Yesterday protestors showed up outside of where my son works. They clogged the street corners at the bus stop, yelling at and heckling people as they got off the bus to go to work. The protestors took up a position in the middle of a main pedestrian walkway, blocking passage and yelling at and heckling people who tried to pass by as they tried to go to work.
This is not a new thing. Protestors have shown up before … vandalizing, causing havoc, stirring up chaos and unrest, pouring paint on lovely property which has been carefully maintained. In the past, clean-up crews have had to work hard to mend and restore what was damaged.
Thankfully their graffiti this time was chalk messages on the pavement, which were easier to clean up. (perhaps they might have been carried off to jail if they tried paint??)
As my son was headed back to the bus stop at the end of his workday he sent me a photo of the graffiti messages on the pedestrian walkway (which the clean-up crew were in the process of cleaning up and removing).
I found it curious that one of the messages was: “Our love is in our resistance.”
What??
What exactly are you resisting about these people who are simply trying to work hard and earn a living?? Why graffiti and damage this company’s property which has nothing whatsoever to do with you or your cause? What are you resisting exactly in this situation??
And why do you feel that your resistance is love??
Yelling in anger at total strangers who are simply trying to work hard and earn a living is not love.
Heckling strangers in order to stir up chaos and unrest in their souls is not love.
Destroying and damaging other people’s property (which they work very hard to maintain) is not love.
It brings to mind where Jesus says: “The thief [referring to Satan himself] comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” – John 10:10
The protestors were there to steal peace. They were there to kill joy. They were there to destroy. Seems like they were working for Satan himself.
Their graffiti claimed that they were acting out of love … yet, love is kind. There is nothing kind about yelling in anger at total strangers and trying to stir up chaos and unrest in their soul. This was not love.
They claimed love … yet, love is gentle … love is self-controlled. There is nothing gentle about yelling loudly in anger at people or destroying property. This was not self-control. This was not love.
I’ve been writing recently about Paul’s instructions to the Christians of Corinth regarding love (in 1 Corinthians 13). I couldn’t help but wonder how the Christians of Corinth might have handled the situation.
If it was a normal day in Corinth, they were minding their own business trying to get to their place of employment, and protestors showed up blocking their path, intimidating them, and yelling at them … I can’t help but think the people of Corinth might have probably yelled right back in their face. I can’t help but wonder if they might even have attempted a swing or a punch in the face. (After all, Paul did call them out for their proclivity to arguing and fighting and quarreling.)
Contrast this with the Christians of Thessalonica (Paul had just been in Thessalonica prior to coming to Corinth). I don’t have to wonder how they might have responded. The Christians in Thessalonica were actually enduring protestors just such as this! And it was aimed directly at them! The protestors were heckling and yelling at them, on purpose, because of their faith in Jesus Christ. Whoa! That’s intense!
It’s one thing to have protestors heckling and yelling due to stupidity of something which has nothing to do with you or your company. But to have the anger and hate aimed directly at you … simply because you are a follower of Jesus Christ. That’s a whole different level of intensity!
For sure there is anxiety and fear which rises when angry people (with no self-control) are yelling in hate and rage. This is not a safe situation to be in. This is not a safe place to be walking through.
The Christians in Thessalonica faced this every day.
This is intense!
How did the Christians in Thessalonica deal with this?? How did they respond to the angry protestors in their normal everyday walk to work??
“You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with joy given by the Holy Spirit.” – 1 Thessalonians 1:6
The Holy Spirit gave them joy … in spite of the severe suffering. Whoa!
“You became imitators of God’s churches … you suffered from your own countrymen … “ – 1 Thessalonians 2:14 In spite of the suffering, they imitated God. Whoa!
“You know quite well that we were destined for trials. In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out this way, as you well know.” – 1 Thessalonians 3:3-4
As I received text messages from my son yesterday about the angry hateful protestors, I couldn’t help but have feelings of anger rise up within me about how evil these people were being.
Then I thought: God does not call us to anger, but to love. God does not want us to respond in the same way. God wants us to respond in love.
Yes … there are definitely things which God gets angry about. God made us in his image and likeness … and as such, God gave us emotions just like he has emotions. God gave us the emotion of anger.
The emotion of anger is, in and of itself, not wrong. As stated, God gets angry about sin and evil. Hence the anger I naturally felt rising up against the evil.
But it’s what you do with that anger that determines whether it’s bad or good.
We do not know if the Christians in Corinth experienced the level of suffering and the hateful protestors that the Christians in Thessalonica did. We do have a brief glimpse that there was some violence – in Acts 18:12-17.
Paul wrote a lengthy portion of instructions to the Christians of Corinth on how to love. He tells them: “Love is not easily angered.” – 1 Corinthians 13:5
What do we do with the anger when it rises up??
We need God to give us his love. We don’t have it in and of ourselves. Love comes from God. Love starts with God. God himself is love. So, we need God to give us the love to overcome the anger.
The Christians in Thessalonica received this encouragement from Paul:
“May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other. … May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy.” – 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13
This was God’s will for the Christians in Thessalonica … and he brought it to pass in their lives!
Likewise, this is God’s will for us today. And so, this is what we pray!
“May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other. … May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy.” – 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13
This is God’s will for us. So, this is what we pray!
“God, I don’t feel like loving at the moment. God, I’m struggling right now. Please God, pour out your love in my heart.
“God, please strengthen my heart … like you did for the Christians in Thessalonica. God, please make me blameless and holy … like you did for them. God, please help me to love, just like they did … in spite of injustice, unfairness, or suffering.
“God, please help me to trust your faithfulness, even when life is really hard.
“God, I believe. Yes! And amen!”
(The lighthouse pictured here is Alki Point Lighthouse … located on a point of land at the southern entrance to Elliott Bay. Alki Light is squeezed in on all sides by the city! The buildings press in around it! This is the way life feels sometimes. It feels as if we are being “squeezed in” on all sides by life. It feels as if we are being “pressed in all around” by bad things happening in life.
The day when this photo was taken was a grey, chilly, overcast day. The clouds hung low and heavy. Sometimes this is how we feel in life. It feels as if the “clouds of life” are hanging low and heavy over our soul. We need God’s love. We desperately need God’s love. We are empty – we don’t have anything left. We need God to give us his love so we can keep pressing on.)
Love starts with God.
