Violence begets violence. It starts with the ways we think, the ways we speak, and what we give our time to. It’s what we listen to, read, and watch that stirs us to unrestrained anger and hatred. It’s the conversations we have where we don’t check each other for acting ugly, but instead join in – fueling the flames. It is the emotional and mental violence of sensationalized media and propaganda sold to us by various talking heads and influencers that is always available to stream and click and share. It’s the dehumanizing of others who aren’t like us -who don’t believe what we believe or care about what we care about or live how we live. As if to disagree with us, or to be different than us, is to become subhuman. It’s all these things that breed the pit of snakes we find ourselves in, sinking in venom. Violence in, violence out.
“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”
Proverbs 4:23
“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness”
Matthew 6:23-24
What we see, hear, and say matters. There are consequences for our words and actions whether they happen to us directly in the moment or not. Words have power.
The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing
Proverbs 1218
The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
Proverbs 18:21
If we love the language of death, we will eat it’s fruit.
Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.
Matthew 26:52
Thankfully, if we love the language of life, we will eat it’s fruit.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against things like this.
Galatians 5:22-23
We must choose every day, multiple times a day, how we will live in this world. People of faith have the benefit not only of peace and discernment through the Spirit, but also of the wisdom and guidance of our Holy text.
We also have the responsibility to hold one another accountable. When we follow leaders do not act as Christ showed us how to act, and do not speak as Christ taught us how to speak, and do not treat others as Christ taught us how to treat others, we have to call that out to one another. When people in positions of power and influence show us they do not honor our Creator, the guidance given by our Creator, or Creation itself (the earth and all that’s in it), but instead use God’s name to gain following and support – we have to understand they are using the Lord’s name in vain. They are using it to manipulate. They are paying lip service – saying the “right” things, but acting in opposition to the gospel. If they are not loving, kind, patient, peaceful, gentle, joyful, or exhibiting self-control, then they are not living a life that produces the fruit of the Spirit. And if that is true, we should not be giving them positions of power in our lives. They may have power in the world, but they should not have power in our world.
We can not judge a person’s heart, but we can know their words and actions, and in those things, we get a window into their heart. Not only do we have Christians elevating these people to a higher status within our nation, but we also see them emulating their un-Christlike behavior with no remorse or repentance. When held accountable, they are haughty and spiteful, turning on anyone who dares question the behavior. It’s unsettling as a Christian to be met with so much opposition by other Christians regarding the red-letter words of Jesus and his life. Not a hot-topic social issue that even churches themselves still debate, but the actual ways of Christ.
We were warned that the world will hate us for this: and they do. But sometimes, we hate each other too. We are inconvenienced by the gospel. It makes us soft and slow. We are warned of caring too much, told it’s toxic. Scoffed at for caring about creation, about other people. The ways of Christ are not the ways of political power. The ways of Christ are not the way anyone really plans to run a country. Christ was crucified. He triumphed in death, not life. This doesn’t mean we can’t be Christians and be political. It is all connected. It all matters. But we have to be Christians first and always. We can’t believe the world when they twist our faith into a carrot leading towards power and wealth. We have to remember there are those that despise the ways of God. They despise kindness and seek cruelty. They reject humility and seek power. They stir up division in the name of a God they use like a weapon. The Church and the Gospel are collateral they are happy to step over on the way to their thrones and gold.
We have a responsibility to care about this world and all the people in it. We have a responsibility to hold one another accountable for flagrant disregard of Christ while using Christ to gain power and favor in the world.
“I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.”
Romans 16:17-18
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of this world. That is why the world hates you.”
John 15:18
The ways of Christ won’t win us the kind of power many seek right now. It won’t win us the kind of influence that those who abuse the name of Christ get. But we are called beyond that. We are called out of ourselves into a higher collective. That is The Church.
It’s not to say that we won’t see or have good when we follow the ways of Christ – we will. The light of Christ lights the darkness and brings the good news.
But we are a vulnerable people. We are prey for those who seek to use the name of the Lord in vain to gain power and bring destruction. We are not enemies of our neighbors, we are enemies of evil. We can’t forget that.
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
Ephesians 6:12
May these words find their way past the noise, to some quieter place within.
You’ve got to stand for something or you’ll fall for anything
You’ve got to be your own man, not a puppet on a string
Never compromise what’s right and uphold your family name
You’ve got to stand for something or you’ll fall for anything
Aaron Tippin
