Let’s Talk About the Biblical Approach to CRT

The controversy regarding Critical Race Theory (CRT) continues and is intensifying. What is the biblical response to this blight that is being promoted at every level of society today?

Those of us who oppose CRT are accused of being uninformed and therefore ignorant of what CRT is. In this article, I am challenging you, the reader to make this a lie by becoming informed as to what CRT is and how it is being used to destroy western culture all around us. I posted an article to this site regarding what CRT is and why we should refute it. (see my article: Let's Talk about Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality) 

However, knowing about CRT does not satisfy a biblical response. We are to be "shrewd as serpents, and innocent as doves.”[i] On the other hand, Paul exhorts:

No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.[ii]

A Christian has dual citizenship and therefore must not sit on the sidelines and cheer for the team. Every believer has responsibilities as citizens of the United States and as citizens of heaven. But not all have the same talents and abilities. I praise the Lord for Christians who are active in the political arena and those who are effective apologists. Each believer needs to seek God’s will as to how involved he/she should be in the affairs of this life.

Another approach used to counter those of us who oppose CRT is to play word games. This has become the trick of the trade in this Postmodern, Woke culture. By changing the meaning of words, confusion is instilled in the argument so that CRT is described in the best light. Yet CRT is darkness, not light. We who are of the light need to be cautious when venturing into this dark arena to resist and battle against this evil spirit of this age.

One of the most insidious tools used to counter any opposition to CRT is Gaslighting.[iii] In this way, those who are uninformed or nominally informed are silenced and/or caused to question their own position. As believers, the best defense is a strong offense, not confrontation, but knowing the truth of God’s Word and how to apply it to matters of this life.

So what is the Biblical Approach?

First, know God’s Word. This cannot be accomplished sitting in a pew on Sunday listening to a sermon no matter how good the sermon might be. Every believer needs to study the Scriptures as intensely as if seeking a degree at a university or preparing for employment. Remember, degrees and employment are only temporal under the sun.

Second, we must study to develop the mind of Christ.[iv] We achieve the mind of Christ by studying God’s Word under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and gifted individuals who teach sound[v] doctrine.[vi] We need to be spiritually healthy if we are to withstand the negative influences of those who wish to destroy us and our way of life.

Third, it is the task of church leaders to ensure that every church member, not only hears sound doctrine but knows how to study so as to acquire it for themselves. This is perhaps the greatest deficiency in the average local church today. Instead, we find the opposite. We are in a time to which Paul referred when he wrote:

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths[vii].

We live in difficult and confusing times. Conflicts abound. Information is coming from all sides; some are false, some unimportant, and some are meant to confuse. Couple this with the Cancel Culture intent on depriving us of the truth. This demonstrates how important knowing God’s Word is. It is no accident that Paul focused so much of the pastoral epistles on what and how to teach. This is the first and most important task of pastor-teachers. Paul wrote:

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fulness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.[viii]

Paul’s exhortation regarding putting on the full armor of God is directed at churches as much as individuals.

Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.[ix]

Note that Paul introduces the above subject with the illustration of a wrestling match. A wrestling match is one individual wrestling another. The battle we face today is not one individual against another. It is the Body of Christ against the darkness of Satan.

The purpose of the armor is to equip each individual believer and local church so we are able to stand our ground. In other words, it is defensive rather than offensive. Careful observation of each weapon mentioned shows that these are defensive weapons rather than offensive.

The picture is of Roman soldiers on the battlefield under attack. For one soldier to be facing the onslaught by himself would mean instant death. He needs others all around him to protect him. He would not want to be without any one of the weapons. But also the soldier does not want to be alone on the battlefield. He wants well-trained soldiers around him to protect him from the enemy.

Finally, notice what the enemy is launching at the church, “flaming missiles of the evil one.”[x] CRT clearly fits the definition of flaming missiles.

Here is some documentation regarding CRT:  Culturally Responsive Teaching:

Rhode Island CRT Teacher Training September 2021 | Judicial Watch

Critical Race Training in Education

Note how the acronym, CRT, has been changed from Critical Race Theory to Culturally Responsive Teaching. However, careful observation will demonstrate that it is one and the same.

Rife throughout this document are big words and terms that are meant to appear scholarly and/or to confuse, words such as "Systemic Inequity," "Sustaining Pedagogy," "elements of the Awareness domain," and "nurture a sense of community." By page 10, the essence of this document is finally stated openly with the question, “How does systemic racism manifest itself in the education experience for students?” Through innuendo, false assumptions, and downright lies, CRT is presented as the answer to all of life’s ills, especially for those for whom society has apparently failed.

One resource which we might overlook is Bettina Love. She is quoted on page 15:

"Antiracist teaching is not just about acknowledging that racism exists, but consciously committing to the struggle of fighting for racial justice"

Love is the Athletic Association Endowed Professor at the University of Georgia. She would probably be unknown except for her book, We Want to Do More Than Survive. Concerning her, Stanley Kurtz writes:

If you care about the battle over critical race theory (CRT) in the schools, you need to know about Bettina Love. The Biden administration recently got caught promoting a guidebook from her group, the Abolitionist Teaching Network (ATN). The booklet asks teachers to “disrupt Whiteness and other forms of oppression.” Following that revelation, the administration disavowed ATN and claimed that touting its program had been an “error.” Almost certainly, however, Biden’s support for Bettina Love’s ATN was no slip-up. Bettina Love is all the rage among progressive educators (i.e., the entire education establishment), including leading members of Biden’s Education Department. Love may be less well known to critics of CRT than Ibram X. Kendi, Nikole Hannah-Jones, or Robin DiAngelo, but that is our mistake.[xi]

Paul exhorted young Timothy to preach the Word. The best defense against CRT and other manifestations of Postmodernism is not to become experts in the philosophies of men but to become experts in God's Word. This is the biblical approach to countering CRT.

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.[xii]

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[i] Matt 10:16.

[ii] 2 Tim 2:4.

[iii] For an excellent resource regarding Gaslighting see: 8 Warning Signs of Gaslighting and Why it is so Harmful (thesimplyperfectlife.com)

[iv] 1 Cor 2:16.

[v] Hugiaino, (Eng., “hygiene”).

[vi] Cf. 1 Tim 1:10; 6:3; 2 Tim 1:13; 4:3; Titus 1:9, 13; 2:1, 2.

[vii] 2 Tim 4:3-4.

[viii] Eph 4:11-16.

[ix] Eph 6:10-17.

[x] Eph 6:16.

[xi] Abolitionist Teaching Network -- Joe Biden, Bettina Love, and Critical Race Theory | National Review

[xii] 2 Tim 3:16-17.