Broad meadows

This past week violence erupted once again and ended the physical life of Charlie Kirk. In so many ways, it highlights the distinctness of what the two sides are willing to do for what they want and the motivation for doing so. And make no mistake, there are only two sides in this spiritual battle.

Unless a situation is life threatening, I usually like to wait a few days and let the emotion of the moment pass and to turn to scripture for understanding. So when dealing with something like this I am reminded of Romans :29-31, “They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.”

That’s the reality we face. Social media has been filled with hateful comments about Charlie, but can’t really articulate what harm he has done. Just some vague idea of what it means to be hateful. As Romans 12:9&10 says, “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.” We are meant to be different in our approach.

As Paul writes in Ephesians 4:1&2, “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” This doesn’t mean that we should not call for justice when appropriate . And the people who have been fired for taking glee in the action are getting their due for that attitude. I don’t want someone like that working for me (not that I employ anyone).

I’m also not saying that we can’t defend ourselves when needed. Don’t go looking for a fight , but if someone attacks, we have every right to do so. This isn’t just my understanding, I believe the Bible supports self defense as well. The Jews were allowed to defend themselves against slaughter during the time of Esther. Jesus said in Luke 22:36&37, “He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. It is written: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors’; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment.” He didn’t say impose by the sword.

People have to understand what constitutes harm and it’s not reasoned debate. If you can’t win the argument based on the merit of your argument, you don’t have the right to take up arms against. That’s where government is supposed to step in, but not until that point. The murder of Charlie Kirk is an obvious loss of life due to malevolence. This is what government is meant to do, govern those who will not govern themselves according to these timeless laws. But as sensational as many of these crimes are, in my lifetime they have been relatively rare. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve suffered criminal acts against myself.

We are not meant to take justice into our own hands. Of all the things that harmed me due to the actions of others, both legal and illegal, we’re all adjudicated by God. I didn’t have to do a thing. Two young men who punched me broke their hands doing so. Two other men who both threatened and attempted to kill me died of heart attacks before they were forty. God doesn’t miss things, the justice just doesn’t always come in the time frames we would like. Meanwhile, the government neither protected me nor adjudicated the process or investigated. This unwillingness to do the things we generally require of them while simultaneously making laws that only satisfy their own interests and insulate the state erodes our needs for oversight and eventually becomes an obstacle to justice.