The Root of Rioting and Gospel Hope
To offer a disclaimer: there is a high likelihood you will be offended at reading this. Read with caution but with a nose to the Bible and an eye toward Christ. That’s the spirit by which I wanted to write this. This is a reflection over yesterday’s events at the capitol and over 2020.
Over the past year, identity politics has been more alive than it’s ever been. And the most recent protest yesterday is another episode to the ongoing season of violence we’ve seen this past year. I turned on the news saddened and heartbroken over what’s been happening in DC. Sin begets sin and we saw it on full display yesterday with threats of bombs, shots fired, and rage incited. I feel a mix of righteous anger and lamentation. It was a sad day for our country. I strongly denounce this type of behavior and the attitudes that produced it. One can be proud of America and democracy and religious liberty, but I absolutely deplore a form of nationalism that leads to death and destruction, literally.
I’m even more discouraged by the response of those that bear the name of Jesus. Many of my white brothers and sisters in Christ I’ve seen making posts and comments over the past 24 hours have said, “I’m not saying I agree with what’s going on, but I understand it. The media censorship, the unfair attempts at impeachment for the past four years, and the voter fraud. People are upset.”
Now let me pause here for a moment, because while the circumstances were not the same, these very words were used to justify the ugly rioting we saw this past summer day after day. Many of my black brothers and sisters in Christ said, “What do you expect after years and years of police brutality predominantly aimed at us? I don't say I condone it, but I can understand it.”
In both instances, people are speaking from a place of hurt. And in the broken world we live in, hurt people end up hurting people. Now, what’s at the heart of these words? The root of defending rioting? Why do we talk like this?
We identify with the grievance most associated with our group--whatever group that might be. We make it our own. This is not always bad. Standing in solidarity with others is a good thing. The Bible calls for it. But it quickly becomes bad when we use this grievance as a justification for the sins we see our group commit. The result? At best, we speak in a tone of permissibility or dismissiveness toward the sinful actions of our group (...I can understand it…). And at worst, we feel a tinge of inward pleasure when we see our group getting revenge (...what do you expect?...). Worse still, we even become participants of this revenge.
Deriving our identity based on a group we belong to will only cultivate division because we will see other groups as the problem. It will produce in us a victim mentality, seeing ourselves as the innocent group and others as oppressors. It will birth hatred within us when we see representatives of these other groups commit a wrong against our group. And it will create a self-righteousness as we elevate our group above others. None of this represents the affections and attitudes of Jesus.
This kind of living will never make us the people who bless those who persecute us (Romans 12:14), who suffer wrong unjustly (1 Peter 2:19-21). who are quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry (James 1:19), who don’t retaliate or make threats when we’re sinned against (1 Peter 2:23), and who are marked by a tender, gracious, forgiving kindness (Ephesians 4:32).
Ponder with me the Garden of Gethsemane. Judas along with Roman soldiers show up to arrest Jesus. Peter internalizes the grievance done to Jesus, makes it his own, and then resorts to sword-slinging. He ends up cutting off an ear of one of the guards. Now seeing Peter act on his behalf, is there any emotion overflowing from Jesus’ heart that would have made him think regarding the guard, “Well, what did you expect? Fire with fire.” No! Retaliation was not the answer. We don’t sin in response to sin. Jesus rebukes Peter and then lovingly heals his enemy’s ear.
If there were ever a grievance to identify with, it is Jesus’ on the cross. If there were ever someone who could have expressed hatred toward us, played the victim card, or harbored within himself a self-righteous, judgmental attitude, it was Jesus. But what we see is the opposite. He hung on the cross in place of our sins. He bore the curse of judgment we deserved. We see an enemy-blessing, self-emptying, others-loving Savior.
Where do we go from here?
I’m speaking to Christians here. We can either entrust ourselves to our tribe--internalizing their grievances on a far deeper level than the grievances we’ve caused Christ, adopting their agenda, and working towards transforming the world in a way our group sees best, even if it means rioting and violence. Or we entrust ourselves to God. We internalize his mercy and grace and benevolence toward us in response to our rebellion and waywardness. We behold the glory of the Lord, and we are transformed into his likeness, from one glory to another (2 Corinthians 3:18): from hateful to loving, from victim-pitied to victory-assured, from divided to united, from self-righteous to humble, from loud and vociferous to meek and poor in spirit. Only an identity anchored in Christ can experience this kind of change.