Earlier this week, Ben wrote a post titled, “What Can I Do?” It just about perfectly summarized my own feelings surrounding the current protests, riots, racism, police brutality, and injustice. And does a better job at it. Which left me in a bit of a pinch.
With such complicated and confusing circumstances, what can I say?
I once heard someone say, “it is better to be silent and thought a fool, then to open your mouth and remove all doubt.” He was speaking to a room of 18 and 19 year-old young men—a group with a serious penchant for saying foolish things. I was one of those young men.
The quote has been wrongly attributed to Abraham Lincoln and Mark Twain. But while the history of the quote is questionable, the principle is not. As is the case with so many other ideas, this one is also found in the Bible. In Proverbs 17:28, we read,
Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise;
when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.
It is not always wise to keep silent, but it is almost never wise to speak when you don’t know what you’re talking about.
So what can I say?
Well I can’t say what policies will fix the mess we’re in. I can’t say with any level of certainty why we’re in the mess we’re in. I can’t say with any confidence where this mess is headed. I can’t even say with any certainty exactly what our mess is. There’s a lot I can’t say, and to try would be foolish.
So what can I say?
- I can confidently say that racism is evil.
- I can confidently say that police brutality is evil.
- I can confidently say that destroying an innocent person’s property is evil.
- I can confidently say that threatening or doing harm to a child is evil.
- I can confidently say that murder is evil.
- I can confidently say that lumping entire groups of people together and labeling them is evil.
- I can confidently say that using another person’s tragedy for personal gain is evil.
- I can confidently say that divisiveness is evil.
- I can confidently say that loving our enemies is good.
- I can confidently say that praying for those who persecute us is good.
- I can confidently say that demanding justice is good.
- I can confidently say that speaking on behalf of the powerless is good.
- I can confidently say that speaking on behalf of the wrongfully accused is good.
- I can confidently say that putting others above ourselves is good.
- I can confidently say that protecting the vulnerable is good.
- I can confidently say that God’s Image on every human being is good.
- I can confidently say that the Kingdom of God is more precious than the United States of America.
- I can confidently say that the Kingdom of God is more powerful than the United States of America.
- I can confidently say that the Kingdom of God is concerned with the United States of America.
- I can confidently say that trauma is real.
- I can confidently say that trauma is often mishandled.
- I can confidently say that the church should be a place of comfort.
- I can confidently say that the church makes mistakes.
- I can confidently say that God is comforting.
- I can confidently say that God is love.
- I can confidently say that God is just.
- I can confidently say that God is sovereign.
In these trying times, what can we do? We can do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God. And what can we say? We can say for certain many truths from God’s Word, always pointing people to our Triune God, trusting that wisdom is found with him. And lastly, we can pray. We pray with the knowledge that we are incapable of creating the change that our world so desperately needs, and rejoicing that it is found freely in Christ. And we partner as the church with Christ through the power of the Holy to bring healing until he returns.
