Be Not Rash — Warrior+Priest

“Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few. For a dream comes with much business, and a fool's voice with many words.” - Ecclesiastes 5:2-3

“Why is it so hard for Christians to say Black Lives Matter?” said an acquaintance of mine online.

“It’s not the phrase. It’s the organization,” I replied.

I never received a reply back. So much for conversation.

In the months following the outbreak of protests and riots and demonstrations in the wake of the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, Christians have been immersed in a kind of back-and-forth over the nature of whether or not to voice support for Black Lives Matter. And if so, just how. And if not, why not.

What has become apparent to anyone willing to pay attention is the actual nature of the Black Lives Matter organization. They have identified as “trained Marxists,” who are interested, according to their own website, with disrupting “the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure”, fostering “a queer‐affirming network,” and making “space for transgender brothers and sisters to participate and lead.”

In short, they are fundamentally opposed to many of the things God has established as right, good and holy in His Word.

What's more is that, more recently, the founders have been open and honest about the pagan nature of their movement, as well.

“At it’s core, it’s a spiritual movement,” says Melina Abdullah, co-founder of Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles, in a conversation with BLM founder Patrisse Cullors.

From religionnews.com, reporting on the conversation:

‘Abdullah and Cullors touched on the practice of calling out the names of the victims that they advocate for in protests and demonstrations. It's kind of a way to invoke their spirits,’ Abdullah said.
‘Uplifting the names of victims goes beyond creating hashtags,’ Cullors said.
‘It is literally almost resurrecting a spirit so they can work through us to get the work that we need to get done,’ she said.
By highlighting their names, Cullors said she feels ‘personally connected and responsible and accountable to them, both from a deeply political place but also from a deeply spiritual place.’
Cullors touched on West African traditions that center on remembering ancestors.
“'I wasn’t raised with honoring ancestors. ... As I got older and started to feel like I was missing something, ancestral worship became really important,’ she said.
In a June 9 article,"The Fight for Black Lives is a Spiritual Movement," Hebah Farrag — assistant director of research at the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture — examined how Abdullah led a group of demonstrators in a ritual at a recent protest outside of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti's home.
As part of the ritual, people recited the names of ‘those taken by state violence before their time — ancestors now being called back to animate their own justice,’ Farrag wrote.
After each name, Abdullah poured libations on the ground as the group in return chanted "Asé." The Yoruba term is ‘often used by practitioners of Ifa, a faith and divination system that originated in West Africa,’ Farrag wrote.

And so, now Christians who rushed to support BLM during the emotionally charged heat of the moment are faced with a dilemma: continue in their stated endorsement of a pagan and Marxist movement that explicitly stands in contrast to the commands of God or retract their hasty words of support. The choice ought to be an easy one but the entire situation might have been avoided if Christians had heeded the words of the Bible in the first place.

It is easy to get wrapped up along with the rest of the culture in bandwagon movements and what seems at first glance to be a stand for what is obviously good and true. But hastiness is a quality of immaturity and naivety, not wisdom. It’s not simply that there isn’t anything wrong with waiting for the complete truth to come to light and keeping things offered to us by the world at arm’s length until we know for sure. It’s that these ought to be our automatic, default reactions.

Christians should know better than to jump on bandwagons, especially the ones being driven by the unbelieving cultures around us.

Before voicing support, know for certain (Proverbs 18:13). As a child and servant of almighty God, you should not want to align yourself with something that turns out to be His enemy. We should all strive to learn nuance, restraint and discernment. We should all be seeking to investigate matters before pronouncing judgment on them. We do not need to show solidarity with the unbelieving world by allying with them in something that opposes Christ, the Bible and His gospel.

Furthermore, as James 4:13-17 so boldly declares, we should also keep ourselves from declarations about the future. I have heard a great many things about what’s going to happen in lieu of this upcoming election: “Trump will resign before November,” “There will be a civil war if _____ is elected,” “No chance Biden survives through a first term,” “Trump will be arrested before the election,” and on and on it goes.

You don’t know the future. You can’t. And while there may not be any accountability for sports journalists who pick the wrong team to win the championship or for meteorologists who miss on the weather forecast, there will be accountability for you in what you say (Matthew 12:36). The world constantly tries to demonstrate its brilliance and dependability by telling you what will happen before it happens. It’s a way for people to show confidence and unearned authority. Do not imitate them in this. It’s foolishness because, “God is in heaven, He does as He pleases,” (Psalm 115:3) and “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!” (Romans 11:33)

So, in this season of social upheaval, political bickering and absolute uncertainty, restrain your words. Keep a tight leash on your tongue. Do not follow the world in its bold declarations and emotional tantrums. Practice wisdom through both discernment and contentment. Rest and watch God; keep yourself from being hasty, especially when it comes to displays of your own moral certainty.

“When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.”
- Proverbs 10:19

“A man of knowledge restrains his words, and a man of understanding maintains a calm spirit. Even a fool is considered wise if he keeps silent, and discerning when he holds his tongue.”
- Proverbs 17:27-28