Don’t Antagonize But Promote God’s Word Through Love & Respect
Word-Of-The-Day: ‘(7) Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. (8) Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. (9) Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.’ (Galatians 6:7-9)
In the human sense as in the Spiritual sense, our actions (good or bad) have a reaction. This is not Newtonian physics, where ‘every action has an opposite and equal reaction’; Newton only considers the physical action. Our actions often have a reaction commensurate to the implications and impacts it has to others. You can have an action that takes great effort, but the reaction is minimal as there is little impact to others. Another action may be a simple off-the-cuff remark that causes grave damage to an entire group of people. One action may equal another but have inequal results. For example, the circumstances surrounding the deaths of George Floyd and Ashli Babbit.
George Floyd had taken what turned out to be a lethal dose of fentanyl and had passed a counterfeit twenty-dollar bill when he was arrested. Unfortunately, the police on the scene did not seek medical attention for Mr. Floyd and he died. Ashli Babbit was unarmed and behind a door when a Capitol Police officer in the House chamber room fired through the door (without warning or provocation) and hit Ms. Babbit in the neck, killing her. While both were breaking the law, both crimes were not severe enough to warrant deadly force, yet both died at the hands of a police officer. One resulted in plunging our nation into riots, destruction, and turmoil and is still a martyr years later for ‘social justice’, and the other is becoming a forgotten footnote in the annals of history.
In the secular sense, the worst mistake is to punish or have deep hatred for those who do not think or believe like us, not for any actual crimes committed but for being different and not conforming to how we think. Their actions (the sowing) will not turn out (the reaping) like they think in the long term.
People did not riot nationwide after George Floyd’s death necessarily because someone told them to; they did so due to the actions beforehand by their perception of inequality of social justice and treatment. People did not necessarily storm the Capitol because someone told them to, but did so due to the actions beforehand by the perception of voter fraud, a two-tiered justice system, and ‘good for thee but not for me’ restrictions. The reaction by all those involved, while not proper, should have been expected. However, this expectation (to riot and burn cities, or to storm into Capitol, whether invited or told to do so or not) is a secular reaction.
If we act not in the secular sense, but the Spiritual sense we find our actions will please God and will be used to grow the Kingdom of Christ. ‘Do unto others as they do unto you’ (Matthew 7:12) should be the basis of all actions we Christians take. If we respect others’ viewpoints, whether we agree or not, we will find that that they are not dissimilar to ours. If we follow God’s precepts, and share a loving concern for others and present it in a ‘What Would Jesus Do (WWJD)’ methodology, we perhaps can convey the Word of God in a manner others will accept.
The growing protests we are now facing again and the reactions to these protests in a countermove, whether we agree with the protestors or counter-protestors, may be justified secularly but they may not always be copacetic Biblically. There are two very recent examples of when Biblical groups meet and are faced with opposition; in Seattle a Christian evangelistic group meeting in a park (centered in a neighborhood that is primarily LGBTQ residents) to speak against child gender transition was met with violent opposition, injuring several people. Another was the Boulder, Colorado gathering of pro-Israel proponents for a ‘walk’ in a park-like ‘mall’ when they were confronted by a pro-Palestinian man who attacked them with Molotov cocktails (gas-filled bottles that conflagrate into fireballs upon breaking), injuring eight people.
In the Seattle case, while the intention of the Christian group was stated to promote Biblical truth, it appeared in perception to be antagonistic; not necessarily an event to move people to Christ but thrust the Biblical Truth into the face of those who don’t want to hear of it. It was the opposite of the Boulder gathering; this was a peaceful gathering of many who were in unison of supporting Israel when one counter-protestor seeking violence came and attacked.
The Seattle gathering was right in its Biblical motives but wrong Biblically to antagonize. We would not want a pro-LGBTQ group to come to a church parking lot to hold a rally as we would be offended as Christians by such an action. We want to be witnesses to the LGBTQ but we must do it in such a way to not cause hatred against Jesus. The Boulder gathering did not meet up to antagonize, but to show solidarity to the nation of Israel. Their group was attacked in persecution of their beliefs, not antagonizing the reaction that befallen them. We pray the reaction shows the love of Christ, and not hatred against the counter-protestor (though he needs to face the consequences of his evil actions).
If we can be people who act with Matthew 7:12 intentions, we will reap a better society. If not, we are still one day closer to Tribulation than we were yesterday and we will be one day closer tomorrow than what we are today. As for me, I will speak the Truth and what the Lord places on my heart, as the Lord directs me to. We do not need to go ‘quietly into the night, or into the boxcar’, but we need to use Godly discretion on how we are to provide and promote the Word of God to the secular world. We must, even to those groups we disagree with – even those we find distasteful – be respectful in our interactions while staying steadfast to the Word.
