Stand or Silence
Most of the United States is well aware of the travesty that is occurring in Charlottesville, Virginia. It has been heart wrenching to see the aftermath since the Nazi protesting began. Honestly, I never thought I would type those words outside of referencing history. I never thought Nazis would have such an impact on today's society as it did 60 years ago.
As a Christian shouldn't I be impartial? Should I even be commenting on/acknowledging such a "political situation?" Should I be playing a role? Should I have a stand? If I have a stand, how do I go about it, especially as a Christian?
Today I happened upon a book I read for college, entitled " Ethics for a Brave New World," and written by John and Paul Feinberg. I was perusing the pages and stumbled upon the chapter "The Christian and War." Seemed pretty relevant given the state our country is in. One paragraph in particular stood out to me,
"A fourth argument appeals to the Christian's citizenship in the kingdom of God. That fact means the Christian's first loyalty is to Christ and his kingdom. Christians should never be guilty of nationalism, for the kingdom of God is transnational or global. Christians should respect the state, for it is ordained by God to order society. But since God ordains the powers that be, he is above them. It is faulty logic to assume that because God ordains governments, we are always obeying God by obeying them. We must be subject to our government, but Scripture does not say we should obey government blindly (cf. Romans 13, esp. vv. 3-4). Thus, when duties to God and the king conflict, Christians must obey God."
For instance, Matthew 26:52 says, "Put your sword back in its place," Jesus said to him, "for all who draw the sword will die by the sword." Responding with violence towards the violence that is being experienced in Charlottesville is not what we as Christians should be doing. We are called to love our neighbors and that includes our enemies. Sitting idly by and not taking a stand is you actually taking a stand. Your stand is for yourself and the comfort you desire because the situation isn't personally affecting you.
Esther was a believer and nonviolently stood against the law to protect her people. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, refused to bow down to idols that their king required them to bow down to and were condemned to death. God blessed them by saving Esther's people, and not allowing Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to burn. There are countless stories in the Bible where believers followed God and what His scripture has stated, instead of non-believer or claiming-to-be Christian authority figures.
If a ruler leans towards hate, violence, discord, slander, and oppression, they are not a ruler that is led by God.
It goes against EVERYTHING that God stands for, and if it goes against God then it is NOT with God.
For those Christians that say "the past is the past" and "we need to move forward" in regards to the violence and murder that occurred in Charlottesville, I say this.. If you claim to be a Christian, then every single time you pick up your Bible, you're picking up the past. You're picking up God's word that He spoke into existence for future generations to read and learn and proclaim His word to the ends of the earth. That "past" (the Bible) shapes our future. That "past" (the Bible) has countless stories of how mankind has failed time and time again because WE DON'T LEARN FROM OUR PAST. So we doom ourselves to repeat history over and over again. You can't move forward with a new future if you can't learn how to deal with and solve your problems in the past.
Acts 5:29, "Peter and the other apostles replied: "We must obey God rather than human beings!"
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