What Can We Speak into This Moment?

My dear friends,

Oh, how I wish I was wise enough and skilled enough with words to write a post about recent happenings that would minister to your hearts and sort truth from lies. Like you, I am laid low by what has transpired in our country. I would say it has driven me to my knees but in truth, that is where I have lived for some time now.

The violent acts of a few have traumatized a nation and ignited all manner of retaliative evil. Like you, I am grieved at the choices of those who acted with such foolish disregard for the law. I am also grieved for those who were peacefully exercising their right to protest but who are now painted with the same broad brush of condemnation. We’ve seen this happen repeatedly for many months in our country but still, we refuse to engage in discerning and nuanced dialog about what has occurred.

As horrified as I was at the violent invasion of the Capitol, I have also been horrified at the aftermath. Of course, we must speak out unwaveringly that violence is not acceptable in our midst. Of course, this must be stated with zeal and announced from every corner of society. And yet, beyond that, we rush to judging the lawful and the law keepers along with the lawless who appeared on our television screens that day.

From our smartphones and laptops, we pontificate about motives and missteps. All at once, each of us is capable of not only running the District of Columbia and its police force, but the entire nation. We all seem to have the answers and yet, a closer inspection of our lives would confirm the truth of Scripture that none of us has the right to throw stones.

While I believe firmly in speaking out against evil, it is always right to obey God to “be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry, for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” James 1:19-20 Our brother James lived in days of extreme tyranny and persecution. His words must have been a letdown for many believers and yet, they are from our Father God.

I have friends on both ends of the political spectrum. Christians I love have made strong cases for either political party based on biblical values. While every believer I know values caring for the poor, racial equality, freedom, and the sanctity of all human life – from the unborn to the disabled and dying, their ideas about how to demonstrate those values through national laws, policies, and cultural practices vary widely and are often at odds. There are fools on both sides but also there are sincere, Jesus-loving souls working to apply God’s Word in the context of complex conversations.

I also am a friend to many who operate in the arena of policies over person. For them, no one candidate has embodied our faith in both life and policy. They have strong opinions about ideologies and public practice but feel each candidate falls short and so they prayerfully vote their conscience – not with wholehearted endorsement but with trepidation and trust in God’s sovereign will. Their voting record is private – not out of fear but from prioritizing the furthering of God’s kingdom above all else and not wanting to place any stumbling block in the way of a soul who needs to see Jesus in them more than they need their opinion about how our nation should be run.

Also horrifying to me in the rhetoric and the rush to act is the silencing of voices in a nation that once valued free speech. Individuals who shout “fire” in a crowded theater should be confronted and face the consequence of their actions, but social litmus tests and broadband censorship should sober us all. And yet, fear is the quadrant where the faithless quarter, the fortress of those who make idols of countries and kings, the justification of those who lust for power and so exploit any crisis to further the suppression of their detractors. We will not fear for God is with us. The courage He provides enables us to love our enemies, to pray for those who persecute us, and to stand when evil would claim the day.

So, here is my comfort in days of unrest,

• God is Sovereign. He is and was and is to come.
• If Christ has set us free, we are free indeed. No power can take that from us.
• Blessed is the man or woman who remains steadfast under trial
• Most of God’s Word was written by people under siege, under fire, oppressed, misunderstood, powerless in human realms, seeking hope, seeking provision, seeking life – they found it in Christ alone. Now is the time to embed with Him, to know His Word, and to recommit to our brothers and sisters in Christ.
• The church of Jesus Christ is called to the same humility He embraced. Humble in heart, yet bold in truth, having a Christ-centered confidence and a kingdom-focused view.
• We must be wise as serpents, innocent as doves for we are sheep surrounded by wolves. What those who do not know Christ think or say about us is not an accurate mirror of who we are. We all need correction, we all need further sanctification but that comes through a deep study of His Word, obedience to what it says, and the work of the Holy Spirit, not bowing to the reigning voices of the day, for they are fickle and unwise.
• Now is the time to be certain of what we have been taught and to pay attention to the signs. Reread the Gospel of Luke. Study biblical prophecy. Read the Bible cover to cover. Ask for wisdom and God will supply it to you.
• Words have power. Make no mistake. We follow the living Word who spoke the world into being. His Word is the first and the last. He tells us we are accountable for every careless word we speak. Let us be sobered by this. Emboldened as to the truth, yet cautious as to reactionary opinions and self-serving rhetoric.
• We are not of those who shrink back, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
• He is coming again. Our call is to place our hope in that day, to bear witness to His truth, and to live, not in the lesser story of our times, but in the greater story of eternity for which we have been saved.

Forgive me for my shortcomings as a believer and as a writer in a moment such as this. My words pale against the sorrow of our souls. But if my words do anything, I pray they will direct your heart, your mind, and your hopes to Jesus Christ alone. May God have mercy on us all.

What Can We Speak into This Moment? https://t.co/fW4uredZAh #CapitolRiots #amwriting

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) January 9, 2021