"Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment." (Romans 13:1-2)
I am fascinated by what I sense as the convergence of several 21st century trends: increasingly rancorous public (hardly civil) discourse; partisan politics that have morphed into complete disdain for those with opposing views; increasingly vociferous cries for tolerance marked by an utter disregard for opposing views--in other words, tolerance via intolerance; ambivalence and/or confusion on issues of democracy, politics (any example will do), economics (see anything having to do with OWS), globalization, war (Iraq unjust; Libya just), religion (evangelicalism = anti-intellectualism), etc. marked by extreme (and very earnest) angst. Amidst all of it, there is a remarkable blindness to hypocrisy: "Double-standards and contradictions be-damned! I'm a victim!" (This cried out by the iPhone using, Banana Republic-wearing, college-educated 20-something who evidently has enough free time to join the party at Zuccotti Park.)
I'm not writing to attack those participating in the OWS protests (however misguided and confused I believe they are). I am writing in great wonder at where we, as 21st century Christians living in the United States, now find ourselves. The evangelical community tells us we ought to think one way about all these issues. The mainline protestant church (of which I am a part and which, regrettably, has still not recovered from early 20th century American modernism...thanks German theologians, American fundamentalists, Harry Emerson Fosdick, et al!) something entirely different, even antithetical.
What is wrong with us?
That is really pretty simple: we are rebels. We can't stand others having, whether power, money, land...whatever. We desire power, authority, glory, honor, and you best not get in my way if I've set my heart on any of these things. We don't have it. We want it. So, we REVOLT!
Obviously, I'm being intentionally simplistic in even proposing the problem. All of these issues are deeply complex and demand nuanced responses. But, at the heart of every problem of the world is the reality that we are not satisfied, and will never be satisfied. What, for the 1%, is truly just? Fortune 500 CEO's not receiving golden parachutes or me being able to afford a Camry? Or do I just want a job and need someone to complain to? Or am I genuinely concerned for poor people around the world (and in my own neighborhood)? My guess is that there are very few with such righteous motivations. That is not misanthropy, that is simply a belief premised on the conviction that because of the reality of sin, my heart is corrupt and nothing will make it right. Neither new politicians nor policies nor economic systems nor peace settlements. Understand, I'm not suggesting that we don't strive for these things. But if our striving for these things is not tempered by a self-assessment of our own motivations, we are simply joining the broken fracas of discord and discontentedness that reveals, ultimately, the condition of the human heart. Deceitful above all things...
All of the social ills noted above reflect a mistrust in God. Is there a time for civil disobedience? Of course. Is it warranted in these situations? (Or at least in some of them?) Probably. But unless we are grounded in an abiding trust in God, every protest will in the end become a self-serving exercise of hating God and failing to trust in Him (which, of course, is suicide).
So, I am going now to hold forth Christ to some neighborhood kids. That is my protest.
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