By Daniel Brown
The disconnect between the 21st Century Christian and the Christ he claims to follow is glaringly obvious. This ever widening chasm between the two is apparent in his actions, yet perhaps more in his reactions. He stands in contrast to the proactive “prudent” man of the book of Proverbs, who sees the evil ahead and wisely addresses the issue before it overtakes him. Rather, the modern Christian is often caught off-guard; surprised by the evil of the day. Thus he stands in a defensive position, and in an effort to counter his lack of foresight, proceeds to do everything in his power to drown out the voice of his opposition; thus using the methods, means, and often even the message of the world to defend his position.
However, the committed follower of Christ is ever ahead of the game. He has found truths within the pages of Scripture, which address the evils of every generation before they are apparent to even the wisest of worldly minds. Thus his reaction to perceived injustice, is never based upon emotion, or the pressure of the moment, but upon principles found alone within the Word of God. These truths when applied to our efforts against evil, are not only concentrated on the problem at hand, producing temporary results; they rather cause us to view each situation as an opportunity to affect eternity.
Thus our associations, overall goals, the expression of our opinions and every other facet of argumentation will be consistent with biblical truth, the mission of the church, and with the person Jesus Christ himself. As we address the Christian’s role in public and private demonstrations, let us be mindful of our eternal citizenship, and of the King we are ultimately representing.
The Contradiction
The Christian, by nature of his identification with the Lord Jesus Christ, is required to reason upon the basis of scripture. This sort of reasoning pervades every area of life, including how he addresses opposing viewpoints. Modern reasoning, however, even in the context of the church, no longer takes place on the basis of the Word of God. Instead, the Bible is brought to our already-formed opinions in an effort to support them. This is, of course, in contrast with generations of Christ-followers who found the Word of God to be their sole source of faith and practice.
Could it be, that decades of non-contextual topical teaching, “Hobby- horse” preaching, and the exaltation of tradition above biblical truth has led to the seeming extinction of the biblical Christian? Or, in stark contrast, is it the Social Gospel; “name-it-claim-it”; “Jesus is my Homie” brand of Christianity which is to blame; which has exalted experience and feeling above Bible exegesis? Perhaps the more likely answer is that both are equally responsible. From one extreme to the other, the church has forsaken scriptural literacy for the immediate result of “success”. The high cost being: generations of “Christians” who, in thought, life-style, and reasoning, resemble nothing of the Christ of the Gospel records.
In the context of demonstrations (public and/or private), we may argue the hypocrisies and inconsistencies on either sides of any given issue. They are often present and abundant. However, this is not our purpose. Rather than simply determining which side has the more “just cause”, or if there is truly such a thing in the socio-political culture of our day, the true Christian is compelled to dig a bit deeper. We must determine the real problem if we are truly to “root it out”.
It is a natural process that the mind undergoes in the light of any unfortunate event, especially a life-altering tragedy. A million questions flood the mind; the most plaguing of which are those with no pre- packaged answer. Each person has his own way of facing these questions. His response may hinge upon a myriad of underlying equations, depending upon how the event has effected his life. Some will seek to circumvent the hurdle, by simply avoiding the questions. To them, the best way to avoid the disappointment and heartache is to simply ignore reality, and move on with life as it is. Others will attempt to conquer the “un-answerables” by looking outside of themselves to find culprits other than an obvious perpetrator. Blame must be placed upon someone, and “we will not stop until it the ‘guilty’ have been identified!” This “blame-game” produces a sensation of vindication, but provides no true peace and no satisfying answer. Still others will look at the event as it is: a horrible and unfortunate result of the Fall of man. They will examine their own lives to discover how they might prevent repeat instances, yet through the tragedy look for opportunities to evangelize the unsaved.
The modern “protest” culture seeks justice using a combination of the “blame-game” and a genuine desire for real solutions. The problem with this combination is that, while attempting to legitimately solve the problem, the finger is still pointed outwards. Any time we begin by looking at people for blame or answers, we will always come up short. For the Christian, the answer is not an outward one, which is to be discovered “out there somewhere”, but an upward one, which will be discovered as we seek the Lord in His Word. Again, we must ask ourselves, have we searched the Scriptures for a meaning behind this, and have we spoken with the Sovereign God who knew about the given event in eternity past. Outside of this formula, we may march, sit- in, stand-up, walk-out, or do any other number of public or private protesting and simply find ourselves dizzy and frustrated at the end of the day.
This has been the first part of a PDF entitled iProtest by Daniel Brown. For the entire PDF, please click here.