Instead of Revolution....Revival

By now, many of you know that my works lead with the principles and logic found in the Word of God, commonly referred to as the Bible.  With knowing this, the title of this work would indicate that I'm making a statement advocating for peace in this tumultuous situation between what appears to be the United States Police Department and a portion of  United States citizens.  Annnndddd......you would be right!  But here's why.  There have been some comparisons to this season of protest and the 1960s Civil Rights movement; but there is one glaring difference....death.  And while many march up and down various downtown city streets with their $8 coffees and their $200 North Face jackets; this country and the entire world knows that you're really not about that real revolution life.

You 'opportunists' won't go to the the...uhh....enemy neighborhood and burn that down; that level of accountability is too high.  So you burn down your own.  And you seasonal-activists go home after a few hours...so some media time and melted calories sums up the spoils of your revolution.  But you and I know few people, particularly the people that matter, are taking you seriously.  You've created no financial and little humanistic impact.  I know, I know....but you wanna know what real revolution looks like in 2014?  Try Palestinians running up in Jewish synagogues with guns blazin'.  Now you can convince yourself it doesn't take all that if you want; but because of their "protests", there are European nations formally calling Israel...Palestine.  So since that ain't you, lemme help you get through this thing.

One fact that many gloss over is the fact that Jesus Christ was indeed a lawbreaker.  It's tough to recognize that, but according to Roman law, which was the ruling government over Israel at the time, it was illegal for a person to acknowledge himself as a god or a king.  Not only did Jesus refer to Himself as this (Mark 13:32); but He commended others when they referred to Him in this manner (Matthew 16:16-17).  This is one reason why I get confused when Christians tell people not to rebel against injustice when in fact Christ, from the Roman (legal) perspective, was a rebel.  This isn't to mention some of the then-perceived questionable practices Jesus did under Jewish law...which also can label Him as rebellious.  I don't know...maybe those Christians who say that are just scared.  I digress.  So if anyone would understand what it's like to live under tyranny, oppression, and evil government...it would be the Savior of the world.

Still, His handling of it is much different than ours may be.  In Mark 12:13-17, Jesus after being confronted about paying Roman taxes (because many had considered Him in violation of the Roman law) reassured that the Roman government belonged to Caesar in a sense, but ultimately belongs to God.  Therefore, Roman citizens should pay Roman taxes, but we all should pay what The Lord God requires as well.  In slight relation, Matthew 17:24-27 details Christ engaging in interesting dialogue concerning the Jewish temple tax.  He asked Peter how do other kingdoms get their money...from its sons or its strangers.   When Peter answered that the strangers get shafted, Jesus replied with confirmation that the sons are free....posing the thought, why are we paying.  But because he didn't want to offend the ruling class with correcting them on trivial matters, He arranged for the tax to be paid.  What can all of this mean?

Perhaps Jesus gives us an example that promotes knowledge and wisdom in governmental affairs, so not only can we not be blind to the atrocities, but so we can work within the confines of the law to change them.  But more importantly, I believe Christ wanted all of us to remember that complete ownership of all that's on earth is His...and if more effort was spent on "giving back to God what is God's" we have a better chance of killing the problem at the root.  We have to understand that social issues will end, because this world will.  Am I saying neglect the problems...no sir.  But as a Believer, your remaining problems is encountering people who don't know Christ.  And as a Believer, do you feel comfortable marching, posting, spoken word-ing for justice or the lack of for hours on end...but not spending nearly the same effort ministering the saving grace of Jesus Christ?  And if you're not a Believer, are you that secure that you're [somewhat] fighting for something worth a fight?

You do know that an unsaved person who gets beat up by police may win a temporary lawsuit, but still goes to an eternal Hell, right?  Likewise, a young man who is a Believer, murdered by police spends the rest of his life in ultimate peace.  And if you don't think at least a portion of these highlighted police issues are orchestrated by the government then you're more lost than ever.  Even further, the unsaved woman that died in 1962 so you could vote, ultimately is in Hell today.  What was really achieved? I think what must be determined, at least by people of God, is what real freedom is.  And if it's only based on fair treatment from police (which at least in one of the recent cases is relative) then we're empowering slavery.

To expect peace, you must project peace.

Peace (lol)