Laugh, But Don’t Flinch

Just a quick note on yesterday’s, ahem, festivities in D.C.

Part of what Christians have to remember is that the Devil doesn’t fight fair. He never has and never will. He is a liar, and the father of lies. But Christians are committed to fighting fair. This can seem unfair, but this is what it means to be light and not darkness.

You can’t fight fire with fire; you can’t fight lies with lies. And the wrath of man does not work the righteousness of God. No, Christians fight with truth, gladness, Psalm singing, worship on the Lord’s Day, Sabbath feasting with our families and neighbors, and we only fight physically and militarily according to God’s law, defensively and under lawful authority — but not with mobs, vigilante justice, vandalism, or vengeful violence. So every bit of that, which broke out yesterday at the U.S. Capitol we condemn. You cannot stand against mobs looting Targets and burning down police stations and then bum-rush a bunch of cops, break out windows, and vandalize office buildings.

We are not thugs, but standing for the truth will get you smeared at times as the thugs. Sometimes because thugs are planted in our midst by our enemies, and sometimes because there are simply thugs in our midst, just as there are still little demon-thugs that need to be put down in every human heart. Remember, Jesus was crucified between two thugs. Paul and the other apostles were persecuted as being part of the various anti-Roman insurrectionist movements, maligned as Jewish zealots and the like. This isn’t the first time, and our faith was made for just such a moment as this.

But if you love Jesus and freedom and there’s joy in your heart, and if you think there might have been some funny business with this last election, that there’s a massive swamp problem in D.C., and that the LGBT Intersectional Gestapo is rounding third on a successful coup of our Christian Republic, the picture the Left and all of their media goons are now working overtime to tag you with is that crazy guy with bull horns presiding over the congressional chambers. While there are no doubt some on our side who will be tempted to defend what happened yesterday, I think the bigger temptation is to go timid in the face of the scolding we are getting for the fools and rabble that broke ranks yesterday.

The usual leftists who celebrated the riots and violence this last summer will smugly lecture you about white supremacy and Trumpism, and who cares what they think. We should be quoting them back to themselves every chance we can get, as the venerable Chris Cuomo told us back in June: “… too many see the protests as the problem. No, the problem is what forced your fellow citizens to take to the streets: persistent, poisonous inequities and injustice… And please, show me where it says protesters are supposed to be polite and peaceful. Because I can show you that outraged citizens are what made the country what she is and led to any major milestone.”

But there are also a bunch of squishy woke “conservative” types who barely said a word about the BLM and Antifa riots and violence who are now bustling about with their skirts hiked up to their armpits wanting you to be embarrassed that thousands of freedom loving Americans showed up in DC to peacefully ask Congress to do something about what they consider a stolen election. Those protestors may well be mistaken about the facts regarding the election or what is actually possible constitutionally at this point (and I strongly disagree with Trump’s insistence that Pence could have done anything legally about it), but these people do see a real coup in progress. They have experienced first hand the tyrannical shut down of their businesses and churches, the mindless, illogical mask mandates, and the massive double standards granted to those who pull down statutes and chuck fireworks at law enforcement officers.

The fact that these arm chair conservative critics of the rally yesterday have nothing but scorn for the vast majority of freedom and peace-loving Christians in that crowd tells you exactly what you should think of their criticisms. Yes, there have been some strong critics of Trump who are dealing out appropriate condemnation on all the violence with appropriate equity. But given the powder keg that was first century Jerusalem, I find it striking that the word the gospels use most frequently to describe how Jesus looked at the crowds, those sheep without a shepherd, was compassion. Had any of those crowds dabbled in zealotry? Had any of them ever showed up at a wrong-headed riot? No doubt some had.

And no doubt there were bad apples at the Trump rally yesterday. I think back on how hard we have worked here in Moscow to keep misguided “supporters” of our Psalm sing protests away from us, and why we opted for the “flash” protests of 10-15 minutes, where it’s harder for things to unravel in an unhealthy way than several hours in the cold without bathrooms. I don’t doubt that most of the crowd storming the Capitol were our own modern day conservative zealots, who don’t know what spirit they are of, and the ones who broke laws should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. But even Jesus’ own disciples wanted to call fire down on some cities, and another pulled a sword out the night of His arrest and cut off a man’s ear. There were also no doubt many more in the rest of the crowd outside the Capitol yesterday who are thoroughly confused theologically, some real fruits and nuts of the Evangelical world. But don’t let the “Conservative” Nannies embarrass you for a minute for what you’ve seen with your own eyes for the last four years. Trump is no savior, no conservative hero, and he shouldn’t be confused as such, but Trump has put up more of a fight against our enemies than many who should know a lot better.

So stand your ground in the truth. Stand your ground to protect your liberty. Don’t give up an inch. Condemn all true evil and thuggery and works of the flesh; put away all wrath. Stay disciplined. Hold ranks. And do not allow the slander or folly of our enemies (on the right or the left) to cow you into silence or cowardice or retreat. Do not run away from the hard work of Christian freedom, even if the bozo currently yelling it at the top of his lungs is wearing a fur cap with horns on it, like he was an obsessed extra from Braveheart. 2021 really did just tell 2020 to hold his beer.

What happened is a shame, but you can also laugh. Just don’t flinch.