In this post I will briefly address what is happening in North America with the protests and ‘Black Lives Matter’ focus. I have not followed all of it, the news is overwhelming as the two things currently dominating the news cycle are Covid-19 and the protests over racial injustice. To know how to respond we need both wisdom and discernment. For that we are called to look to the Spirit and scriptures not the media, as there are two types of wisdom we can draw on.
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. 16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. 17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. 18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. James 3:13-18 (NKJV)
James is clear that as believers there are two sources we can draw on for wisdom and they are both spiritual. One is the demonic realm and the other is the heavenly realm. We can determine the source by examining the fruit. The fruit of drawing on demonic wisdom is envy, self-seeking, confusion and other manifestations of evil. Heavenly wisdom is pure, peaceable, and gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and similar manifestations of the nature of heaven.
In examining the current situation with the riots and protests I have seen many posts quoting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr regarding riots. “Riots are the language of the unheard” as a justification for the current riots. Yet the statement came out of an interview with Mike Wallace on CBS and in context Dr. King said this in response to the riots that were happening and those suggesting a movement away from Dr. King’s approach, “I contend that the cry of ‘black power’ is, at bottom, a reaction to the reluctance of white power to make the kind of changes necessary to make justice a reality for the Negro. I think that we’ve got to see that a riot is the language of the unheard.” Yet this was an acknowledgement, not an endorsement. While many in the black community were demanding more action Dr. King said, “Now what I’m saying is this: I would like for all of us to believe in non-violence, but I’m here to say tonight that if every Negro in the United States turns against non-violence, I’m going to stand up as a lone voice and say, ‘This is the wrong way!’ He further said, “I will never change in my basic idea that non-violence is the most potent weapon available to the Negro in his struggle for freedom and justice. I think for the Negro to turn to violence would be both impractical and immoral.”
If we want to know the source of the events happening in our time we merely need to look at the fruit. Is what is happening being sown in peace? Is the result peace, gentleness and mercy or anger and bitterness?
Source for Dr. King interview
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mlk-a-riot-is-the-language-of-the-unheard/
