 seconds was a clear violation of Minneapolis Police Department policy. But the response? The response turned every cop into a demon and every criminal into a saint. That’s not justice – that’s ideology.
Corporations became confessionals. HR departments turned into inquisitors. Schools were transformed into seminaries of victimhood. And too many Black churches traded their birthright for a bowl of progressive pottage.
The Real Cost to Black America
Five years later, let’s count the cost:
Our communities are less, not more, safe. Our children are more confused about their identity, not less. Our families are more fractured, not healed. Our churches are more divided, not unified.
The activists got their book deals and speaking fees. The politicians got their votes. The corporations got their virtue-signaling photo ops. Charlie Kirk is hosting podcasts about pardons. But what did Black America get? We got higher crime rates, worse schools, and a generation taught to see themselves as perpetual victims rather than victors in Christ.
The Way Forward
Brothers and sisters, it’s time to reject this counterfeit gospel. Yes, what happened to George Floyd deserves examination. Eight minutes is too long. Policy violations matter. But the solution isn’t found in turning criminals into martyrs or cops into monsters.
The conversation should have been about:
- Police reform and personal responsibility.
- Systemic problems and spiritual solutions.
- Justice for victims and truth about perpetrators.
- Accountability for bad cops and respect for good ones.
The answer isn’t found in more protests or policies. It’s found in 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
The Hard Truth
George Floyd didn’t die for our sins – Jesus Christ did. And until we get that straight, we’ll keep looking for salvation in all the wrong places. We’ll keep building movements on sand instead of the Rock.
Whether Chauvin gets pardoned or not, whether new evidence emerges or not, one truth remains: There is no justice without truth. There is no peace without the Prince of Peace. And there is no hope for Black America – or any America – apart from the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The legacy of George Floyd shouldn’t be burning cities and broken families. It should be a wake-up call to return to the God of our fathers, the foundation of our true freedom.
Choose this day whom you will serve. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
